Trump team says transition back on track
President-elect Donald Trump’s transition is back on track Wednesday after the team purged many of the people put in place by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a senior transition team member tells CBS News.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who replaced Christie as the head of the transition operation, had to rebuild the organization essentially “from scratch” due to a number of poor appointments by Christie, according to a transition team member. The team hopes to have some additional announcements Wednesday, but no senior positions are expected to be named.
Pence this week cast off several people from the team, including its registered lobbyists, with just 65 days until Trump takes his place in the Oval Office.
Jason Miller, a spokesperson for Mr. Trump, spoke with reporters Wednesday at Trump Tower in New York about the transition team’s recent shakeup.
Pence, Miller said, was “coming in and making good on president-elect Trump’s promise that we’re not going to have any lobbyists involved with the transition efforts.”
“It’s happening in a very orderly fashion,” Miller said of the transition to the White House. “We feel very good about it.”
The vice president-elect arrived in Washington, D.C. Wednesday at the transition team’s office. He and his wife are having lunch with the Bidens, and then Pence is expected to meet with top Trump adviser and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, after a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.