Trump signed an agreement with the White House to officially begin the transfer of power

2024-11-27 07:29:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Trump signed an agreement with the White House to officially begin the transfer

President-elect Donald Trump signed a necessary agreement with the White House on Tuesday to allow his transition team to coordinate with federal officials before taking office on January 20.

The agreement approved by Congress allows the transition team to work with federal agencies and have access to non-public records while giving the green light for federal officials to participate in the process.

Mr. Trump has refused to sign another deal with the independent agency that oversees and manages federal agencies, the General Services Administration, GSA. The deal would have given Mr Trump's team access to government offices and email accounts and other equipment. The agreement requires the president-elect to limit donations to 5,000 and to make public the individuals who are donating money to the transition effort.

Under the Presidential Transition Act, the agreement with the White House had to be signed before October 1. The White House and President Biden had asked Mr. Trump in private and public ways to sign the agreement.

The agreement is a critical step in ensuring an orderly transition of power at noon on Inauguration Day on January 20, and lays the groundwork for the White House and government agencies to begin sharing details on programs, operations and threats facing the country. .

This measure eliminates obstacles for Mr. Trump's team to have access to the data and proper documentation that the outgoing administration offers to the new administration when Mr. Trump takes office on January 20.

Under the agreement with the White House, Mr. Trump's team will have to make public its ethics plan for the transition process and commit to its implementation, the White House said.

The transition team must declare no conflict of interest before having access to nonpublic federal information.

President-elect Donald Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, met Nov. 19 at the White House with outgoing President Joe Biden's chief of staff, Jeff Zients, and other senior officials. They discussed, among other things, the remaining obstacles, while the lawyers of both parties have held frequent talks during the last days to finalize the agreement.

"As President Biden told the American people from the Rose Garden and directly to President-elect Trump, he is committed to an orderly transition," said White House spokeswoman Saloni Sharma.

Without a signed agreement, President Biden administration officials were limited in what data they could share with the incoming team. Mr. Trump's national security adviser nominee Mike Walz met with Mr. Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in recent days, but the outgoing team was limited in what they could discuss.

"This commitment allows members of our next cabinet to begin critical preparations, including sending advance teams to every department and agency, and complete an orderly transition of power," Ms. Wiles said in a statement.

Mr Trump's transition team says it will release the names of donors and will not accept foreign donations.

The signing of a separate agreement with the Department of Justice to coordinate vetting and security certifications is still being actively worked on.

That would pave the way for the next president's transition team and appointees to begin accessing classified information before Mr. Trump takes office.

On Friday, Mr. Trump's team formally told the GSA that it will not use its specially designated White House offices, emails, phones and government computers during the transition.

The White House said it did not agree with this decision but is working on other ways for his team to get the necessary data without jeopardizing national security./ Voa