Agencies send ‘hot lists’ of key issues to Obama review teams

Federal agencies have put together lists of top policy, management, legal and infrastructure issues for President-elect Barack Obama's agency review teams, a top presidential transition official said on Wednesday.

Gail Lovelace, transition director at the General Services Administration, said at a breakfast sponsored by Government Executive that agencies have submitted "hot lists" of key issues that will require immediate attention by new administration officials.

In a July 18 memo, the Bush administration's Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to submit lists of top issues to the White House for review by Nov. 1.

Lovelace said the range of issues at each agency differs, with one listing only 10 items and another identifying 44 considered urgent.

Obama's agency review teams began their work on Monday, and are expected to provide detailed reports to the Obama transition team prior to the Jan. 20 inauguration.

In past transitions, some review teams approached their task as a way to better understand agency operations and structures, Lovelace said. But given that many members of the Obama review teams served at their respective agencies during the Clinton administration, she added, many will be ready to "delve a little deeper" into the top issues facing federal agencies.

"The hot issues, in my view, are a starting point for discussion, because many of [the review team members] are coming in trying to understand certain things they knew eight years ago, and where those things stand now," she said.

GSA considered that dynamic in preparing its own briefing book for incoming political appointees, which includes charts illustrating how agency operations have changed since the Clinton administration, Lovelace added.

The hot issues lists also will help agencies balance what information can and cannot be shared with the agency review teams, Lovelace said. Most teams will be privy only to information that is publicly available, she said.

The review teams "have a very short timeline and very specific deliverables that they have to provide to the presidential transition team," Lovelace said. "They are going to learn fast because they have various deadlines and requirements."

Lovelace said a cross-agency coordinating group made up of career federal executives has been meeting since early summer to plan for the transition. "We have worked very carefully to make sure the teams coming into agencies understand what they can and cannot do," she said.