Politico reports:

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team still has not sent policy advisers to coordinate with the federal agencies he is preparing to take over, delaying preparations that could be key to executing his ambitious agenda.

The Trump transition signed an agreement Nov. 26 paving the way for those “landing teams” to begin work in the agencies. But before they can do that, the transition has to submit its lists of people who will serve on the teams to the Biden administration — and they just began sending over those names late this week, the White House confirmed Friday.

That puts Trump officials nearly a month behind their recent predecessors, who began what is known as the “agency review” process — meeting with existing agency staff and getting briefed on major policy issues and challenges — right after the election, to ensure their incoming administrations would be up to speed. Trump, however, delayed for months in signing an agreement with the Biden administration to authorize those teams, before finally reaching a deal just before Thanksgiving.

Amid other transition delays — including in processing security clearances — former officials in both parties say this lag in beginning the usual crash course in agency operations only adds to the obstacles Trump will face as he looks to rapidly implement his sweeping policy agenda. That’s particularly true in areas like health policy, where few of the president-elect’s picks to lead the agencies have any experience in government or in managing such large and complex bureaucracies. [Continue reading…]