With a little over two months before Inauguration Day and the country facing a raging pandemic, an economic crisis and numerous national security and domestic challenges, the cost of withholding critical federal transition support increases every day.
November 8, 2020
The Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition is the nation’s premier nonpartisan source of information and resources designed to help presidential candidates and their teams lay the groundwork for a new administration or for a president’s second term. The Center has been active in transition activities on a bipartisan basis for four cycles.
We congratulate Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris on their successful and historic campaign for the White House. In our role we have observed the seriousness with which they have taken the transition planning process. They embraced transition planning early, recruited a seasoned and disciplined team and resourced their transition effort commensurate with the challenges that President-elect Biden will face on January 20. While there will be legal disputes requiring adjudication, the outcome is sufficiently clear that the transition process must now begin.
As candidate Biden becomes President-elect Biden, he and his transition team will quickly shift from campaigning to governing. To build an effective government ready to address the urgent needs of our great country, the new president will have to recruit 4,000 political appointees, including 1,250 who require Senate confirmation; prepare a $4.7 trillion budget; implement a strong policy agenda; and assume leadership of a workforce of 2 million civilian employees and 2 million active duty and reserve troops.
We want to also applaud the two other key stakeholders necessary for a successful transition – the White House staff and the career officials throughout the federal government with responsibility for transition planning under the Presidential Transition Act. The White House staff took implementation of the Presidential Transition Act seriously, met every statutory milestone and worked closely with the career officials responsible for transition planning. The career federal officials with responsibility for transition planning, led by the GSA, did exactly what one would expect from highly qualified, experienced career officials – they planned and prepared methodically for either eventuality – a Trump re-election or a Biden win.
Now the real challenge begins. We urge the Trump administration to immediately begin the post-election transition process and the Biden team to take full advantage of the resources available under the Presidential Transition Act. This was a hard-fought campaign, but history is replete with examples of presidents who emerged from such campaigns to graciously assist their successors. “Your success now is our country’s success,” George H.W. Bush wrote in 1993 to the incoming president who involuntarily retired him, “I am rooting hard for you.”
Josh Bolten, White House Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of Management and Budget, George W. Bush Administration (Republican)
Michael Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services and Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, George W. Bush Administration, Governor of Utah (Republican)
Thomas F. (Mack) McLarty, White House Chief of Staff, Clinton Administration (Democrat)
Penny S. Pritzker, Secretary of Commerce, Obama Administration (Democrat)
This study, prepared by the Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition and the Boston Consulting Group, analyzes how newly elected presidents have allocated their time between the election and the inauguration, how their spouses handled the transition and the post-election roles taken by presidential running mates.
Following the election, a president-elect traditionally engages in limited outreach to foreign leaders. Building relationships with key foreign leaders is critical and can help determine the success of the new president’s foreign policy. During the transition period, however, it is important for the president-elect and the staff to ensure the government is always speaking with one voice, particularly on matters of national security and foreign policy. As a result, the State Department traditionally has helped coordinate phone calls between a president-elect and foreign dignitaries. Best practice would be for the president-elect to avoid commitments that might undermine the current administration.
In the case of President-elect Barack Obama in 2008-2009, engagement with foreign leaders began with a series of phone calls placed shortly after Election Day to close American allies. This list included the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, Canada and Mexico. This engagement was strategic and intended to emphasize the importance of these nations to the United States.
Two days later, Obama placed calls to leaders in Russia and China, countries with more complex relationships with United States. The chart below, compiled by the Center for Presidential Transition and the Boston Consulting Group, illustrates the calls placed by Obama and offers a rough roadmap for what we can expect from Vice President Biden should he win the election.
A paper by UVA’s Miller Center Director and CEO William Antholis and Center for Presidential Transition Director David Marchick featuring lessons learned from previous transitions that occurred during political and economic crises.
As required by law, the Biden-Harris Transition Team released their ethics plan and code of ethical conduct, which transition team members are required to abide by throughout the presidential transition. The code addresses conflicts of interest, lobbying, access to non-public information, engaging with federal agencies and federal property and soliciting and accepting gifts.
The 2020 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Joe Biden transition team and the General Services Administration establishing the support and services the transition team will receive as described in the Presidential Transition Act. This document was signed by the Elizabeth Cain from GSA and a representative from the eligible candidate.
The Center for Presidential Transition’s comprehensive guide on the activities required during the transition. This guide for the 2020 presidential election cycle was produced in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group. It 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.
This letter stresses the importance of early preparation by President Trump and the Democratic candidates to be equipped for a second term or new administration.
The inspectors general serve as the canary in the coal mine, warning federal leaders of agency risks and vulnerabilities. They also have a unique, long-term perspective on their organizations since they typically remain in place through changes in leadership. In this report, “Walking the Line: Inspectors General Balancing Independence and Impact,” the Partnership for Public Service and Grant Thornton Public Sector set out to identify ways incoming agency leaders and Congress can form constructive relationships with the IG community.