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Obama officials alarmed at slow pace of agency-level transition
Donald Trump is beating President Barack Obama on the pace of splashy Cabinet announcements, but the president-elect is lagging his predecessor when it comes to other transition efforts critical to fulfilling his campaign promises.
The slower pace applies not only to key appointments throughout his administration, but also to Trump’s lower-profile agency review teams, whose nitty-gritty work with Obama’s career bureaucrats could make or break Trump’s pledge to get his presidency off to a barn-burning start.
Obama administration officials assigned to the transition say Trump’s representatives have been AWOL at some agencies, leaving them sitting on binders full of briefing materials that have been amassed since March.
The slower pace of agency-level transition efforts could have a real impact on Trump’s ability to quickly tackle big issues such as Obamacare, infrastructure and immigration reform.
“I’ve just been hearing all’s quiet on the western front, that sort of thing,” said Bill Valdez, who as president of the Senior Executives Association represents the high-level career employees assigned to help introduce the Trump teams to their agencies. “One of my colleagues worked at Department of Labor, and they’ve seen one person there — very low-level staffer — who has basically just come in and said, ‘Where are the keys to the men’s room?’ And then the rumor was that somebody at a higher level was going to come this week, but so far nobody’s shown up.”
A source within the Department of Labor said that this week the third of three Trump team members made it into the building — after a fourth member was named only to be removed days later.
The halting communication with the agencies is causing consternation among Obama administration officials — both the political aides who will resign as of Jan. 20 and the career public servants whose employment spans presidencies — tasked with helping facilitate a smooth transition. In some cases, such as at the U.S. Agency for International Development, they haven’t heard from anyone in Trump world.
Frustration started spilling out into public view earlier this week when Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy told reporters on Monday that the agency is ready and willing to help, but doesn’t have anyone to hand off information to.
"We’re most anxious to have the transition team around,” McCarthy said. “We have had one individual who came the day before Thanksgiving, and we have not heard from anybody since.”
A Trump transition spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
Obama officials alarmed at slow pace of agency-level transition - POLITICO
Obama officials alarmed at slow pace of agency-level transition
Donald Trump is beating President Barack Obama on the pace of splashy Cabinet announcements, but the president-elect is lagging his predecessor when it comes to other transition efforts critical to fulfilling his campaign promises.
The slower pace applies not only to key appointments throughout his administration, but also to Trump’s lower-profile agency review teams, whose nitty-gritty work with Obama’s career bureaucrats could make or break Trump’s pledge to get his presidency off to a barn-burning start.
Obama administration officials assigned to the transition say Trump’s representatives have been AWOL at some agencies, leaving them sitting on binders full of briefing materials that have been amassed since March.
The slower pace of agency-level transition efforts could have a real impact on Trump’s ability to quickly tackle big issues such as Obamacare, infrastructure and immigration reform.
“I’ve just been hearing all’s quiet on the western front, that sort of thing,” said Bill Valdez, who as president of the Senior Executives Association represents the high-level career employees assigned to help introduce the Trump teams to their agencies. “One of my colleagues worked at Department of Labor, and they’ve seen one person there — very low-level staffer — who has basically just come in and said, ‘Where are the keys to the men’s room?’ And then the rumor was that somebody at a higher level was going to come this week, but so far nobody’s shown up.”
A source within the Department of Labor said that this week the third of three Trump team members made it into the building — after a fourth member was named only to be removed days later.
The halting communication with the agencies is causing consternation among Obama administration officials — both the political aides who will resign as of Jan. 20 and the career public servants whose employment spans presidencies — tasked with helping facilitate a smooth transition. In some cases, such as at the U.S. Agency for International Development, they haven’t heard from anyone in Trump world.
Frustration started spilling out into public view earlier this week when Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy told reporters on Monday that the agency is ready and willing to help, but doesn’t have anyone to hand off information to.
"We’re most anxious to have the transition team around,” McCarthy said. “We have had one individual who came the day before Thanksgiving, and we have not heard from anybody since.”
A Trump transition spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
Obama officials alarmed at slow pace of agency-level transition - POLITICO