USTR has made clear that a Trump political appointee will have to be present at meetings with career staffers, a former official said.
Officials at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative appointed by President Donald Trump are delaying the transition to President-elect Joe Biden’s team by refusing to schedule meetings, according to officials with knowledge of the situation.
No meetings yet: USTR political staff members are still rebuffing efforts from Biden’s transition landing team to meet with career staff at the agency, said one former trade official familiar with the situation.
If meetings are scheduled in the future, USTR has made clear that a Trump political appointee will have to be present with the career staffers, the former official said.
Smooth handoff threatened: Meetings between career staff and transition officials are typically used to ensure that an incoming administration is up to date on an agency’s plans and actions. If the freeze continues, it could mean Biden’s USTR team will come into office without the latest information on the agency’s pending tariff investigations or negotiations with foreign countries, like ongoing trade talks with the U.K. and Kenya.
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Lighthizer ignores election result: The struggle comes as USTR Robert Lighthizer has refused to publicly acknowledge Biden’s win while he seeks to wrap up a number of policy initiatives, like an inquiry into Vietnam’s currency practices that could bring new tariffs before he leaves office Jan 20.
In an interview with the BBC last week, Lighthizer evaded a question about accepting Biden’s victory, instead claiming ignorance about the state of Trump’s legal appeals to overturn the election.
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DoD transition also stalled: The delay at USTR comes after Trump’s officials at the Department of Defense clashed over meetings late last week with the Biden transition. In that case, the DoD team claimed the sides had agreed to halt meetings for the holidays, while Biden’s team said there was no such deal.
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Trump officials appointed by President Trump are delaying the transition to Joe Biden’s team by refusing to schedule meetings, according to officials with knowledge of the situationhttps://t.co/k5fBXqiSC1
— POLITICO (@politico) December 22, 2020
Bad decision by @DeptofDefense. Important and fast moving issue, and unless DoD is planning to destroy documents, Biden's team will be able to find out about whatever DoD is trying to hide in 30 days anyway. https://t.co/uvkz7EMuYq
— David Burbach (@dburbach) December 22, 2020
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