Trump’s transition process still volatile
UNCERTAINTY: This is despite the US president-elect tweeting that efforts are going well, writes Michael D. Shear
UNITED States president-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said his transition was not in disarray, assailing media reports about firings and infighting, and insisting in an early-morning Twitter burst that everything was going “so smoothly”.
But, the process of picking cabinet members continued to be volatile, as people who were described as leading contenders earlier in the week were said to be less likely to be nominated now. And, the failure to take the basic organisational steps to begin the formal transition blocked the official handoff of critical information from 100 federal agencies.
Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, had been a leading candidate to be secretary of state. But, people familiar with the latest discussions and one person who has spoken directly with Trump said the president-elect had growing reservations about Giuliani, who for 48 hours eagerly stoked news of his possible appointment.
Disclosures from Trump’s office in Trump Tower in Manhattan continued throughout the day. Laura Ingraham, a conservative radio host and author, could join the Trump administration, according to two people who have spoken to the transition team. Ingraham, a fiery critic of the news media who worked on domestic policy for the Reagan White House, has told Trump aides that she would be interested in a number of posts.
Late Wednesday, reports surfaced that Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina, who backed Senator Marco Rubio in the Republican primaries, might now be a candidate for secretary of state.
In a series of tweets on Wednesday morning, Trump kicked off a concerted effort to reshape the narrative of a chaotic transition that has taken hold in the week since he won the election. In several conversations with reporters, Trump’s aides said their efforts to assemble a new government were not in turmoil.
He criticised, and misrepresented, a The New York Times report that said he took calls from world leaders, but had done so haphazardly and without the State Department briefings that traditionally guide conversations with foreign leaders.
Trump wrote that he had received “calls from many foreign leaders despite what the failing @nytimes said”. Of the transition effort, Trump added in another post, “It is going so smoothly”.
In the transition’s first conference call with reporters on Wednesday night, Trump aides said teams would be announced on Thursday to begin the formal handoff from the state, justice and defence departments and the National Security Council.
Sean Spicer, an adviser to Trump, said the president-elect would also meet on Thursday with former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, Haley and Admiral Michael Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, among others, as he builds his administration.
Advisers to Trump said reports of chaos were being spread by disgruntled former members of the transition or people bitter about the election results. US representative for California’s 22nd congressional district, Devin Nunes, who is a member of the executive committee advising Trump, and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the transition was operating more efficiently because it was not filled with Washington elitists.
“The only people who are in chaos are the press,” Nunes said.
Trump aides acknowledged that members of the transition team had been fired since the ouster of Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey as the head of the transition. But, they
denied that the firings were the result of a purge of Christie’s allies orchestrated by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
“Completely inaccurate,” said Jason Miller, a spokesman for Trump.
Instead, they said the housecleaning was part of a renewed effort by vice president-elect Mike Pence, the new transition chief, to eliminate lobbyists from the transition team. They declined to provide details about how many lobbyists had been fired or to name them, but said it was a priority.
“When we talk about draining the swamp, this is one of the first steps,” Miller said.
But, progress has been slow toward transferring control of the federal workforce of 2.8 million people. A White House official said administration officials at government agencies remained legally barred from delivering the guidance and briefings to Trump’s transition team because essential documents had still not been completed.
The wholesale shake-up of Trump’s team, including Christie’s ouster, forced Pence to sign new documents required by law. White House officials said Pence delivered them on Tuesday.
But by Wednesday night, Trump’s team still had not delivered a series of required supporting documents,
including certifications that each transition member would abide by a code of conduct and would not divulge sensitive information about the inner workings of the government.
“The next step is for the presidentelect’s transition team to provide us with the names of the individuals they have authorised to represent their transition effort across the government,” said Brandi Hoffine, a spokeswoman for the White House.
“Once we have received those names and related materials, those individuals will be able to receive the briefing materials we have prepared and begin to communicate with their Obama administration agency counterparts.”
Officials in President Barack Obama’s administration on Wednesday said they were ready to engage with Trump’s team. But they said little contact had been made. At the State Department, officials said no one from the transition office had requested briefings before Trump’s meeting on Thursday with Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan.
“We stand ready to support him and his team with any information that they might require,” said John Kirby, the State Department spokesman. “There has been no outreach to date,” he added. NYT