WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump's transition team on Tuesday signed an agreement to allow the Justice Department to conduct background checks on his nominees and appointees after a weeks-long delay.
The step lets Trump transition aides and future administration staffers obtain security clearances before Inauguration Day to access classified information about ongoing government programs, an essential step for a smooth transiton of power. It also allows those nominees who are up for Senate confirmation to face the background checks lawmakers want before voting on them.
Teams of investigators have been standing by to process clearances for Trump aides and advisers.
“This agreement with the Department of Justice will ensure President Trump and his team are ready on Day 1 to begin enacting the America First Agenda that an overwhelming majority of our nation supported on Election Day," said Susie Wiles, Trump's designate to be White House chief of staff.
The announcement comes a week after the Trump transition team signed an agreement with the Biden White House to allow transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before taking office on Jan. 20. The White House agreement was supposed to have been signed by Oct. 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act, and the Biden White House had issued both public and private appeals for Trump’s team to sign on.
Security clearances are required to access classified information, including on ongoing operations and threats to the nation, and the Biden White House and outside experts have emphasized to Trump's team the importance of having cleared personnel before Inauguration Day so they could be fully briefed and ready to run the government.
Republican Senators have also insisted on FBI background checks for Trump's nominees before they face confirmation votes, as has been standard practice for decades. Lawmakers have been particularly interested in seeing the findings of reviews into Trump's designated nominee for defense secretary, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, and for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence.
“That’s why it’s so important that we have an FBI background check, a committee review of extensive questions and questionnaires, and a public hearing,” said. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine on Monday.
John Thune, the incoming Senate Republican leader, said the Trump team “understands there’s going to have to be a thorough vetting of all these nominees.”
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AP congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed.
FILE - Susie Wiles watches as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a caucus night party in Des Moines, Iowa, Jan. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE - President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (Allison Robbert/Pool via AP, File)
LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Lewis Hamilton is looking back on an “amazing journey” and the most successful partnership in Formula 1 history as he prepares to bid farewell to Mercedes this week and join Ferrari.
The move offers a new start for the 39-year-old Hamilton, who's had a difficult end to his last Mercedes season. Ferrari's first task next year might be to get him back on form.
“I don't think we're going to end up on a high,” Hamilton said Sunday after finishing 12th in Qatar in another tough race which saw him get penalties, a puncture, and even ask Mercedes for permission to retire the car. Two days earlier, he said he was “definitely not fast any more” after struggling again in qualifying.
Hamilton's last race for Mercedes at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday will bring down the curtain on a 12-year stay with the team. He won six of his seven world titles with Mercedes, the most by any F1 driver with a single team.
As an all-time great and the sport's only Black driver, Hamilton's influence extends far beyond the F1 grid.
Hamilton shook up F1 with the shock announcement in February that he would join Ferrari in 2025 — a decision he even kept secret from his parents — and the prospect of leaving Mercedes has overshadowed this season.
“I’ve had all year to think about it, so there’s been those highs and lows through the year. I can’t predict how I’m going to feel next Sunday after the race, or the days to follow, or at Christmas time,” Hamilton said last week.
Hamilton said he would miss the “family” atmosphere at Mercedes and will leave with warm memories, including of Niki Lauda, the former F1 champion who played a key role in bringing him to the team and who died in 2019.
“There’s many, many great moments. Moments with Niki, amazing conversations, arguments,” Hamilton said. “It’s been an amazing journey together, one that I’ve genuinely loved.”
The last time Hamilton switched teams, he found it hard to stay away from his old employer. Hamilton recalled the incident in 2013 when he mistakenly drove into McLaren’s pit at the Malaysian Grand Prix, in his second race after leaving for Mercedes.
“I remember when I joined this team it was strange driving past my old team in the pit lane, to the point that I stopped at theirs at one point,” he said.
After an emotional victory at his home British Grand Prix in July ended a 945-day wait for a win, Hamilton took another win at the Belgian Grand Prix when his teammate George Russell finished first but was disqualified. Since then, though, Hamilton has placed behind Russell in 10 of 12 races, including sprints.
Qualifying has been Hamilton's biggest problem, forcing him to try to make up places on race day.
“When you’re always back where I am (on the grid), it makes it very hard, almost impossible, to be competing for wins," he said last week.
Hamilton is missing one potential chance to drive the Ferrari this year in the testing session after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He said it’s not possible under his contract with Mercedes but he didn’t want to start his Ferrari career that way, anyway.
It's likely Hamilton will get take the wheel behind closed doors at Ferrari's famed Fiorano test track early next year.
“I know (Ferrari team principal) Fred (Vasseur) wanted it to happen. For me, I was in two minds. Driving the red car for the first time in Abu Dhabi does not excite me. In a perfect world you’d get to drive and not be seen and do the first rollout next year,” he said. “Am I missing out on something? For sure.”
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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain leaves the pit during sprint qualifying at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, ahead of the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, Pool)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain gets ready for practice at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, ahead of the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain walks through paddock as he arrives at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain leaves the pit during practice at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, ahead of the Qatar Formula One Grand Prix, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain prepares prior to the start of the sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain prepares prior to the start of the sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Pool/ Altaf Qadri)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain prepares prior to the start of the sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Pool/ Altaf Qadri)
