Biden WH Holds Nose At Trump Team Refusal To Sign Key Transition Doc: ‘While We Disagree—‘

President Joe Biden’s White House held its nose at President-elect Donald Trump’s team refusing to sign key transition documents, putting a positive spin on the decision through gritted teeth.

The Trump transition has delayed completion of transition agreements, called Memoranda of Understanding or MOUs, that are needed to begin key aspects of the transfer of power within the White House, the Department of Defense, and the General Services Administration (GSA).

But on Tuesday, the Trump transition team and the White House issued contrasting statements about the Memorandum of Understanding that has now been signed.

In a statement emailed to Mediaite, Team Trump-Vance said everything is going great:

Statement on the Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding Between the Trump-Vance Transition Team and Biden White House

Susie Wiles, the Chief of Staff to President-elect Donald J. Trump, said: “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.”

WHITE HOUSE MOU FACTS

• 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.

But White House spokesperson Saloni Sharma told Mediaite that while the failure to sign the GSA agreement is not ideal, it beats the alternative:

Like President Biden said to the American people from the Rose Garden and directly to President-elect Trump, he is committed to an orderly transition.

President-elect Trump and his team will be in seat on January 20 at 12 pm – and they will immediately be responsible for a range of domestic and global challenges, foreseen and unforeseen. A smooth transition is critical to the safety and security of the American people who are counting on their leaders to be responsible and prepared.

That is why since September, the White House and the GSA have repeatedly made the case to the Trump transition team to sign both the GSA and White House Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) as both parties have done during previous transitions.

The Trump transition team has signed the White House MOU. This will allow for certain, authorized members of the Trump transition team to have access to agency and White House employees, facilities, and information.

As part of the White House MOU, the Trump-Vance transition team has agreed to important safeguards to protect non-public information and prevent conflicts of interest, including who has access to the information and how the information is shared. The MOU also outlines that the Trump transition team will publicly post their ethics plan to the GSA website.

The Trump transition team has stated they will not sign the GSA MOU, which provides for transition services including: office space, secure email addresses, and funding for transition staffing and other transition activities. As a result, the Administration will not provide these GSA services.

While we do not agree with the Trump transition team’s decision to forgo signing the GSA MOU, we will follow the purpose of the Presidential Transition Act which clearly states that “any disruption occasioned by the transfer of the executive power could produce results detrimental to the safety and wellbeing of the United States and its people.”

The fact is that on January 20 at 12 pm, President Trump and his team will be in seat. We have 2 options. Option one is no transition, potentially risking the security of the American people and our country. Option two is conduct a smooth transition with safeguards in the White House MOU to protect non-public information and prevent conflicts of interest. Option two is the responsible course and in the best interest of the American people.

A senior administration official tells Mediaite that “To date, the DOJ MOU is not signed but progress has been made towards an agreement.”

“The Department of Justice is ready to process requests for security clearances for those who will need access briefing materials and national security information once the MOU is signed,” the official said, adding that “In the event it is necessary to share classified information with a transition team member, the relevant government agency must establish that the transition team member has the security clearance and the need to know necessary to have access to that information.”