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Over recent weeks, Immigration and Customs Enforcement — an agency that will be key to Trump’s mass deportation plan — was trying to assess what additional resources and funds it would need to execute the president-elect’s pledge to detain and deport migrants at large scale, according to two sources familiar.
But in the absence of formal transition talks, ICE officials were basing assessments on the information and statements that were publicly available as they tried to outline the year ahead, the sources said.
The agency has historically been underfunded and will likely need more money from Congress. How much, however, remained unclear without formal information sharing, leaving a critical federal agency and congressional appropriators in the dark.
The Trump team, meanwhile, was also drawing up plans without a clear sense of ICE’s resources. A source close to transition planning told CNN they didn’t have a clear sense of ICE’s budget, which is crucial to planning.
With the White House agreement in place, members of the Biden administration can now begin to prepare their incoming counterparts for a handoff on January 20.
The signed agreement “will allow for certain, authorized members of the Trump transition team to have access to agency and White House employees, facilities, and information,” according to Sharma. White House officials said that federal agencies will receive guidance on facilitating secure information sharing with Trump’s team.
“The fact is that on January 20 at 12 pm, President Trump and his team will be in seat. We have 2 options. Option one is no transition, potentially risking the security of the American people and our country. Option two is conduct a smooth transition with safeguards in the White House MOU to protect non-public information and prevent conflicts of interest,” Sharma said. “Option two is the responsible course and in the best interest of the American people.”
One watchdog group that had previously raised increasingly dire alarms about the threat to national security in the absence of the agreement expressed approval Tuesday.
“This agreement unlocks direct access to information from federal agencies, which is vital for the incoming administration to be ready to govern on Day One and critical to the transition’s success,” Max Stier, the president and CEO of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, said in a statement.
But Sen. Elizabeth Warren raised questions about the Trump team’s agreement.
“This announcement fails to answer key questions about national security threats and FBI vetting of nominees, and increases concerns about corruption,” the Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement.
“There appear to be serious gaps between the Trump transition’s ethics agreement and the letter of the law. The reliance on private donors to fund the transition is nothing more than a ploy for well-connected Trump insiders to line their pockets while pretending to save taxpayers money,” she added.
Trump team doesn’t sign GSA agreement
The Biden White House did “not agree” with the decision to forego the GSA agreement.
“While we do not agree with the Trump transition team’s decision to forgo signing the GSA MOU, we will follow the purpose of the Presidential Transition Act, which clearly states that ‘any disruption occasioned by the transfer of the executive power could produce results detrimental to the safety and wellbeing of the United States and its people,’” Sharma said.
There are certain safeguards in the signed White House memorandum, White House officials said, aimed at bolstering protections from conflicts of interest.
For instance, officials said, “The Trump transition team must provide the names and current employer of individuals who would have access to agencies, agency personnel, and government information,” and those who are receiving classified information must have “the security clearance necessary to have access to that information, the requisite need to know, and (have) signed the requisite non-disclosure agreements.”
As for the memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice, White House officials said that “progress has been made towards an agreement.”
CNN has reached out to the Office of Management and Budget and the GSA for comment.