On April 22, 2010, Partnership President and CEO, Max Stier, testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on the Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia on the presidential transition. Stier discussed the Partnership’s tracking of the 2008 transition and provided several recommendations based on the Partnership’s Ready to Govern (provide link to report) transition report, released a year after the inauguration. Stier thanked the members of the committee for their leadership in introducing S. 3196, the Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010, and offered additional recommendations, including mandating White House and agency transition councils.
Based on our examination of presidential transitions, and in particular the 2008–2009 experience, it is time once again to revisit and amend the presidential transition law to place requirements on the White House to better facilitate transition activities, and to enable campaigns and the president-elect to be better prepared to govern.
In this Ready to Govern report, we examine the three phases of the 2008–2009 transition—the pre-election timeframe, the period from the election to the inauguration and President Obama’s first year in office. In each section, we provide a short narrative based on the experiences and reflections of some key participants in the transition, and offer a series of recommendations for each phase on a broad range of transition issues. These include:
- Starting the transition process earlier and making it more transparent so there is no longer a stigma on preparing.
- Reducing the number of Senate-confirmed politically appointed positions.
- Congress and the White House to agree on a calendar of appointments so 500 key officials are confirmed at the six-month mark, rather than the current norm of a year.
Center for American Progress report that analyzes comprehensive new data on delays in the appointments process as well as appointee turnover in Senate-confirmed positions in executive agencies over the past five administrations.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on the importance of a smooth transition between presidencies and the responsibilities of both the incoming and outgoing White House administrations, along with issues that occur.
This memoradnum, written by the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s general counsel, sets parameters for the incoming transition team members joining from Obama for America 2008. The memo covers engagement in partisan political activities, promotion of political causes in accordance to the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, and appropriate use of files and documents that were used for former campaigns.
This short memorandum concerns the receipt of gifts and donations to President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden and the Transition Team.
Memo to employees of the U.S. House and Senate who are approved for service on the Transition team. The memo provides guidance to Congressional staffers on roles and responsibilities as a transition detailee, legislative coordinator or volunteer.
This Manual summarizes the personnel policies and procedures that are applicable to volunteers of the Office of President-Elect’s and Vice-President-Elect’s transition team. It covers topics including personal records, ethics, safety, attendance, dress code, and confidentiality.
This memorandum details the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s policies and procedures for handling certain classes of documents from federal agencies.
This memorandum from the Agency Review Working Group to the agency review teams outlines the workplan, timelines, organization, and deliverables for the agency review teams.