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Following his resounding win on November 5, one of the knocks on President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration by those on the left has been Trump’s “delay” in signing transition agreements with the Biden administration. 

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Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) even went so far as to claim the Trump transition team was “breaking the law” by not signing the ethics agreement and emphasizing that she would know “because I wrote the law.” 

There’s one problem with Warren’s assertion: She’s wrong. The law to which she’s referring is the Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019, which amends the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 and sets out the framework for agreements to be entered into between the General Services Administration and an incoming presidential administration to facilitate the presidential transition process. There is no mandatory timeframe or deadline within which the incoming administration is obligated to sign such agreements or memorandums of understanding. The provision regarding an ethics agreement provides that it should “guide the conduct of the transition beginning on the date on which the eligible candidate becomes the President-elect” — not that it must be signed on/by that date. Moreover, the article Warren links to in the above tweet notes that the details were still being worked out between the transition team and the Biden administration. 

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In any event, on Tuesday, the Trump-Vance Transition Team announced that it had, in fact, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Biden White House in order to begin engaging in “critical preparations” for the transition. 

Following the execution of the agreement, Trump’s Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, issued the following statement:

“After completing the selection process of his incoming Cabinet, President-elect Trump is entering the next phase of his administration’s transition by executing a Memorandum of Understanding with President Joe Biden’s White House. This engagement allows our intended Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power.”

Key aspects of the MOU include: 

  • The Transition will not utilize taxpayer funding for costs related to the transition, which is consistent with President Trump’s commitment to save taxpayers’ hard-earned money,
  • The Transition will not use government buildings or technology provided by GSA and will operate as a self-sufficient organization. This organizational autonomy means a streamlined process that guarantees the Trump Administration is ready on Day 1.
  • The Transition already has existing security and information protections built in, which means we will not require additional government and bureaucratic oversight.
  • The Transition has an existing Ethics Plan for those involved, which will meet the requirements for personnel to seamlessly move into the Trump Administration. Pursuant to the Transition Enhancement Act, that Ethics Plan will be posted to the website of the General Services Administration website.
  • The Transition landing teams will quickly integrate directly into federal agencies and departments with access to documents and policy sharing.
  • Per the agreement, the Transition will disclose the landing team members to the Biden Administration.
  • The agreement dictates that the Trump-Vance Transition will utilize private funding, again, providing cost savings to American taxpayers. Donors to the Transition will be disclosed to the public. Consistent with Transition policy already in place, the Transition will not accept foreign donations.

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In other words, the Trump-Vance Transition Team confirms it has the requisite ethics plan and will post it on the GSA website as required under the Act, but oh, by the way, it won’t be availing itself of taxpayer funding or government buildings or technology via the GSA. Chalk that up to Trump learning the hard way the pitfalls of trusting too readily in an outgoing administration.