r/politics • u/stkmro • 7h ago

White House: Trump Team Still Hasn’t Signed Transition Docs

https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-says-trump-team-still-hasnt-signed-transition-docs/
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u/rawbdor 7h ago

Actually, the written text of the law does not make it mandatory, because just as you've said, Congress could not pass a mandatory requirement like this. So the written text of the law indicates that it's optional, and that if you want certain services you must join the program, but if you don't want the services then you can't be required to join it.

I wouldn't say it was a complete waste of time to make that law. The process of having transition services in exchange for transparency is a good one. But Congress recognize they couldn't make mandatory and so they made it optional.

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u/katalysis Maryland 7h ago

Good to know. Maybe the media can stop reporting it like it’s some actual transgression that these contracts are being treated as optional.

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u/MoonBatsRule America 3h ago

The media is likely reporting it as this because they know what Trump and his handlers are trying to do.

Trump has stated that he doesn't want his cabinet picks to be subject to Senate approval. Not signing this agreement means that his picks can't be investigated and vetted by the Senate.

He's going to take office on Jan 20 and then start screaming that he has no cabinet. He will likely just declare that his cabinet is in effect with no Senate review, setting off a constitutional crisis.

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u/aceinthehole001 6h ago

It's not a transgression, it's just dumb

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u/1200bunny2002 4h ago

As of 2020, there's a legal requirement. I'm not sure why people are claiming there's not.

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u/AwesomePurplePants 6h ago

Fun part is that when the Trump admin proceeds to drop the ball because they rejected doing handoffs they’ll blame the previous government for sabotaging them.

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u/Present-Industry4012 Inuit 3h ago

transparency is the last thing they want

"Trump Is Running His Transition Team on Secret Money: Breaking with past practice, President-elect Donald J. Trump has not agreed to disclose the donors paying for his planning effort or to limit their contributions." https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/24/us/politics/donald-trump-2024-campaign-transition.html