Warren: Trump risks national security by not cooperating with Biden administration on transition

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is warning that President-elect Trump is putting national security at risk by refusing to sign memoranda of understanding with the Biden White House and federal departments and agencies to allow the transition power to proceed smoothly and give Trump and his team access to classified information.

“President-elect Donald Trump is undermining his own ability to effectively manage national security emergencies, urgent public health and safety threats, and corruption risks as he prepares to take office,” Warren wrote in a letter to Robin Carnahan, the administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which handles much of the presidential transition.

Warren pointed out Trump has still not signed agreements with the Biden-Harris administration to guide the transition and has failed to publish an ethics plan, which she said increases “the risk of the incoming administration governing for the benefit of special interests rather than the American public.”

The Massachusetts senator noted that under the Presidential Transition Enhancement Act, presidential candidates are required to develop and publicly release an ethics plan for their transition teams prior to the election.

She emphasized that Trump signed that very requirement into law in March 2020, when he was president. And she pointed out the bipartisan law was led by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a Trump ally, and passed Congress with overwhelming support.

Under the law, the Trump transition’s ethics plan was supposed to be published on the GSA website by Oct. 1.

“Then-candidate Trump ignored that deadline and now — 16 days since the election — still has yet to publish the full plan,” Warren wrote.

The senator acknowledged that while the Trump transition has prepared its own ethics code, she argued in her letter that it does not meet the requirements of the Presidential Transition Enhancement Act because “it includes nothing about how President-elect Trump will manage his own extensive financial conflicts of interest.”

“Without that plan, the public has no assurance that Trump intends to mitigate his conflicts of interest,” she wrote.

Warren said Trump’s transition team should have agreed to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the General Services Administration by Sept. 1 to receive administrative support services, and to another agreement with the Biden White House by Oct. 1 to gain access to federal employees, facilities and documents.

“The Trump Transition has said it has ‘an intent’ to sign those MOUs, but thus far has refused to sign either one, and the Transition’s leadership has asserted that the agreements are ‘not important issues,’” she wrote.

Warren also highlighted that Trump’s team has not reached agreement with the Department of Justice to allow the FBI to conduct background checks for administration nominees and hasn’t sent to the FBI the names of prospective national security personnel.

“By refusing to cooperate with the outgoing administration, the Trump Transition cannot adequately prepare to govern responsibly. As a a practical matter, without the MOUs, the Trump team will be delayed in accessing vital national security information and briefings with national security personnel,” she wrote.

She asked the GSA administrator to confirm the expectations set by the Presidential Transition Act for Trump’s transition team by Dec. 5 and to update her staff on the Trump transition team’s compliance with the law.

She also asked whether GSA officials have discussed these matters with Trump’s transition team and what the impact of Trump’s lack of compliance may have on transfer of power.

“If 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,” Warren warned.

“This risk is not hypothetical. For example, the 9/11 Commission found that the delayed transition following the contested 2000 election hampered the preparations for President George W. Bush’s national security team and may have contributed to the 9/11 attack,” she wrote.  

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