Warren Seeks Answers on Trump Transition’s Refusal to Sign Agreements, Issue Ethics Plan

Warren Seeks Answers on Trump Transition's Refusal to Sign Agreements, Issue Ethics Plan

Sen. Warren authored law requiring ethics plan as part of presidential transition

"President-elect Trump is undermining his administration's ability to manage urgent national security threats, health and safety threats, and serious conflicts of interest starting on day one of his presidency."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - In a new letter, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to the General Services Administration (GSA) seeking information on the serious consequences of the Trump Transition's unprecedented refusal to complete required transition agreements. Under the Presidential Transition Enhancement Act, presidential candidates are expected to develop and publicly release ethics plans for their transition teams prior to the election. This provision stems from Senator Warren's Transition Team Ethics Improvement Act crafted in response to the Government Accountability Office's 2017 report finding that the first Trump Transition had shirked ethics standards.

"President-elect Trump is undermining his administration's ability to manage urgent national security threats, health and safety threats, and serious conflicts of interest starting on day one of his presidency," wrote Senator Warren.

As the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs has made clear, "(i)f the new President and the new Administration are not ready to govern on their first day in office, our nation's adversaries may well see and take advantage of the situation."

The law directs the outgoing administration to pursue memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with presidential transition teams. By September 1st, the Trump Transition was expected to enter an MOU with the GSA regarding the provision of administrative support services. By October 1st, the Trump Transition was expected to enter an MOU with the White House regarding access to federal employees, facilities, and documents, and to publish an ethics plan on the GSA's website.

No prior president-elect has refused to sign these required agreements.With the Trump Transition's refusal to sign the agreements with the outgoing administration and publish a comprehensive ethics plan, Trump's team is undermining its own ability to keep Americans safe from urgent threats.

"Without the MOUs, the Trump team will be delayed in accessing vital national security information and briefings with national security personnel. The Transition will also be delayed in entering federal agencies and accessing secure IT infrastructure to communicate with agencies. And the FBI cannot begin critical background checks of candidates for high-level national security roles," wrote Senator Warren.

The national security threats are not hypothetical. The 9/11 Commission found that the delayed transition following the contested 2000 election hampered the preparations of President George W. Bush's national security team and may have contributed to the 9/11 attack. In 2009, close coordination between the Bush and Obama administrations aided their national security teams in protecting against a possible terror attack at Obama's inauguration.

"All Americans share an interest in presidential administrations being prepared to handle the basic governance of executive branch agencies, public health and safety threats, and national security emergencies," wrote Senator Warren. "The Trump team's unprecedented refusal to sign agreements with the outgoing administration threatens the American public by hamstringing incoming officials' ability to govern responsibly. The Trump Transition has also refused to publish an ethics plan, increasing the risk of the incoming administration governing for the benefit of special interests rather than the American public."

Senator Warren has led on enforcing ethics standards and exposing violations across presidential transitions:

• In March 2020, President Trump signed the bipartisan Presidential Transition Enhancement Act into law, which included major provisions of Sen. Warren's (D-Mass.) Transition Team Ethics Improvement Act.
• In September 2019, the Senate passed a key provision of the Transition Team Ethics Improvement Act introduced by Senators Warren and Tom Carper (D-Del.) to enhance the ethics requirements that govern presidential transitions.
• In November 2016, as President Trump prepared to take office, Senator Warren and Chairman Cummings requested a GAO investigation of the chaotic Trump transition. In September 2017, Government Accountability Office (GAO) released the results of the investigation, finding that the Trump transition team ignored advice from the Office of Government Ethics and failed to follow past precedents regarding ethics and presidential transitions.

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