What Every Presidential Candidate Needs to Know About Government

Whatever the 2016 presidential candidates may think of the federal government they seek to lead, the General Services Administration has some news they all should welcome: the 2016 Presidential Transition Directory is now available.  

“The Presidential Transition Directory website is designed to help candidates in the 2016 Presidential election get quick and easy access to key resources about the federal government structure and key policies related to Presidential Transition,” GSA explains.

Whether the candidates want to eliminate agencies or add new ones, the website includes a range of information they should find useful, starting with a basic organization chart for the federal government. There's also helpful information about hiring, preparing for a security clearance, employee standards of conduct and the dos and don'ts of using government credit cards. 

There's also a section on managing public records (hint: don't use personal email for government business), including guidelines from the National Archives on presidential record keeping, documenting your public service, and a toolkit for managing electronic records.     

Most importantly perhaps for campaign staffers, the site has a link to the Plum Book, which lists more than 8,000 policy and support jobs open to political appointees. And for the candidate on the go, there’s even a Plum Book mobile version.