The Center is designed to help presidential candidates and federal agencies successfully navigate the presidential transition process, and to highlight the importance of ensuring that the winner of the 2020 election is fully prepared to govern.
While we work confidently with the presidential transition teams, our experts are available to the news media as a nonpartisan source of information on transition-related issues. These experts have been featured in outlets such as The Washington Post, Special Report with Bret Baier, The Atlantic and US News and World Report, among others. Since 2016, we have collaborated with The Washington Post on a tracker following over 700 key executive branch positions requiring Senate-confirmation, including Cabinet secretaries, deputy and assistant secretaries and ambassadors.
MEDIA CONTACTS
For more information on our media efforts, please see our resources, or reach out to a member of our communications team:
Austin Laufersweiler
Press Secretary
(202) 775-2747
alaufersweiler@ourpublicservice.org
INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
Campaign Teams Transition Teams Current Administration Federal Agencies CongressRESOURCES
2020 Presidential Transition Guide
The Partnership’s comprehensive guide on the activities required during the transition. This updated guide, produced in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, features detailed outlines of transition best practices, historical materials from past transitions, and recommendations for a successful presidential transition to a new or second-term administration.
Presidential Transition Act Summary
In passing the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, Congress explained: “Any disruption occasioned by the transfer of the executive power could produce results detrimental to the safety and well-being of the United States and its people.” To promote the orderly transfer of power, Congress established a framework for the federal government to prepare for a transition from one president to another.
Learn more
Political Appointee To Civil Servant: What the Public Should Know About “Burrowing In”
During election seasons, the status of political appointees in the federal workforce come under increased scrutiny. Under all recent presidents, some political appointees have attempted to become civil servants — a process commonly called “burrowing in.” Unlike political appointments, civil service positions do not terminate at the end of an administration. Conversion therefore allows political appointees to stay in government after the president who appointed them has left office.
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The Vacancies Act: Frequently Asked Questions
This resource provides answers to many of the most frequently asked questions about the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.
A new challenge for transition planners: Building a government over Zoom
October 5, 2020
Publication Type: In the News
High-level meetings interrupted by crying children. A presidential nominee taking diligent notes as he receives a virtual policy briefing at home. Advisers who have never met in person working to put together a federal government. This is what presidential transition planning looks like in the age of Zoom.
Ex-Chiefs of Staff: Trump’s Coronavirus Test Can’t Keep White House From Working
October 2, 2020
Publication Type: In the News
The White House must find a way to keep working and show that the government is still operating notwithstanding illness or the absence of the president, a group of former chiefs of staff said on Friday morning. A bipartisan panel brought together for a virtual event by the Center for Presidential Transition said that President Trump and…
What’s involved in a presidential power transition
October 1, 2020
Publication Type: In the News
Despite President Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the election, he does have a team cooperating on a plan with a team from the Biden campaign. What is involved in the process? The Center for Presidential Transition is a nonpartisan group that helps candidates prepare for the next…
Trump’s team plots his departure – even if he won’t
September 24, 2020
Publication Type: In the News
President Donald Trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses. But his team is carefully developing plans for that very outcome. One of the most organized and functional parts of the Trump White House these days is a surprising place — the West Wing office planning a potential presidential transition.
Transitioning to a possibly new administration
September 14, 2020
Publication Type: In the News
The former VP is preparing to take power amid twin health and economic crises. By Tom Temin Joe Biden has a new office in Washington, D.C., because as a major party nominee for president, he and his advisors are entitled to not only office space, but also computers, phones and support. It’s all part of the…
TRANSITION EXPERTS
