Worried about the corporate gazillionaires whom Donald Trump is naming to his cabinet? Don’t fret — it could be months, if ever, before these people set foot inside the federal government. Mr. Trump’s transition team is seriously behind — some in Washington say they’ve gotten nowhere — on vetting his nominees for potential conflicts of interest. Whatever one thinks of his choices, this does not bode well for a smooth transfer of power.

Unlike his reality TV show, Mr. Trump doesn’t get the final say on hiring. Nominees face a long process to ensure they’ll be working for the American people, not for their own enrichment. By law, they must submit hundreds of pages of financial disclosures, shed assets and jobs and take other steps to avoid conflicts of interest. They must undergo an F.B.I. background check that looks back 15 years. That’s just the executive branch. The Senate, which has the power to confirm or reject nominees, has its own disclosure requirements.

Mr. Trump, as everyone knows, has yet to abide by the same procedures. Though not required by law to do so, past presidents have shed their business interests, partly to show they have nothing to hide and partly to demonstrate the same commitment to public service that the law demands from their teams. Mr. Trump has not only failed to divest himself of his principal holdings but is unwilling even to quit his job at “The Celebrity Apprentice.”