After delay, White House receives key transition document from Trump

by Jordan Fabian - 11/15/16 8:21 PM ET

Vice President-elect Mike Pence has signed a key document governing the presidential transition, a major step toward unfreezing the stalled process.

The White House said it received the memorandum of understanding from President-elect Donald Trump’s team on Tuesday evening. But his advisers still must complete additional bureaucratic steps to allow work to move forward.

“Once we have received those … materials, those individuals will be able to receive the briefing materials we have prepared and begin to communicate with their Obama administration agency counterparts as we continue our work to facilitate the transition to the next administration,” said White House spokesperson Brandi Hoffine.

The transition process had been held up for four days amid a significant shakeup on Trump’s team.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who previously helmed the transition effort, had signed the document to kick off transition work shortly after Election Day.

But Christie was abruptly replaced last Friday by Pence, who had not signed the document himself, which is required by law.

The memorandum signed by the vice president-elect is identical to the one signed by Christie, according to a White House official.

That delay cost Trump’s team valuable time in the handover of power from Obama, which will happen in just 66 days.

Trump’s so-called landing teams, tasked with implementing his policies, have not be able to work with their counterparts on location at federal agencies.

The president-elect’s advisers still must turn over to the Obama administration the “names of the individuals they have authorized to represent their transition effort across the government,” Hoffine said.

They must also submit a code of conduct preventing conflicts of interest before the work can officially begin.

Trump officials say the effort is on schedule. Pence spent more than six hours on Tuesday at Trump Tower, where the president-elect has made his earliest decisions on assembling his administration.

Pence ordered the removal of all lobbyists from the transition team, according to The Wall Street Journal. It was one of his first major decisions as transition chief.

Tags Donald Trump Mike Pence White House