Washington Post: Trump is breaking norms in Washington with glee. Not only is the transition team refusing to subject various appointees to FBI background checks, but the team is fencing executive departments out of the transition process.

“In calls with foreign heads of state, Trump has cut out the State Department, its secure lines and its official interpreters.”

From the AP on the FBI background checks:

“For those appointees whose jobs involve a security clearance, a background check would be required. But once Trump takes office on Jan. 20, 2025, he could simply order that people be given a security clearance, as he was reported to have done for son-in-law Jared Kushner during his first term.”