Donald Trump’s transition starts now. Here’s how it will work

By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump ‘s impending instrumentality to the White House means he’ll privation to basal up an wholly caller medication from the 1 that served nether President Joe Biden. His squad is besides pledging that the 2nd won’t look overmuch similar the archetypal 1 Trump established aft his 2016 victory.

The president-elect present has a 75-day transition period to physique retired his squad earlier Inauguration Day arrives connected Jan. 20. One apical point connected the to-do list: filling astir 4,000 authorities positions with governmental appointees, radical who are specifically tapped for their jobs by Trump’s team.

That includes everyone from the caput of authorities and different heads of Cabinet departments to those selected to service portion clip connected boards and commissions. Around 1,200 of those statesmanlike appointments necessitate Senate confirmation, which should beryllium easier with the Senate present shifting to Republican control.

Here’s what to expect:

What volition the modulation look like?

Though the turnover successful the caller medication volition beryllium total, Trump volition beryllium acquainted with what helium needs to accomplish. He built an wholly caller medication for his archetypal word and has definite ideas connected what to bash otherwise this time.

He’s already floated immoderate names.

Trump said astatine his triumph enactment aboriginal Wednesday that erstwhile statesmanlike hopeful and anti-vaccination activistic Robert Kennedy Jr. volition beryllium tapped to “help marque America steadfast again,” adding that “we’re going to fto him spell to it.” Ahead of the election, Trump didn’t cull Kennedy’s calls to end fluoridated water. Trump has besides pledged to marque South African-born Elon Musk, a vocal protagonist of the Trump campaign, a caput of national “cost-cutting,” and the Tesla CEO has suggested helium tin find trillions of dollars successful authorities spending to hitch out.

The modulation is not conscionable astir filling jobs. Most presidents-elect besides person regular oregon near-daily quality briefings during the transition.

In 2008, outgoing President George W. Bush personally briefed President-elect Barack Obama connected U.S. covert operations. When Trump was preparing to instrumentality bureau successful 2016, Obama’s nationalist information adviser, Susan Rice, briefed Michael Flynn, her designated successor successful the caller administration. In 2020, Trump’s ineligible challenges of the election’s results delayed the commencement of the modulation process for weeks, though, and statesmanlike briefings with Biden didn’t statesman until Nov. 30.

Who is helping Trump done the process?

Trump’s modulation is being led chiefly by friends and family, including Kennedy Jr. and erstwhile Democratic statesmanlike campaigner Tulsi Gabbard, arsenic good arsenic the president-elect’s big sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and his moving mate, JD Vance. Transition co-chairs are Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon, the erstwhile wrestling enforcement who antecedently led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s archetypal term.

Lutnick said this year’s cognition is “about arsenic antithetic arsenic possible” from the 2016 effort, which was archetypal led by Chris Christie. After helium won 8 years ago, Trump fired Christie, tossed retired plans the erstwhile New Jersey politician had made and gave the occupation of moving the modulation to then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

At the commencement of his archetypal term, Trump assembled an archetypal Cabinet that featured immoderate much mainstream Republicans and concern leaders who yet disappointed, oregon broke publically with him, oregon both. This time, Trump has promised to worth loyalty arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable — a doctrine that whitethorn guarantee helium makes picks that are much intimately aligned to his ideological beliefs and bombastic nonrecreational style.

Unlike the run of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s squad didn’t motion immoderate pre-Election Day transition agreements with the General Services Administration, which fundamentally acts arsenic the national government’s landlord. He has truthful already missed deadlines to hold with GSA connected logistical matters similar bureau abstraction and tech enactment and with the White House connected entree to agencies, including documents, employees and facilities.

New modulation rules

In 2020, Trump argued that wide elector fraud — which hadn’t really occurred — outgo him the election, delaying the commencement of the modulation from his outgoing medication to Biden’s incoming 1 for weeks.

Four years ago, the Trump-appointed caput of the GSA, Emily Murphy, determined that she had nary ineligible lasting to find a victor successful the statesmanlike contention due to the fact that Trump was inactive challenging the results successful court. That held up backing and practice for the transition.

It wasn’t until Trump’s efforts to subvert predetermination results had collapsed crossed cardinal states that Murphy agreed to formally “ ascertain a president-elect ” and statesman the modulation process. Trump yet posted connected societal media that his medication would cooperate.

To forestall that benignant of holdup successful aboriginal transitions, the Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 mandates that the modulation process statesman 5 days aft the predetermination — adjacent if the victor is inactive successful dispute. That is designed to debar agelong delays and means that “an ‘affirmative ascertainment’ by the GSA is nary longer a prerequisite for gaining modulation enactment services,” according to bureau guidelines connected the caller rules.

The uncertainty stretched adjacent longer aft the 2000 election, erstwhile 5 weeks elapsed earlier the Supreme Court settled the contested predetermination betwixt Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore. That near Bush with astir fractional the accustomed magnitude of clip to negociate transitioning the authorities from the outgoing Clinton administration. That yet led to questions astir nationalist information gaps that whitethorn person contributed to the U.S. being underprepared for the Sept. 11 attacks the pursuing year.