Federal agencies are ramping up efforts to prepare for a presidential transition

While former President Trump only just officially accepted the Republican nomination and President Biden is reportedly still weighing whether to run for reelection, federal agencies are already deeply engaged in planning for a potential presidential transition. 

Agencies must follow a series of federal laws aimed at ensuring an orderly transfer of power, if one occurs, that maintains the continuity of government even as 4,000 political appointees head for the exits and new officials take their place. While Congress has sought to formalize that process over the last two decades, the most recent two cycles—in 2016 after then-candidate Trump abandoned his slapdash planning after his unexpected victory and in 2020 when then-President Trump refused to concede his election defeat—encountered turbulence that agencies are now hoping to avoid. 

The General Services Administration leads those efforts and has appointed Aimee Whiteman, a career Senior Executive Service member, to serve as federal transition coordinator. Whiteman previously served as director of GSA’s presidential transition support team during the 2016 cycle and will lead a team of several dozen GSA staffers who are working with both agencies and Trump’s team to set up office space, prepare briefing materials and help any incoming administration prepare to hit the ground running upon taking office. 

After offering to make Whiteman available for an interview for this story, GSA opted to withdraw that offer and declined to answer any questions. 

Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young reminded agencies of their responsibilities in an April memorandum. Each agency had to name a transition director, an employee in a career Senior Executive Service role, by May. Those executives at major agencies are now sitting on the Agency Transition Director’s Council, as required in a 2016 update to transition law, and their tasks include working on an integrated strategy for the transition, coordinating with the White House and other agencies and assisting Whiteman in carrying out her duties. It will also provide guidance on the briefing materials all agencies must assemble for incoming administrations and help them prepare career employees designated to step into non-career roles during the transition period. 

Congress provided GSA with $10.4 million in fiscal 2024 for transition activities. The agency requested $11.2 million for fiscal 2025, but so far House Republicans have proposed trimming that amount to $10.2 million. 

The agency council is now meeting monthly and the White House Coordinating Council—made up of White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan, OMB’s Young and more than a dozen additional top White House staffers—has also started to meet.

In addition to the agencies participating in the council, more than 100 other agencies have selected a point person for transition activities. The Partnership for Public Service's Center for Presidential Transition is now leading monthly planning meetings for federal agencies and entities not a part of the official council. 

Valerie Smith Boyd, a former Homeland Security Department and White House official who now serves as that center’s director, said agencies are in the process of determining how many employees to pull for transition-related matters. At some larger agencies, said Boyd, who supported the DHS transition in 2008, that could be as many as five-to-10 full-time staffers. 

Those employees are now working to identify the materials and research prepared under previous efforts and whittling down the vast amounts of information at their agencies to a manageable and presentable distillation. 

“The first task is to identify how the agency has done it before, identify their team and figure out what the issue papers are that they need, that best prepare an incoming team to understand the issues facing the department on day one,” Boyd said. “It can be a challenge to narrow down to a reasonable number.” 

The process is now significantly more official than it was in decades past. Congress passed major overhauls since the initial 1963 transition law in 2010, 2016, 2019 and 2022, all of which sought to codify what the government must provide, the steps agencies must take and the role of career federal employees in preparing new administrations to govern.

Gone are the days when President Clinton staffers removed the “W” keys from White House keyboards inherited by new appointees of President George W. Bush. Even during the campaign of former Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the candidate was derided as “measuring the drapes” for planning to govern before the election. 

Now, Boyd said, the legislative reforms and efforts by more recent candidates have helped to “normalize the sense that every candidate should be preparing.” 

In this cycle, former President Trump has yet to name a transition director. The Heritage Foundation, however, has spearheaded its own transition playbook for whichever conservative next sits in the Oval Office. Project 2025 has gained significant notoriety and Biden and many others have sought to warn of the major consequences of the policies it proposes—including seeking to deprofessionalize much of the civil service—though Trump himself has sought to distance himself from the initiative. Boyd said it was encouraging to see outside groups working in support of the Trump team and it will be important to monitor to what extent his campaign “formally coalesces those efforts into something that officially represents the candidate.” 

Trump has been involved in rocky transitions both before and after his term as president. Former Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., led his transition effort in 2016, but those plans were largely abandoned after he won and his team had to start from scratch. In 2020, Trump refused to concede the election and GSA therefore delayed its “ascertainment” that Biden had won. The compressed timeline Biden’s team subsequently faced led to a legislative reform in 2022 that would give transition teams full access to the materials and funds required even during a contested outcome. 

Trump’s team held firm in 2017 that it was “locked and loaded” on day one to govern, but it only sent 500 political appointees to agencies throughout government after the president took the oath of office. By contrast, Biden swore in 1,100 appointees on his inauguration day, something Boyd called an “impressive achievement.” Biden also signed 19 executive orders within his first 19 days in office, whereas Trump signed just one. 

If Trump would like to see that type of early success, were he to be re-elected, he would have to start the planning immediately. Once the Democratic National Convention ends in August, GSA will begin offering office space, equipment, IT support and other transition services to about 100 members of Trump’s team. At that point, Boyd said, the onus will fall squarely on Trump to ensure his transition team is up and running. 

“It will be important for there to be a formal representative of the president to embark on that planning,” she said, adding a transition director would start formulating how to “turn their promises into plans.” The Trump campaign can also send a representative to all agency transition council meetings. 

If Biden decides at the 11th hour not to run for a second term, GSA would have to shift gears and prepare office space and other transition services for whichever Democratic candidate is nominated next month. 

Agency leaders will have to establish relationships with potential future administration officials to address trust issues between career and political staff, explain their initiatives and ensure continuity. Boyd’s transition center also works with campaign officials who may come into government without much public sector experience to help them understand things like federal hiring procedures and budgeting. 

As Trump begins considering names to serve in his potential next term, the FBI, CIA, Justice Department, Defense Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence will begin adjudicating background checks. The Office of Government Ethics, in coordination with agency ethics staff, will help potential appointees avoid any conflicts of interest. The National Archives and Records Administration is tasked with ensuring outgoing and incoming officials comply with record retention laws. 

GSA will release its next report to Congress in mid-September. Around the same time, agencies will have to designate their succession plan for all senior, non-career positions. After the election, a new administration would have access to a new tranche of funding and ramp up their meetings with agency personnel to discuss operational updates. 

Even as Trump and his vice presidential nominee, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, have expressed a deep distrust of career civil servants, Boyd stressed the importance of leaning on them if the Republican ticket wins the election in November.

“During this election cycle, they sign up for their jobs, knowing that they will serve whoever the people elect as the president,” Boyd said. “And they also have experience with priorities changing dramatically.”