GSA Transition Page

Presidential Transition Team

The Presidential Transition Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-293) authorizes the General Services Administration (GSA) to develop a transition directory in consultation with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The Act provides that the transition directory "shall be a compilation of Federal publications and materials with supplementary materials developed by the Administrator that provides information on the officers, organization, and statutory and administrative authorities, functions, duties, responsibilities, and mission of each department and agency." Senate Report 106-348 clarifies that the directory is intended to "assist in navigating the many responsibilities that fall on a new administration" that is "confronted by an overwhelming amount of material."

Obama Transition Team Named

Ben Smith's Blog: Political News about Democrats and the 2008 Election - Politico.com

Transition team

Obama announces his formal transition staff, drawn from his campaign team, Senate staff, and informal advisers. MSNBC is also reporting that Rahm Emanuel has signed on as White House chief of staff.

The "advisory board" is heavy on the old friends and law school classmates, as well as trusted backers, who have been there all along:Carol Browner, William Daley, Christopher Edley, Michael Froman, Julius Genachowski, Donald Gips, Governor Janet Napolitano, Federico Peña, Susan Rice, Sonal Shah, Mark Gitenstein, and Ted Kaufman. The latter two are Biden advisers.

The transition staff:

Chris Lu – Executive Director

Dan Pfeiffer – Communications Director

Stephanie Cutter – Chief Spokesperson

Cassandra Butts – General Counsel

Jim Messina – Personnel Director

Patrick Gaspard – Associate Personnel Director

Christine Varney - Personnel Counsel

Melody Barnes – Co-Director of Agency Review

Lisa Brown – Co-Director of Agency Review

Phil Schiliro – Director of Congressional Relations

Michael Strautmanis – Director of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs

Katy Kale – Director of Operations

Brad Kiley – Director of Operations

Transition HQ - GSA federal agency responsible for smooth, orderly transition

Ben Smith's Blog: Political News about Democrats and the 2008 Election - Politico.com

The U.S. General Services Administration has sent out the following press release announcing Obama as the "apparent winner" of the election:

GSA Turns Over Transition HQ to New Administration

WASHINGTON – Acting Administrator James A. Williams today, as part of GSA’s Presidential Transition responsibilities, declared an “apparent winner” and turned over the Presidential Transition headquarters to President-elect Barack Obama.

Today’s historic event marks the culmination of several years of rigorous planning at GSA. As directed by Congress in the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, GSA is responsible for providing the new Administration with office space, information technology, furniture, equipment, and other logistical support. GSA is also responsible for publishing a transition directory that provides an overview of each federal agency and arranging orientation briefings for new appointees. The Act also directs GSA’s Administrator to authorize the release of federal funds that provide for the day-to-day support of transition activities for the President-elect.

“I and the members of the GSA Presidential Transition Support Team look forward to supporting you during this transition period and throughout your administration,” Acting Administrator Williams said in an official letter of acknowledgement to President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, pursuant to Section 3 of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963.

“This is an historic moment for our nation and for GSA,” added Presidential Transition Director Gail Lovelace. “Our team has worked more than two years to complete this headquarters and help facilitate the orderly transfer of executive power.”

The 2008 Presidential Transition Headquarters, located in downtown Washington, provides approximately 120,000 square feet of fully furnished and computer-equipped office suite space.

“GSA was created nearly 60 years ago to provide superior goods, services and workplaces at best value so our client agencies can focus on their core missions,” Williams said. “We have done that in this instance as well, providing a world-class workplace for the incoming administration. This is a proud day for GSA, and it has been an honor to work with the campaign teams to fulfill our responsibilities and meet their transition needs.”

Obama turns to task of building administration

Obama turns to task of building administration: "After eight years of Republican rule, Barack Obama turned Wednesday to the task of building a Democratic administration to lead the country out of war and into the financial recovery that he promised.

Obama planned to spend the rest of the week at home in Chicago, turning in earnest to reviewing the hiring decisions he'll have to make in the next two-and-a-half months. Campaign advisers have already presented him with names to review for key positions, but they said he wasn't focused on filling the jobs before winning the election.

A top priority, the advisers said, would be picking a White House chief of staff to help manage the selections to come. Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel appeared headed for the job, said Democrats who spoke on condition of anonymity before the announcement, expected as early as Wednesday."

Transition and National Security

Military Prepares for Threats During Presidential Transition - washingtonpost.com

The U.S. military, bracing for the first wartime presidential transition in 40 years, is preparing for potential crises during the vulnerable handover period, including possible attacks by al-Qaeda and destabilizing developments in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to senior military officials.

Presidential Transition on the Web?

The Unnoticed Presidential Transition: Whither Whitehouse.gov?

Ever since George W. Bush was declared President-elect, attention has focused on the transition of power: what people and what policies define the new Administration? But in this first Presidential transition of the Web era, another unnoticed transition is under way: the President's presence on the Web, whitehouse.gov. This paper explores what whitehouse.gov is and how this transition should unfold, giving the new President a site reflecting his views and biography while preserving the content of the Clinton whitehouse.gov. We conclude with a proposal that the new whitehouse.gov staff work with the U.S. National Archives to provide perpetual Web-based archives of whitehouse.gov content.

IBM Center - transition resources

The Center for the Business of Government: Presidential Transition Series

The next President will face a wide range of challenges - economic, political, and social. He will need to be able to lead an effective government that can address these challenges. The IBM Center for The Business of Government is committed to helping identify and bring best practices from research to practice to help address these issues.

During 2008-2009, the IBM Center is devoting special attention to the needs of the incoming Administration. In addition to the many options to the right of the page, we are also sponsoring special forums on management challenges that are likely to face the next Administration.

The IBM Center, like in past years, is a member of a broader coalition of groups dedicated to improving government management.

US Senate - website on presidential transition

The United States Presidential Transition - United States Senate Web page containing transition information and resources.

Transition rules and information

Transition to a New Presidential Administration: General Information

There are four broad categories of individuals or positions that may be changed during transition:

*Presidential appointments made with the advice and consent of the Senate (PAS) to positions in which the incumbent serves at the pleasure of the President;
*Other Presidential appointments (PA) to positions in which the incumbent serves at the pleasure of the President;
*Noncareer Senior Executive Service (SES) appointments; and
*Appointments to other positions in which the incumbent serves at the pleasure of the agency head. These positions are excepted from the competitive service by law, by Executive order, or by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) based on their responsibility for determining or advocating agency policy or their confidential character (commonly known as "Schedule C" positions).

Transition Information

2008 Presidential Transition Initiative

The transition team itself will start to grow quickly. Based on past history, it could range in size from 300 to over 1,000 members. Most will be volunteers, some will be paid, few (if any) will be federal employees. So, most won’t know their way around the federal government. Here’s a quick resource guide:

Bush - success in transition

Bloomberg.com: U.S.

Meanwhile, Bush is engineering what may be the most carefully considered and potentially successful presidential transition in modern times, both Democrats and Republicans close to the process say. The president started the preparations last spring,
ordering federal agencies to get ready for a new
administration, with deadlines for various tasks. By August,
White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten had persuaded
representatives of Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack
Obama to join in. The advance work may get the new president
off to a fast start, participants say.