WASHINGTON, Nov 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden

and President-elect Donald Trump have yet to start the formal

transition process between administrations, which normally takes

months and involves the executive branch sharing information

with incoming officials on everything from foreign policy to

ongoing investigations.

Trump, who will be sworn into office on Jan. 20, has not

signed a series of transition documents with Biden, preventing

U.S. officials working for 15 agencies - including the Treasury,

State Department, Energy Department, Agriculture Department,

Transportation Department and others - from briefing his

incoming team.

The unusual situation could mean hiccups in some government

operations, some critics warn and raises questions about whether

Trump's appointees will clear ethics hurdles.

Here's what we know about what's going on:

WHY DOES THE TRANSITION MATTER?

It allows the incoming president's team to participate in

national security briefings or gain access to federal agencies

to begin the complicated work of preparing to take control of

the federal government on Jan. 20, 2025.

WHAT DOCUMENTS HAS TRUMP NOT SIGNED?

The Trump team has so far not signed two agreements needed

to kick-start the transition required by the Presidential

Transition Act: a memorandum of understanding with the General

Services Administration and another with the White House.

The GSA agreement would offer the transition team office

space, IT services and facilities, and the White House agreement

would allow transition team access to employees and documents of

federal agencies.

Under the transition law, the agreements also include a

robust ethics pledge. It requires Trump and his transition staff

to pledge they will avoid conflicts of interest once sworn into

office.

Trump's transition team was required to submit the ethics

pledge by Oct. 1, according to the 1963 law that provides

transition funding.

WHY HASN'T TRUMP SIGNED THE AGREEMENTS?

Two transition sources with knowledge of the matter said the

holdup is Trump having to walk away from his business interests

- something he does not want to do.

Three days after winning the election, Trump denied on Truth

Social that he was selling his shares in Trump Media &

Technology Group ( DJT ), the parent company of the social media

platform.

"I HAVE NO INTENTION OF SELLING!" he posted.

The Trump transition team's leadership has privately drafted

their own ethics document and a conflict-of-interest statement

governing its staff, sources said.

The documents do not meet the requirements of the transition

law and do not include language that explains how Trump will

address conflicts of interest during his presidency, sources

with knowledge of the transition said.

Not signing the documents also means the president does

not have to disclose the names of private donors, who are

funding his transition, and can raise unlimited amounts of cash

from them to fund his return to the White House. The transition

law requires these names be disclosed and caps such donations at

$5,000.

The Trump transition team has repeatedly said the

president-elect intends to sign the documents but the team's

main priority is selecting and vetting candidates. It remains

unclear when Trump will sign the pledge.

All transition staff have signed a robust ethics pledge as a

requirement of their participation, the transition team said.

"The Trump-Vance transition lawyers continue to

constructively engage with the Biden-Harris administration

lawyers regarding all agreements contemplated by the

Presidential Transition Act," said Brian Hughes, a Trump

transition spokesman.

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY ABOUT CONFLICTS?

The about $7 trillion annual U.S. federal government budget

is funded by American taxpayer money, and people who work in it

should not use their position or influence in ways that benefit

them or their businesses or families, according to multiple U.S.

ethics laws.

In 2019, Congress amended that law to require candidates to

create and publicly post an ethics plan before the election.

That bipartisan law was born in part out of concerns about

ethical issues during the first Trump administration.

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES?

The president is exempted from conflict of interest laws

because he oversees too many areas to make enforcement

practical, ethics experts said. The system relies on a

president's good-faith effort to separate his personal interests

from the country's when he takes office.

However the Supreme Court's ruling this year that Trump, as

a former president, is immune from prosecution for official acts

within his constitutional authority while in the White House,

raised questions about the norms.

WHAT ASSETS DOES TRUMP HAVE?

Trump has a stake valued at $3.76 billion in Trump Media &

Technology Group ( DJT ), as well as stakes in a cryptocurrency

business, real estate properties and several foreign deals.

The family real estate company, now run largely by Eric

Trump, owns a portfolio of hotels, golf courses, resorts and New

York City office space, retail operations and condominiums.

WHAT ABOUT SECURITY CLEARANCES?

The Trump transition team has not entered into a memorandum

of understanding with the Department of Justice to allow the FBI

to conduct background checks of nominees, and it hasn't sent the

FBI the names of prospective national security personnel who

would have access to classified information, one of the sources

said.

The transition is reportedly using private firms to vet

candidates, leaving open the possibility that federal law

enforcement may never properly review Trump appointees.

Circumventing background checks would be bucking a

long-established norm in Washington, but the president has the

final authority on whom he nominates and picks to conduct

background checks.

WHAT DID TRUMP DO THE LAST TIME?

In 2017, Trump said he would place his business interests in

a trust controlled by his two oldest sons and take other steps

to remove any suggestion of a conflict of interest with his

decisions as president.

Still, Trump repeatedly came under fire from the Office of

Government Ethics, responsible for oversight, for potential

conflicts of interest relating to his businesses and brands. The

government's top ethics official, Walter Shaub, resigned and

criticized the president six months after Trump entered office.

WHAT DO ETHICS EXPERTS SAY?

Trump could operate with little or no ethics oversight

during his second four-year term, making conflicts of interest

more possible. It also opens up new ways for foreign interests

and corporations to attempt to influence him and his

administration's policy by pouring money into his businesses.

At the end of his first term, at least 20 governments,

including Saudi Arabia and China, collectively spent more than

$7.8 million at his hotels and golf courses, according to a

report compiled by congressional Democrats.

It also severely affects the public's trust in government,

watchdog groups say.

Public trust in government hit some of the lowest levels in

over 60 years during Trump's last administration, when only 17%

of Americans trusted the government to do what was right.