Incoming administrations must prepare for transition much earlier than they have in the past – prior even to the general election. Doing so can better prepare the transition team to fill nominated positions significantly faster, cutting back on the high-level vacancies that have plagued past administrations in their first years. In addition to the specific deadlines which we propose in our White Paper, the Commission suggests transition staffs and Presidential Personnel Offices (PPO) adopt the following guidelines in Exhibit 7 to reach the staffing deadlines on time:

Exhibit 7. Click above image to view and download

We suggest presidential campaigns begin their respective transition preparation in June of the election year by identifying their choice to lead the PPO. From there, candidates should have at least 2 full-time staffers preparing for transition and work to identify their 100 most important nominated positions by July. Immediately following election, the now president-elect should have 13-15 full-time transition staff who will start vetting candidates for the top 100 identified positions. After inauguration, the transition staff, now the PPO, should again grow to about 20 and be able to vet and process 50-80 potential nominees per month. This pace should continue until May following election, by which time the PPO should have processed the 400 top positions.