Quiet a number of current Trump administration officials, as well as some political appointees who left in recent months, have quietly started to reach out to members of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team
The outreach implies that President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the election and the continued obstruction from the White House is beginning to frustrate even those affiliated with his administration. The General Services Administration still has yet to acknowledge Biden’s victory and begin the formal transition. As a result, Biden and his team remain locked out of access to contacts with the federal agencies, funding to help ramp up government hiring for the new administration and access to classified intelligence briefings.
One former Trump official mentioned that they are viewing the outreach effort as putting duty to the country over partisan considerations. The conversations are not as detailed as formal briefings that would take place under the officially sanctioned transition, sources said, but they at least could help incoming Biden transition members have a sense of the issues they might have to deal with upon taking office.
Another former White House official who left the administration a few months ago said that he personally emailed someone who he expects will be back in the Biden administration in a similar role to his and offered to help.
One current administration official confirmed that there has been informal outreach from inside Trump’s government to Biden’s team. “Nothing that would get us in trouble,” the official said. “Just an offer to be of help. They know what we mean, and what we can-and-can’t do or say.” The official said that outreach thus far hasn’t resulted in any substantive conversations.
A senior adviser to Biden acknowledged the outreach from across the government, but declined to comment. A separate Biden aide said the assistance was appreciated and in several cases was an outgrowth of pre-existing relationships in specific fields, but noted that it was not nearly as robust as a traditional transition of power.
“It requires more than former officials choosing to step forward and be helpful to ensure a smooth transition of power,” Kate Bedingfield, deputy campaign manager and transition adviser to Biden, said. “GSA should follow the law and ascertain the results of the election so that Americans get a smooth and effective hand off between administrations.”
It’s been more than a week since news organizations called the presidential election for Biden. Since then, the Trump campaign’s lawsuits challenging the result in a handful of states have been repeatedly tossed out of court.
With all that’s going on,some employees are still being warned not to talk to anyone on Biden’s team.
Health and Human Services staffers were told that if anyone from President-elect Joe Biden’s team contacts them, they are not to communicate with them and are to alert the deputy surgeon general of the communication, according to an administration official.
Secretary Alex Azar also said during a briefing on Wednesday that staff will not work with Biden’s transition team until the General Services Administration makes a determination that Biden is the President-elect, a decision that is made by a Trump appointee.
“We’ve made it very clear that when GSA makes a determination, we will ensure complete, cooperative professional transitions and planning,” Azar said. “We follow the guidance. We’re about getting vaccines and therapeutics invented and get the clinical trial data and saving lives here. That’s where our focus is as we go forward with our efforts.”
