The president-elect intends to transfer control of the Trump Organization to his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. | Getty Watchdog: Transferring Trump's business to family won't 'eliminate conflicts of interest'

Donald Trump would not "eliminate conflicts of interest" by transferring his business holdings to his children, according to the nonpartisan Office of Government Ethics, although the office noted it had no power to require him to divest his assets or put them in a blind trust.

Trump late Monday postponed a planned announcement of how he would address potential conflicts of interest, tweeting that he would hand the reins of his business empire to his two sons, not his daughter Ivanka — who plans to relocate to Washington and had sparked frustration among ethics experts by attending meetings with foreign heads of state.


Senate Democrats have decried Trump's potential for conflicts of interest, and Delaware Democrat Tom Carper asked OGE to evaluate some of Trump's proposals for heading off any problems. In a response to Carper's questions, OGE pointed to what Trump himself has alluded to in his typically shoot-from-the-hip style: federal conflict-of-interest law exempts the president. While "every president in modern times" has adhered to OGE's advice on separating personal assets from official decision-making, the office said, it has "no power to require adherence to this tradition."

Democrats are sure to seize on the OGE missive, as they try to ramp up their own oversight into Trump, and to prod him to abide by the office's non-binding counsel on avoiding conflicts of interest, either by divesting his holdings or putting them into a blind trust. Carper led a Thursday letter signed by more than 20 fellow Democrats urging Trump to listen to the independent office.

“Clearly, transferring control of the Trump Organization to his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, as the President-elect announced his intention to do yesterday, does not solve the numerous conflicts facing the President-elect and his incoming administration,” the Delawarean said in a statement.

The little-known OGE drew outsized attention last month after Trump first began vowing to craft a bigger plan to avoid conflicts of interest, by congratulating him in a series of tweets that appeared to assume the president-elect had committed to selling his assets.

OGE also stated in its letter that Trump would not be required to abide by another presidential tradition by "voluntarily" releasing a financial disclosure report during his first year in office. His first required financial disclosure, the office stated, would be in May 2018.