This memorandum, sent to President Bush’s White House Counsel Fred Fielding, details four major problems that limit the efficiency of the appointments process and recommendations to address those problems. It was authored, written by the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers on behalf of the Partnership for Public Service.
This memorandum from OMB Director Jim Nussle to agency and department heads outlines the George W. Bush administration’s plans for the development the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 budget focusing on a submission that will provide a complete current services budget baseline for an incoming administration.
Nussle directs agencies to wait until the new administration, or its transition team, is in place to complete the normal director’s review or “passback processes” with OMB. A current services baseline provides an estimate of costs to carry on existing programs and assumes no policy changes. This allows the president’s successor to assess current spending levels and make his or her own policy decisions in developing their initial budget proposal.
Article detailing the National Archives and Records Administration’s job of collecting and archiving the presidential records of an outgoing administration.
IBM Transition 2008 webpage provides four articles on the Prune Book.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) on legislative actions to enhance the transition process since 1960 and the text from major transition statutes.
This Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that provides a review of the 9/11 Commission recommendations and the status of their implementation at the end of the 109th Congress.
The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, signed into law as Public Law 108-458 in 2004, includes a provision which facilitates the security clearance process for members of presidential transition teams prior to Election Day.
The draft code of ethics details the expectations for members of the incoming Kerry-Edwards transition team. The document includes guidelines for accepting gifts, conflicts of interest, and other standards of conduct expected from employees of the transition team.
Report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concerning the monetary awards given to political appointees and how they compare to regular federal employees.
Memorandum documenting the lessons learned by Clay Johnson, lead for the Bush–Cheney 2000 presidential transition. He focuses on all aspects of the transition process from stakeholder management, staffing the White house, appointing the Cabinet to building and managing a rapidly growing, temporary team.