“…
Even now, Trump has
skirted the conventional transition process and refused to sign ethics agreements that would allow his campaign to begin working with the Biden administration on the handoff, a process that typically starts six months before the election. The holdup stems from Trump’s deep mistrust of federal agencies, certainly those not run by his own loyalists. This means his team has not had to disclose donors to his transition process but has also been blocked from national security briefings and from receiving millions of dollars in funding to aid the transition.
As the struggle over the wording in the agreements has become protracted, resulting in the missing of key deadlines, Trump’s aides are unable to obtain security clearances. (Some have floated conducting their own without the FBI.)
… Trump has a raft of executive orders, policy papers and regulation reversals ready to go as soon as he’s inaugurated, two sources familiar with the plan have said.
As they look to staff the new administration, Trump and his aides have made clear they are seeking loyalty above all else, stung by the high-level appointees that turned on Trump from the last administration. Trump has pointed to his personnel decisions as perhaps the biggest mistakes of his first presidency. …”