The journey back to the White House for President-elect Donald Trump may face significant challenges, primarily because he has not committed to avoiding potential conflicts of interest, among other ethical issues, during his tenure.
The New York Times highlighted that Trump’s transition team overlooked the October 1 deadline to present an ethics strategy as stipulated by the Presidential Transition Act. Additionally, NYT indicated that Trump’s organized transition team has declined to engage in the standard transition procedures, which traditionally commence several months prior to elections.
Furthermore, the team has failed to meet various deadlines related to signing agreements essential for participating in national security discussions and obtaining access to federal government agencies.
“While planning for a transition is a private matter, it is profoundly tied to the operations of our government and the management of public assets,” stated Max Stier, president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service. This nonpartisan organization aids presidential hopefuls during the transition via the Center for Presidential Transition.
Stier emphasized, “Avoiding conflicts of interest and the perception of such conflicts is vital to this responsibility.”
In fact, Trump was the catalyst for Congress revising the Presidential Transition Act in 2019, which mandates candidates to submit an ethics plan that includes details on how eligible presidential candidates will navigate their own conflicts of interest throughout their presidential term.
Although Trump’s transition leadership has prepared an ethics policy and guidelines for its personnel, NYT reported that Trump’s specific plan was not part of this documentation.
