“Consequences are severe”: Trump’s lack of ethics pledge delays transition process

President-elect Donald Trump has blown past an Oct 1 deadline to submit a mandatory ethics pledge, potentially foreshadowing a chaotic handoff between the Biden administration and the second Trump term’s team.

The New York Times reports that Trump was required to submit the documents, which outline how the president will avoid conflicts of interest in office and lay out plans for other ethical concerns, more than a month ago. The lack of Trump’s adherence to the requirements under the Presidential Transition Act has left him locked out of meetings and briefings with the current administration and heads of government agencies.

“While transition planning is a private activity, it is deeply connected to the activity of our government and the stewardship of public resources,” Partnership for Public Service President Max Stier told the Times, adding that slow-walking their documents could lead to a messy transition and a period of chaos next year.

“The consequences are severe… It would not be possible to be ready to govern on Day 1,” Stier shared.

Trump didn’t detangle himself from his financial holdings in his first term in office, triggering years of emoluments violation investigations into the over 3,000 alleged conflicts of interest he accrued. Foreign dignitaries often paid top dollar to stay at the Trump International Hotel in D.C., as did Secret Service details protecting the then-president’s family.

The specific disclosures required of Trump by the October deadline were created in the wake of his first term. A 2019 amendment to the act created the requirement after Trump sparked bipartisan outrage by failing to mitigate conflicts during his presidency. Both President Joe Biden and Harris had filed the required plans by the deadline. Biden is barred from providing Trump with necessary clearances to sit in on certain briefings until Trump has fulfilled these requirements.

Still, Trump is slated to meet in the Oval Office on Wednesday, a routine part of the transition process that Trump did not afford Biden four years ago.