A White House administration official says President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team still hasn’t signed the key documents needed to facilitate the transfer of power.
Responding to questions from NBC reporter Monica Alba, President Joe Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Thursday that the president-elect’s representatives still have not completed the necessary memoranda of understanding (MOU) to begin the transition process.
“As you know, the president, President Biden, met with the president-elect to show that transition of power and obviously offering any assistance needed to make sure that happens in a way that is peaceful, obviously, and efficient,” said Jean-Pierre.
ADVERTISEMENT
She added that their teams “continue to stay in touch,” and that Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients has “consistently reiterated” a desire to work together and ensure Trump’s people “have what they need.”
“Those conversations continue, and we want this to go smoothly, and that’s what we’re trying to get to,” said Jean-Pierre.
In the absence of signed MOUs from Trump’s transition team, the current government cannot begin the process of providing briefings or security clearances for incoming officials.
Crucially, the FBI also remains unable to conduct any background checks on the president-elect’s prospective cabinet, raising alarm over the possibility that senators may be rushed into voting on his nominations without the appropriate due diligence having been carried out.
These concerns were particularly pronounced in respect to Matt Gaetz’s failed nomination for attorney general. The former congressman pulled out of the running on Thursday amid a brewing scandal over a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations he had engaged in sex trafficking, illicit financial practices and illegal drug use, which he denies.
Jean-Pierre seemed eager to dodge Alba’s questions on Gaetz’s recent withdrawal, stressing the White House has no intention of commenting “on every personnel matter or personnel matters here that the president-elect is deciding or is nominating people for.”
She did, however, add that President Biden has repeatedly stressed the need for an independent Department of Justice. “There should be no partisanship, there should be no loyalty to one party or the other,” said Jean-Pierre. “The loyalty should be to the Constitution, and the loyalty should be to the rule of law.”
