Posted originally on the CTH on November 25, 2024 | Sundance

As the story is told, the unwillingness of President-Elect Trump and his transition team to comply with the rules of the bureaucracy in DC this time, has led to the Administrative State refusing to comply with any transition of power, specifically as it relates to Robert F Kennedy Jr and the healthcare transition team.

If President-Elect Trump would just adhere to the DC transition rules, then the DC bureaucrats who run the Executive Branch might be more willing to comply with requests.  However, unless and until President Trump accepts the administrative state’s power over him, they are at loggerheads.

Given the “trillions at stake” in the Health and Human Services system, we can only imagine the internal dynamic and pressure from lobbyists to keep their equity stakes as long as possible.

WASHINGTON DC – Advisers to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reached out to the Health and Human Services Department multiple times after Donald Trump tapped him to lead the massive agency, hoping to jumpstart coordination before his takeover in late January. They were rebuffed.

Kennedy’s inability to communicate with the agency he may soon manage, confirmed by an administration official with knowledge of the episodes granted anonymity to describe internal deliberations, is just one consequence of the president-elect’s continued foot-dragging on signing the standard trio of ethics and transparency agreements with the federal government — something his team pledged to do shortly after the election.

The Trump transition’s unprecedented delay in signing the agreements has so far prevented the incoming administration from having any formal contact with federal agencies, including sending in groups of policy advisers known as “landing teams.” It also means they can’t access cybersecurity support or secure email servers for transition-related work, or request FBI background checks for their nominees.

Both the Trump transition and the White House confirmed to POLITICO that negotiations on the agreements are still underway. But until the standoff is resolved, Trump’s Cabinet nominees will gain no more insight than the general public into the workings of the departments they’re supposed to run. (READ MORE)