President-elect Donald Trump's team puts off transition traditions, including background checks
President-elect Donald Trump's transition team said its intent is to create "a self-sufficient organization." Credit: Pool via Getty Images / Allison Robbert
WASHINGTON — With a full slate of Cabinet nominees selected, and a roster of White House advisers announced, President-elect Donald Trump officially launched the presidential transition this week by signing an agreement with the White House that allows for the transfer of information between the outgoing and incoming administrations.
But Trump and his transition team are bucking some of the decades-old ethics and security protocols outlined in the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 — opting to privately bankroll Trump’s transition effort instead of accepting federal funding for office space, equipment and staff via the Government Services Administration. Trump's team has also so far avoided entering into an agreement with the FBI to conduct background checks on nominees.
Government watchdog groups and ethics lawyers contend that forgoing the traditional process raises transparency questions about who is funding the Trump transition effort and whether the donations provide those donors with more access and sway. Trump's transition team said in a statement that donors will eventually be disclosed and that the intent is to create "a self-sufficient organization."
"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," Trump’s incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles said in a statement the transition team released on Tuesday.
Wiles said the transition team signed an agreement with the White House on Tuesday to begin the process of allowing transition staff to connect with government agencies for briefings ahead of Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. But her statement made clear that the team opted against entering into an agreement with the Government Services Administration, or GSA.
"The Transition already has existing security and information protections built in, which means we will not require additional government and bureaucratic oversight," Wiles said.
Government ethics attorney Brett Kappel told Newsday that if Trump’s team would have signed the traditional agreement with GSA, he could have still fundraised separately for the transition effort. But Kappel said those donations would have been capped at $5,000 per donor and donors would have been disclosed on the GSA website.
By forgoing the traditional agreement, there is no funding cap, said Kappel, who works with the Washington-based law firm Harmon Curran. He said there is also no donor reporting requirement other than an IRS Form 990, which does not require donor names and amounts be listed.
"Essentially if they don't sign these agreements, the American public will know virtually nothing about how the transition was funded for a year," Kappel said in a phone interview. "If the transition is being run out of [Trump’s Palm Beach estate] Mar-a-Lago, it may be that the largest recipient of funds from the transition is the president himself."
After his 2016 victory, Trump did sign the traditional agreement with the Government Services Administration, but instead of tapping into federal workspace he ran much of his transition effort from Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan. The agency has said none of the $7 million in federal funds that Trump was entitled to at the time went to reimburse him for office space.
In 2016, Trump’s transition team set up a fundraising arm — Trump for America — which raised $6.5 million for the transition, according to a memo from the organization obtained by the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity through a public records request. The memo, written to the GSA, provided a detailed list of donors — from corporations like AT&T and Microsoft, to moguls like Robert Mercer and the late Sheldon Adelson — but only provided broad categories for how the money was spent. The memo notes $258,000 went to rent and utilities.
Over the course of his first term in office, the Secret Service paid Trump’s private properties — including his Mar-a-Lago resort and his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf resort — nearly $2 million for rooms and services used by his security detail, according to a 2022 analysis of public records by the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The Presidential Transition Act was established to provide nonpartisan protocols for an orderly transition of power, but there is no enforcement mechanism or requirement for a candidate to participate, said Meena Bose, director of Hofstra University’s Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency.
"If the President Elect's transition team doesn’t want those services, which has never happened before, they can’t really be forced to take it," Bose said. "We've never had a situation of trying to force a candidate to participate."
The Trump transition team also has yet to enter into an agreement with the FBI to conduct background checks of the nominees ahead of the Senate confirmation process.
Trump has long expressed distrust of the agency, which previously investigated his 2016 campaign and his handling of classified documents upon leaving office, and Bose said he could be waiting until he installs his own FBI director and staff.
"After the inauguration he'll have the authority to make decisions about background checks," Bose said.
The Trump transition team did not respond to an email seeking comment on when or if it will execute an agreement with the FBI for background checks.
Democratic senators have called on Trump’s transition team to move forward with the FBI vetting to avoid delays in the confirmation process. And while Republicans are set to assume control of Congress in January, some GOP senators including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mike Rounds of South Dakota have publicly encouraged Trump to rely on the FBI for background checks of his nominees.
Murkowski, in a recent interview with The Hill, said: "I get there is distrust by some of different agencies, and the FBI is not immune from that. But I do think it is vitally important, particularly from a national security perspective, that you have a level of vetting that is thorough."
WASHINGTON — With a full slate of Cabinet nominees selected, and a roster of White House advisers announced, President-elect Donald Trump officially launched the presidential transition this week by signing an agreement with the White House that allows for the transfer of information between the outgoing and incoming administrations.
But Trump and his transition team are bucking some of the decades-old ethics and security protocols outlined in the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 — opting to privately bankroll Trump’s transition effort instead of accepting federal funding for office space, equipment and staff via the Government Services Administration. Trump's team has also so far avoided entering into an agreement with the FBI to conduct background checks on nominees.
Government watchdog groups and ethics lawyers contend that forgoing the traditional process raises transparency questions about who is funding the Trump transition effort and whether the donations provide those donors with more access and sway. Trump's transition team said in a statement that donors will eventually be disclosed and that the intent is to create "a self-sufficient organization."
"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," Trump’s incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles said in a statement the transition team released on Tuesday.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- President-elect Donald Trump is bucking some of the ethics and security protocols in the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 — opting to privately bankroll his transition effort and thus far avoiding an agreement with the FBI for background checks.
- Government watchdog groups and ethics lawyers contend that forgoing the traditional process raises transparency questions about who is funding the transition and whether the donations provide those donors with more access and sway.
- The transition team signed an agreement with the White House Tuesday to begin the process of allowing transition staff to connect with government agencies for briefings ahead of Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Wiles said the transition team signed an agreement with the White House on Tuesday to begin the process of allowing transition staff to connect with government agencies for briefings ahead of Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. But her statement made clear that the team opted against entering into an agreement with the Government Services Administration, or GSA.
"The Transition already has existing security and information protections built in, which means we will not require additional government and bureaucratic oversight," Wiles said.
Government ethics attorney Brett Kappel told Newsday that if Trump’s team would have signed the traditional agreement with GSA, he could have still fundraised separately for the transition effort. But Kappel said those donations would have been capped at $5,000 per donor and donors would have been disclosed on the GSA website.
By forgoing the traditional agreement, there is no funding cap, said Kappel, who works with the Washington-based law firm Harmon Curran. He said there is also no donor reporting requirement other than an IRS Form 990, which does not require donor names and amounts be listed.
"Essentially if they don't sign these agreements, the American public will know virtually nothing about how the transition was funded for a year," Kappel said in a phone interview. "If the transition is being run out of [Trump’s Palm Beach estate] Mar-a-Lago, it may be that the largest recipient of funds from the transition is the president himself."
Change from 2016
After his 2016 victory, Trump did sign the traditional agreement with the Government Services Administration, but instead of tapping into federal workspace he ran much of his transition effort from Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan. The agency has said none of the $7 million in federal funds that Trump was entitled to at the time went to reimburse him for office space.
In 2016, Trump’s transition team set up a fundraising arm — Trump for America — which raised $6.5 million for the transition, according to a memo from the organization obtained by the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity through a public records request. The memo, written to the GSA, provided a detailed list of donors — from corporations like AT&T and Microsoft, to moguls like Robert Mercer and the late Sheldon Adelson — but only provided broad categories for how the money was spent. The memo notes $258,000 went to rent and utilities.
Over the course of his first term in office, the Secret Service paid Trump’s private properties — including his Mar-a-Lago resort and his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf resort — nearly $2 million for rooms and services used by his security detail, according to a 2022 analysis of public records by the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The Presidential Transition Act was established to provide nonpartisan protocols for an orderly transition of power, but there is no enforcement mechanism or requirement for a candidate to participate, said Meena Bose, director of Hofstra University’s Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency.
"If the President Elect's transition team doesn’t want those services, which has never happened before, they can’t really be forced to take it," Bose said. "We've never had a situation of trying to force a candidate to participate."
FBI checks
The Trump transition team also has yet to enter into an agreement with the FBI to conduct background checks of the nominees ahead of the Senate confirmation process.
Trump has long expressed distrust of the agency, which previously investigated his 2016 campaign and his handling of classified documents upon leaving office, and Bose said he could be waiting until he installs his own FBI director and staff.
"After the inauguration he'll have the authority to make decisions about background checks," Bose said.
The Trump transition team did not respond to an email seeking comment on when or if it will execute an agreement with the FBI for background checks.
Democratic senators have called on Trump’s transition team to move forward with the FBI vetting to avoid delays in the confirmation process. And while Republicans are set to assume control of Congress in January, some GOP senators including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mike Rounds of South Dakota have publicly encouraged Trump to rely on the FBI for background checks of his nominees.
Murkowski, in a recent interview with The Hill, said: "I get there is distrust by some of different agencies, and the FBI is not immune from that. But I do think it is vitally important, particularly from a national security perspective, that you have a level of vetting that is thorough."
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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