US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has officially signed a memorandum of understanding with the White House, enabling him to begin his formal transition to power.
The agreement was finalized on Tuesday, following several weeks of delays, according to his incoming chief of staff.
The move will allow Trump’s team to coordinate directly with federal agencies and access documents.
The unusual delay in signing the agreement after the Nov. 5 election had raised concerns among some critics about potential hiccups in government operations or conflicts of interest.
“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,” Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, said in a statement.
Trump, a Republican, will take office on Jan. 20. His team had rejected entreaties from Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration to quickly sign a memorandum of understanding and had objected to some elements of a traditional transition agreement, according to the White House.
Under the agreement signed on Tuesday, Trump’s team avoided signing a government ethics pledge, saying it has its own ethics plan that will “meet the requirements for personnel to seamlessly move into the Trump administration.”
However, it did not include a pledge that Trump would avoid conflicts of interest or that he hold only “non-conflicting assets,” promises in the more standard agreement signed by Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate.
Trump has a stake valued at $3.76 billion in Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs his Truth Social platform, as well as stakes in a cryptocurrency business, real estate properties and several foreign deals.
The family real estate company, now run largely by Trump’s son Eric, owns a portfolio of hotels, golf courses, resorts and New York City office space, retail operations and condominiums.
The Trump pledge also did not include a promise to protect whistleblowers on his transition team, a promise in the Harris pledge.
Separately, the Trump transition team has not entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice to allow the FBI to conduct background checks of nominees, and it has not sent the FBI the names of prospective national security personnel who would have access to classified information.
A White House official said while a Justice Department agreement has not been signed, progress has been made toward such an agreement.
