White House Transition Coordinating Council

The Presidential Transition Act of 1963, as amended (3 U.S.C. 102 Note) requires the president to establish a White House Transition Coordinating Council to provide guidance regarding preparations for the presidential transition, including succession planning and preparation of briefing materials. By statute, the president is required to convene the WHTCC six months before the date of the Presidential election. The council’s role is to:

• Provide guidance to executive departments and agencies and the Federal Transition Coordinator regarding preparations for the presidential transition, including succession planning and preparation of briefing materials.
• Facilitate communication and information sharing between the transition representatives of eligible candidates and senior employees in agencies and the Executive Office of the President, including the provision of information relevant to facilitating the personnel aspects of a presidential transition and such other information that, in the Council’s judgment, is useful and appropriate, as long as providing such information is not otherwise prohibited by law.
• Prepare and host interagency emergency preparedness and response exercises.

Council membership

• Senior employees of the Executive Branch who the president selects, which may include the Chief of Staff to the President, any cabinet officer, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Administrator, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, and the Archivist of the United States.
• The GSA Federal Transition Coordinator.
• The transition representative for each eligible candidate, who shall serve in an advisory capacity.
• Any other individual the president determines appropriate.

Agency Transition Directors Council

The Presidential Transition Act of 1963, as amended (3 U.S.C. 102 Note) also requires the president to establish and operate an Agency Transition Directors Council. The council’s role  is to:

• Ensure the federal government has an integrated strategy for addressing interagency challenges and responsibilities around Presidential transitions and turnover of non-career appointees.
• Coordinate transition activities among the Executive Office of the President , agencies, and the transition team of eligible candidates and the President-elect and Vice-President-elect.
• Draw on guidance the WTCC provides and lessons learned from previous presidential transitions in carrying out its duties.
• Assist the Federal Transition Coordinator in identifying and carrying out their responsibilities relating to a presidential transition.
• Provide guidance to agencies in gathering briefing materials and information relating to the presidential transition that may be requested by eligible candidates.
• Ensure briefing materials and information relating to the presidential transition that eligible candidates may request are prepared no later than Nov. 1 of the year during which a presidential election is held.
• Ensure agencies adequately prepare career employees who are designated to fill non-career positions during a presidential transition.
• Consult with the President’s Management Council, or any successor thereto, in carrying out its duties.

Council membership

The ATDC is co-chaired by the Federal Transition Coordinator at the General Services Administration and the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget. Members of the ATDC include:

• OMB’s Deputy Director for Management (co-chair).
• GSA’s Federal Transition Coordinator (co-chair).
• Department of Agriculture.
• Department of Commerce.
• Department of Defense.
• Department of Education.
• Department of Energy.
• Department of Health and Human Services.
• Department of Homeland Security.
• Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• Department of the Interior.
• Department of Justice.
• Department of Labor.
• Department of State.
• Department of Transportation.
• Department of the Treasury.
• Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Environmental Protection Agency.
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
• National Archives and Records Administration.
• Office of Personnel Management.
• Office of Government Ethics.
• Any other agency determined by the co-chairpersons to be an agency that has significant responsibilities relating to the presidential transition process.
• A transition representative for each eligible candidate (advisory capacity).