Dem
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GOP
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It is more than 2 months from Nov. 5 to Jan. 20, surely enough time for a president-elect to get ready to take over, right? No way. A president needs to appoint something like 4,000 people who need Senate confirmation (e.g., the Cabinet, subcabinet, and agency heads and subheads) and others who don't (e.g., the chief of staff and many, many people who work for the president in the White House). Managing the process and interviewing people takes time, money, office space, and communications infrastructure. If the president hasn't gotten the top positions nailed down by Jan. 20, he or she won't get off to a running start and will be perceived as disorganized.
Congress understands all this and provides funding and office space to smooth the process along. Joe Biden got over $7 million and temporary office space for 500 people, as well as e-mail, IT, and telecomm support. Training is also available in government mail and other procedures for new hires. Biden also raised and spent another $22 million from private donors. This is normal.
What is not normal is Donald Trump's announcement that he may forego all the government assistance, which requires a fair amount of transparency, and just get rich donors to bankroll the transition with dark money that does not have to be reported. If you want something from the Trump administration, tossing some money into the transition pot is a good idea. It is called pay-to-play. It is the opposite of draining the swamp. It is feeding the alligators and mosquitoes.
While not agreeing to take federal money will allow unlimited donations to flow in for the transition, it also has a downside. Then Trump will get little information about what is going on in the various departments, what the ongoing issues are, and he will have to find private office space and arrange for his own e-mail, IT, and telecomm. Joe Biden will then feel little obligation to help him and might not feel bad if Trump botches his start and makes a fool of himself.
Just to name one small thing: For some sensitive positions, a security clearance is needed for potential job candidates to explain the issues they will face and ask them how they will handle them. If Trump refuses to accept the government money and oversight, Biden could order the FBI not to cooperate with the transition team, so the process of getting clearances couldn't even begin until Jan. 20. This will not necessarily mean chaos reigns, because cabinet officers stay on the job past Jan. 20 until they either resign themselves or the new president fires them. Would Trump fire the current Secretary of Defense if his candidate hasn't even started the clearance process yet? Would the Senate confirm someone without a security clearance for that position?
Trump has already chosen former SBA chair Linda McMahon and GOP megadonor Howard Lutnick to shake down potential donors who want something from the Trump administration, although he phrases it somewhat differently. The pair will accept résumés from people looking to work for Trump and start to vet them. Proof of loyalty to Trump, rather than, say, to the law, will be a big selling point.
In contrast with Trump, Kamala Harris has already agreed to take the money and the oversight, so the transition to a Harris administration would go smoothly. In addition, she might keep some of Biden's appointees since she knows many of them, but she might give them new positions. Of course, she is also much more aware of current issues facing the various departments than Trump is. (V)