The transition team for president-elect Donald Trump has reached a formal agreement with the Biden White House to begin coordinating a process for incoming officials to be given the reins of government once Trump is sworn in — but the agreement lacks critical safeguards that previous transitions have adhered to.

A full presidential transition won’t happen until noon on January 20, 2025, when Trump is officially inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States. But when a new president is set to enter the White House, it is common practice for the outgoing and incoming administrations to create agreements for a smooth transition, allowing the incoming group of bureaucrats to enter federal agencies early on to learn the ins and outs of their roles.

Such an agreement, which had been delayed for longer than usual after Trump’s presidential win earlier this month, was announced on Tuesday. Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming chief of staff, heralded the agreement between the two sides.

“This engagement allows our intended Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power,” Wiles said in a statement.

However, the agreement disregards multiple security safeguards that have been typical of transitions in the past, omitting FBI background checks or security clearance investigations for key Trump administration officials, spurning the use of government office space to carry out the transition, and denying a $7 million public fund set aside for presidential transfers of power.

The Trump transition team claimed they had rejected that money to save taxpayer dollars, vowing that they would disclose their donors later on and that they wouldn’t take funds from foreign officials. However, the transition team did not specify how or when they would make their disclosures.

By denying those funds, Trump can instead raise an unlimited amount from donors to help........

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