President Trump can and should direct his administration to cooperate, in every agency of government, with transition teams for the apparent victor of this year’s election, President-elect Joe Biden.
This doesn’t mean Trump cannot contest election results in court. In fact, cooperation on the transition would not harm Trump’s court battles in any way. It also would be extremely unlikely to harm current or future operations of government. Yet the failure to start transition planning could hinder a new administration’s ability to carry out basic, noncontroversial actions of government that serve the American people.
A growing number of Republican senators, conservative media outlets, and former Republican transition chiefs are wisely calling on Trump to give Biden access to the president’s daily national security briefings. The nation’s safety may depend on it.
Yet that same logic applies in nearly equal fashion for nonsecurity functions of government. Right now, the General Services Administration has not formally “ascertained” Biden’s victory, and Trump has not directed it to begin transition work. When transitions are slow and administrative positions remain unfilled, the responsiveness of agencies to ordinary citizens can drag. If natural or economic disasters strike, disbursement of crucial assistance can be delayed. Even with a model transition, the early months of a new administration tend to be chaotic — all the more so if the outgoing administration is not cooperative.
The Atlantic reported that even though President George W. Bush’s handoff to President Barack Obama was adjudged by most scholars “to be the most successful transition of the modern era,” the new administration still was understaffed for months in nonsecurity areas. One result was that even though Congress quickly passed an economic stimulus package in response to the prior year’s financial crisis, the administration experienced major roadblocks in getting the money out the door for its intended uses.
If even a competent and cooperative transition causes hiccups, imagine the greater problems that could result from the recalcitrance of an outgoing administration. Especially in the midst of a pandemic and with the logistical challenge of distributing a vaccine on the horizon, people deserve to have competent, fully briefed personnel in place at all levels of government.
Trump’s obligation here is clear, even if his frustration is understandable. Fewer than 50,000 votes, shifted in three states, could have flipped the election to him through an Electoral College tie.
Even in a long-shot legal bid, Trump has every right to pursue any reasonable claims in court, and of course, the act of starting a transition can feel like an acknowledgment of loss. But this is not about who should have power; it is about making sure that the public is well served, no matter who is in charge. If Trump directs his team to cooperate in a smooth transition, then wins his court case, nothing will have been lost. If he doesn’t cooperate, though, and he loses in court, which seems likely, then he will be blamed for stubbornness and selfishness by those who suffer from the effects of a delayed or botched transition.
