MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
You've probably heard by now, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General, former Congressman Matt Gaetz is out. He withdrew after days of negative reports, mainly about a House ethics investigation that looked into allegations about illegal drug use and paying people for sex, including with a minor. Gaetz has said the allegations are without merit. But the episode is the latest sign that Trump's transition back to the White House is breaking with norms. NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith is with us now with more. Good morning, Tam.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So Trump has already announced more than a dozen cabinet picks. This seems like an unusually fast pace - is it?
KEITH: It is. At this point eight years ago, Trump had only announced one pick. Biden hadn't announced anyone at this point. But this pace masks a real worry. Trump's transition is actually behind schedule in other ways and appears to be skipping the usual vetting processes. The Trump transition has failed to sign at least three required formal agreements with the Biden administration. What that means is members of the incoming administration aren't getting classified briefings about national security concerns and agency operations. And the President's cabinet picks aren't getting the FBI background checks that the Senate has traditionally required before confirming them.
MARTIN: What does the Trump team say about this?
KEITH: A transition spokesperson tells us that Trump's lawyers continue to constructively engage with the Biden administration, and that they will update us once a decision is made, which incidentally is exactly what they said two weeks ago. And the clock is ticking. David Marchick wrote a book about presidential transitions, and he sees no indications that the Trump team is doing that behind-the-scenes work needed to get these nominees properly vetted and ready for confirmation hearings in early January. Here was Marchick on a call this week put on by the Council of Foreign Relations.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DAVID MARCHICK: That's really important so that the government can be fully staffed, so the country is as safe as possible, and the government's running as effectively as possible. None of that is happening today.
KEITH: Yesterday, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts sent a letter to the Biden administration asking why they haven't been able to get the Trump team to sign these agreements. She writes that Trump's refusal so far, quote, "undercuts the fundamental purpose of presidential transition laws."
MARTIN: You said before that FBI background checks aren't happening. What else is required?
KEITH: Well, there's also a review process with the Office of Government Ethics to work through any conflicts of interest. In some cases, that requires divesting stock or unwinding business relationships. And traditionally, this begins long before a nominee is even announced. Walter Shaub is a former director of that office.
WALTER SHAUB: There's just no way Trump has cleared these recent nominees he's announced through the Office of Government Ethics because we know that process takes weeks.
MARTIN: Can he just skip these steps and still take office?
KEITH: The answer is yes. But to be clear, we don't know yet whether they ultimately will skip all these steps. What I'm watching is the Senate. Will Republican senators and committee chairman demand the usual FBI background checks, ethics agreements, and that detailed questionnaire that they've been asking for for years? Or will they just sign off on Trump's picks without this crucial information?
MARTIN: So if Trump and his team have to wait until January 20, inauguration day, to get the keys, what does that matter?
KEITH: You know, the 9/11 Commission report said that the shortened transition in the year 2000 may have contributed to that attack being successful. They said it hampered the ability of the incoming Bush administration to get key people in place.
MARTIN: All right. That's NPR's Tamara Keith. Tam, thank you.
KEITH: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
