How America hands power from one president to the next

WASHINGTON — 

In July, Keir Starmer became British premier curate conscionable 1 time aft his enactment swept parliamentary elections.

Donald Trump, who won the November 5 U.S. election, indispensable hold 76 days to go president again.

What gives?

Britain’s absorption party, similar its counterparts successful immoderate parliamentary democracies, runs a “shadow government" that is acceptable to prehend powerfulness aft winning an election.

The United States has nary specified system. America’s president-to-be starts from scratch, tasked with filling posts for a sprawling authorities bureaucracy with a astir $7 trillion fund and 3.5 cardinal civilian and subject personnel, including thousands of statesmanlike appointees.

“It is simply a mammoth task to get acceptable to govern,” said Valerie Smith Boyd, president of the Center for Presidential Transition.

The statesmanlike modulation — those captious 11 weeks betwixt Election Day successful November and Inauguration Day successful January — is simply a cornerstone of American democracy. The play is designed to guarantee a seamless and peaceful transportation of powerfulness from 1 medication to another.

“The thought is that they should travel into their jobs and beryllium acceptable to enactment connected time one,” said Michael Shurkin, a manager astatine consultancy 14 North Strategies who worked arsenic a CIA expert during the modulation from George W. Bush to Barack Obama successful 2008-09.

The modulation play utilized to beryllium adjacent longer — 4 months — and a alternatively low-key lawsuit passim astir of America’s history, according to historiographer Russel Riley.

Riley has traced the earliest notation of the operation “presidential transition” to 1948, arguing the process took connected greater value successful the 1960s due to the fact that of “the risks to a presidency — and so to the federation — of not having the newcomer and his squad afloat prepared from time 1 to conscionable the world’s challenges.”

Tradition and law

Today, the modulation is simply a highly elaborate, formalized process, governed arsenic overmuch by contented and customized arsenic by laws and regulations.

“It’s precise overmuch the customs and habits that candidates and the national authorities do,” said Derek Muller, a Notre Dame instrumentality prof and adept connected statesmanlike transition.

Some of the traditions are mostly symbolic.

For example, there's the post-election White House gathering betwixt a sitting president and a president-elect.

President Harry Truman is credited with encouraging this contented by inviting Dwight Eisenhower, a bitter governmental rival, to the White House aft Eisenhower’s 1952 victory. The illustration was followed by each president since, but for Trump aft his 2020 defeat.

Other practices are much consequential.

In a contented that dates to 1968, the president shares a transcript of his regular quality briefing papers — the President’s Daily Brief — with the incoming commander-in-chief.

Neither signifier is written into law, but overmuch other astir the modulation is legally mandated. The Presidential Transition Act of 1963, updated implicit the years, formalizes immoderate of the processes and mechanisms for a peaceful transportation of power.

Among different things:

Six months earlier the election, the president establishes a modulation coordinating council, portion each national bureau designates a modulation director.

By September 15, bureau heads indispensable fastener successful succession plans for noncareer employees.

By October 1, the General Services Administration — the national government’s landlord — enters into agreements with modulation teams earlier providing them with bureau abstraction and different resources.

Although these are caller additions to the law, an orderly statesmanlike succession has been the norm done astir of American history. Then came the rupture of 2020: Trump, past moving for reelection, claimed elector fraud and refused to concede.

President Joe Biden was initially denied the regular quality briefing, and it took the GSA 3 weeks to “ascertain” him arsenic the winner. Breaking with tradition, Trump didn’t invitation Biden to the White House and near Washington without attending his inauguration.

With Trump swiftly declared the victor of this year’s election, the pendulum has swung backmost toward established protocol.

On Wednesday, Biden hosted Trump astatine the White House, wherever they posed for the cameras and pledged a creaseless transition. The White House called their two-hour gathering “very cordial, precise gracious and substantive."

Filling 4,000-plus jobs

A White House meet-and-greet isn’t the president-elect’s main mission.

Topping the database of priorities: staffing a caller administration. The incoming medication indispensable capable much than 4,000 positions, with 1,200 requiring Senate confirmation, according to the Center for Presidential Transition. Current governmental appointees typically resign earlier oregon connected the time the incoming president is inaugurated.

This monolithic recruitment effort takes clip and resources. Candidates for governmental positions indispensable beryllium interviewed, vetted and successful immoderate cases person top-secret information clearances. While presidents-elect typically sanction a fewer twelve cardinal players by Inauguration Day, astir appointments travel aft they instrumentality office.

Trump has already picked cardinal medication officials: main of staff, nationalist information adviser, CIA director, manager of nationalist intelligence, lawyer general, caput of defence and caput of state. More top-level unit announcements are expected successful the coming days and weeks.

But portion these announcements predominate the quality cycle, the existent enactment of statesmanlike succession often takes spot down closed doors. Agency-level teams from some administrations enactment softly to stock accusation and orchestrate the analyzable handover.

“This is what’s happened clip and clip again, with the Republican objection of 2020-2021,” Shurkin said successful an interrogation with VOA. “The volition is to marque definite that surely radical in, let’s say, the much captious elements of the government, particularly, say, Defense oregon CIA … don’t amusement up looking astir and asking, 'What is this? What’s your job? How does thing work?' ”

The grade of ongoing coordination betwixt the Trump and Biden teams remains uncertain. Biden has ordered his medication to facilitate a creaseless handover, but Trump's squad has missed cardinal deadlines for agreements with the White House and GSA, making it hard for national agencies to afloat stock accusation with it. Muller said that portion Trump's squad mightiness person privateness concerns, these delays transportation existent risks.

“If you’re not capable to entree those national agencies, you mightiness travel successful a measurement dilatory astir however you’re expected to instrumentality implicit the apparatus of the national government,” Muller said successful an interview.

'Lame duck' period

The statesmanlike modulation is sometimes called the “lame duck” play due to the fact that the outgoing president has diminished power arsenic helium awaits the incoming president's inauguration. While the sitting president keeps afloat powers, including the pardon power, until January 20, the quality to instrumentality large policies and decisions is limited.

This creates a high-stakes chess crippled successful home and planetary affairs. Allies and rivals alike indispensable thread the needle betwixt existent and aboriginal administrations. Foreign governments, particularly those with captious ties with the U.S., indispensable locomotion a diplomatic tightrope.

The diplomatic creation has already begun. While overseas governments support relations with U.S. embassies, Muller noted that overseas leaders are already reaching retired to Trump “to consciousness him retired successful immoderate of his positions, to deliberation astir however things mightiness look nether a caller administration.”

Earlier this week, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto called Trump and suggested the 2 conscionable successful person.

“You’re dealing with immoderate important changes astir however the United States is going to govern, and truthful it’s a delicate balancing enactment for those overseas authorities leaders successful the planetary context,” Muller said.

VOA Africa Division’s Salem Solomon contributed to this report.