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President-elect Donald Trump has yet to file a series of transition agreements with the Biden administration, in part because of concerns about a mandatory ethics pledge swearing to avoid conflicts of interest once sworn in, CNN has learned.

As president, Trump has repeatedly come under fire from ethics groups for potential conflicts of interest related to his businesses and brands. Both Trump’s and his family’s foreign business ties have also come under intense scrutiny throughout his time in office and during the campaign.

Trump and his transition team I’m already behind in accessing key transition briefings from the Biden administration as they failed to sign a pair of agreements to unlock critical information before taking over the federal government in 72 days.

The retreat revolves in part around binding agreement on ethics issues.

A source familiar with the process acknowledged that details are still being worked out with the Biden administration regarding the ethics agreement, which is required by law under the Presidential Transition Act and applies to all members of the transition team. Updates to that bill mandating the ethics pledge were introduced by Trump ally Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, and signed into law. in law by Trump himself in March 2020.

The source would not expand further on the Trump team’s concerns about the ethics pledge.

Trump’s the latest financial disclosures as a candidate he showed that he continued to make millions from his properties, books and licensing deals. He and his family recently launched a the new cryptocurrency business.

A a considerable part of his net worthMeanwhile, it is linked to the publicly traded parent company of Truth Social, the conservative social network. Trump is the controlling shareholder and said on Friday that he had no intention of selling his 114.75 million shares. worth about 3.7 billion dollars.

The Trump team ignored a pair of key pre-election deadlines to unlock transition activities with the Biden administration. General Services Administration and the White House. Experts are sounding the alarm about the impact on national security preparedness on Day 1.

The GSA deal, due Sept. 1, gives Trump’s team access to office space and secure communications, among other provisions. And the White House deal, due Oct. 1, serves as a gatekeeper for agency access and intelligence and lays the groundwork for Trump’s team to receive the security clearances needed to begin receiving classified information. The ethics agreement was also due by October 1.

A Trump adviser told CNN the president-elect plans to sign the ethics pledge, but said the transition team’s top priority is selecting and vetting candidates for top Cabinet positions. It is unclear when Trump will sign the pledge.

The adviser downplayed the missed deadlines, saying it was “not a concern at all,” but nonpartisan watchdogs and Democrats warned that not signing those agreements could pose a national security risk.

Trump’s team could have started receiving information from federal agencies as early as Thursday if he had signed the agreements, according to Valerie Smith Boyd, director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. Boyd estimated that “hundreds” of Trump officials involved in the transition will need background checks to receive classified briefings.

Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, warned of “serious” consequences if Trump’s transition continues to fail to engage with the president Joe Bidenhis team.

“Is it possible to get past all this? And the answer is that it is possible – and we’re watching it happen. But the consequences are serious. It wouldn’t be possible to be ready to govern on Day 1 without engaging” in interactions with agencies about the current state within the federal government and the world at large, Stier said.

The transition, he added, is a “point of maximum vulnerability” for US security.

“A new team that comes with the responsibility of taking over the most complex operation on the planet and perhaps the world. And to do that effectively, you definitely need to have done a lot of preliminary work,” Stier said.

If Trump is inaugurated in January without having participated in these activities, Stier warned, “He cannot be prepared to take over our government in a way that is safe for all of us. It’s just not possible. You will not have a larger team around him that is critical to getting our government up to speed and available to step into leadership positions in our government.”

White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients reached out to the heads of Trump’s transition effort on Wednesday to emphasize the Biden administration’s commitment to “conducting an orderly transition” and outline the agreements needed to move forward, a White House official said. The White House for CNN.

“Today, Chief of Staff Jeff Zients reached out to Trump-Vance Transition Co-Chairs Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon to clarify our intent to lead an orderly transition and to reiterate the role the agreements play in initiating transition activities,” the official said on Wednesday. .

Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, warned in a letter to Trump In the weeks leading up to the election, ignoring transition deadlines departs “from the well-established norms of the federal government and demonstrates a spectacular disregard for the continued success of essential institutions of American democratic government.”

Raskin said that without the memorandums in place, the transfer of power is at risk and could “threaten our national security.”

This has been a problem in the past: In 2000, while the Supreme Court was awaiting a recount in Florida, neither George W. Bush’s nor Al Gore’s teams were participating in a transition, which the 9/11 Commission report found that he contributed to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

CNN’s Arlette Saenz and Fredreka Schouten contributed to this report.