President-elect takes deliberate, organized approach to transition

Rather than rolling out a few major Cabinet appointments, President-elect Barack Obama has begun his transition much the way he ran his presidential campaign: by deploying a large network of advisers to examine existing government rules and programs. In response, agencies and outside groups have prepared both resources and wish lists for the new administration.

The mechanics of the transition provided the major news of the week. John Podesta, president of the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress and co-chair of Obama's transition team, announced on Tuesday that lobbyists would be banned from funding the transition. Lobbyists can serve on the transition team, but only in areas outside of their lobbying activities.

The Lost In Transition blog, a joint effort of Government Executive and National Journal, obtained documents governing the relationship between the Bush and Obama transition teams. The memos revealed little of the substance about what the two teams will work on, but they suggested an important focus on controlling information. The memorandum of understanding, signed by Podesta and Joshua Bolten, Bush's chief of staff, deals with communication between the two teams, rules regarding release of confidential information and an informal dispute resolution process to handle unauthorized disclosures of transition information. Strict control of information flow also characterized Obama's primary and general election campaigns.

Other than the choice of Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel as Obama's chief of staff and Washington lawyer Ron Klain as Vice President-elect Joseph Biden's top aide, the new administration did not announce any major personnel decisions this past week. Podesta said Cabinet-position nominations would not be announced until after Thanksgiving.

But the Obama-Biden team did introduce the transition groups that will lead extensive reviews of agencies' policies and programs. Team leaders were announced on Wednesday, and on Friday, the transition team released a full list of the groups' members. Sally Katzen, a fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration, law professor, and former administrator of the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and deputy director for management, will lead the review of government operations.

The agencies should be ready for the review teams. Since July, agencies, under the direction of current OMB Deputy Director for Management Clay Johnson, have been preparing for the handover. The Office of Personnel Management is working on a federal human capital handbook for the next administration, and the Defense Department already has prepared its transition guide.

Federal employees also have suggested how Obama can engage the career workforce. The Senior Executives Association has released a white paper recommending that political appointees be briefed on the important role of career executives and that Obama engage regularly with top civil servants. Many federal unions in particular have lengthy wish lists and plan to pursue their priorities aggressively.