Tornado Alley (PROG)

[blackhawks]

Latest edition of FAFO:

Trump team barred from agencies amid legal standoff

Transition of Power
Federal agencies have yet to hear from their future bosses.

By Alice Miranda Ollstein and Adam Cancryn

11/24/2024 04:00 PM EST

Advisers to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reached out to the Health and Human Services Department multiple times after Donald Trump tapped him to lead the massive agency, hoping to jumpstart coordination before his takeover in late January. They were rebuffed.

Kennedy’s inability to communicate with the agency he may soon manage, confirmed by an administration official with knowledge of the episodes granted anonymity to describe internal deliberations, is just one consequence of the president-elect’s continued foot-dragging on signing the standard trio of ethics and transparency agreements with the federal government — something his team pledged to do shortly after the election.

The Trump transition’s unprecedented delay in signing the agreements has so far prevented the incoming administration from having any formal contact with federal agencies, including sending in groups of policy advisers known as “landing teams.” It also means they can’t access cybersecurity support or secure email servers for transition-related work, or request FBI background checks for their nominees.

Both the Trump transition and the White House confirmed to POLITICO that negotiations on the agreements are still underway. But until the standoff is resolved, Trump’s Cabinet nominees will gain no more insight than the general public into the workings of the departments they’re supposed to run.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/23/trump-team-barred-from-agencies-amid-legal-standoff-00191399

Good. More time to make sure they don't get their hands on stuff they can't be trusted with.