The Purpose and Process of Agency Review    

A core part of an effective transition and successful handoff of presidential power is agency review, which is the process of informing a new administration about the major issues facing the federal government’s various departments. It is key to understanding the immediate concerns and decisions that will confront an incoming team.  

Each transition team will set up their agency review operations differently, informed by the priorities of the candidate. They coordinate closely with the policy and personnel teams and ideally have a broad understanding of the functions of the various federal agencies and offices within the White House where they will land. 

An agency review team will typically grow over the course of the transition, from a handful of staff at the outset to a much larger team that will have oversight of more than 100 federal agencies across the government. Detailed review and examination, however, will likely focus on several dozen of the most high-profile agencies. For example, the Biden transition team built large agency review teams for 38 agencies consisting of over 500 staff and volunteers, producing overview briefings and proposed budgets.  

In preparing the incoming administration for Day One, representatives of a president-elect’s transition team will typically arrive at agencies in November to get up to speed on information to help make decisions on certain appointments, create briefing materials, review agency budgets and identify pressing issues and opportunities to implement the president-elect’s priorities. For example, during the 2016 transition, agency review teams were asked to prepare a two-page summary covering the budget, key agency initiatives, former administration policies that should be kept or discarded and proposals that an agency might want to pursue under a Trump administration. 

The agency review process is usually completed by January—ideally well before the inauguration—so incoming agency heads have ample time to be briefed and learn about the agencies they will lead. For example, in 2020, agency review teams briefed eight high-level nominees and provided information to help prepare for Senate confirmation hearings. 

Supporting the agency review process are the career officials who serve as the primary point of contact for agency review teams post-election. Federal agencies have been hard at work for over six months to prepare for the agency review process. In the spring, every agency appoints a senior executive to serve as their agency transition director, as required by law. These career executives assemble teams and prepare briefing papers about their agency’s major programs and priorities; update organization charts and lists of leadership positions; and develop other resources to share with a president-elect’s team. They also identify a workspace for each candidate team to meet with agency personnel. 

The conditions of agency access post-election are outlined in an agreement between the White House and eligible candidate that is finalized, to the maximum extent practicable, by Oct. 1 of an election year. Without this agreement in place, agency review team members do not have access to critical intel about decisions and challenges facing federal agencies – including information about national security risks. On Nov. 26, 2024, the Trump transition announced they have signed this agreement, allowing for certain, authorized members of the Trump transition team to have access to agency and White House employees, facilities and information. 

Listen to our “Transition Lab” podcast for more on agency review. To learn more about other parts of the presidential transition, please see the Center for Presidential Transition’s comprehensive guide on presidential transition planning here.