Trump budget director bans key staffers from meeting with Biden transition team: report

On Thursday, Bloomberg News reported that Russ Vought, the Office of Management and Budget director under outgoing President Donald Trump, has blocked key officials at the agency from meeting with members of President-elect Joe Biden's transition team — possibly delaying the new administration's fiscal policy by months.

'The director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, has argued internally that the agency needs to focus on finishing new regulations the Trump administration plans to publish before the president leaves office, according to people familiar with the matter," reported Nancy Cook.

"But experts on the federal budget say Vought's refusal to give Biden's team access to career OMB officials is unprecedented and could hurt Biden's efforts to roll out big-picture, forward-looking ideas on everything from health care to climate change to taxes at the start of his four-year term."

OMB is a critically important agency that has its hands in a broad portfolio of domestic policy and helps the president calculate budget proposals.

As Trump has refused to accept the legitimacy of his defeat, several key members of the administration have dragged their feet in performing the basic duties of a presidential transition.

General Services Administration director Emily Murphy drew nationwide outrage after she spent weeks delaying the paperwork that would free up funds for the transition. Biden officials also allege Pentagon officials are not giving full access on national security information, although the Defense Department denies this.