Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has missed deadlines to accept help from the federal government to prepare for a transition if he wins the election, potentially making an administration change even more stressful for federal workers.

Each campaign is scheduled to implement a Memorandum of Understanding regarding transition assistance with the General Services Administration by September 1 and with the White House by October 1. GSA’s agreement covers office space and information technology support, while the White House’s involves transition staffers’ access to federal agency facilities, documents and employees.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign reached an agreement with GSA on September 19, nearly three weeks late, and a Biden administration official said Government official in a statement that it has entered into an MOU with Harris, although such a document has not yet been made public. However, her campaign’s accompanying ethics plan for transition team members has been posted.

The official said the federal transition coordinator is “actively working with the Trump transition team to complete an MOU.” A GSA spokesperson said the agency “is prepared to begin providing services to the Trump transition team once an MOU is executed.”

Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment, but has previously said so Government official that it continues “to evaluate and communicate with GSA regarding options regarding the support provided by GSA.”

It would be a challenge for the White House to complete the second deal with Trump without him first signing the GSA document, since that agency provides secure networks and .gov email addresses that allow federal employees to securely exchange information with verified persons.

“(Agencies) have to plan. There is a lot of investment going on, so the uncertainty that these MOUs won’t happen is a real challenge for them,” Max Stier, chairman of the Partnership for Public Service, said at a press conference on Monday. “There will be a lot of work to be done… the early investment is critical to get it done and not place more burden on career civil servants.”

PPS, a nonpartisan good government group, hosts a Center for Presidential Transition that provides assistance to campaigns and agencies regarding changes in governance.

Valerie Smith Boyd, who directs the PPS Center for Presidential Transition, said the agreement with the White House is necessary for the new administration to gain access to the agencies it will manage.

“We have one president at a time. The federal agencies are part of the current government. And if federal agencies want to share information and meet with a president-elect, it is important to define the terms where that takes place (and) what type of high-level information can be shared,” she said.

While the MOUs are optional, Stier argued that they are “optional and pose real risk.”

“As far as this ‘we don’t trust the government’ proposal is concerned, that is a problem because if you run the government, ultimately you have to trust it,” he said. . “There may be elements that you are concerned about, but you will have to engage, and if you don’t engage, it will really endanger our country.”

Boyd emphasized that other aspects of the transition planning are moving along.

The White House has created the Transition Coordinating Council, made up of senior Biden administration officials. In both campaigns, individuals have been appointed to lead their transition teams. And each agency has appointed an employee in the Senior Executive Service career as transition director.

Eric Katz contributed to this report.