LegiStorm

Summary:

The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (PTA) authorizes funding for the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide suitable office space, staff compensation, and other services associated with the presidential transition process (3 U.S.C. §102 note). The act has been amended a number of times since 1963 in response to evolving understandings of the proper role of the government in the transition process. Since the 2008-2009 transition, the PTA has been amended twice. The Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-283) did so by authorizing additional support to eligible candidates for pre-election transition planning. The 2010 act also included related provisions that were not included as part of the PTA at that time. The Edward “Ted” Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-136), enacted on March 18, 2016, incorporated some provisions of the 2010 law, with modifications, into the PTA. It also further amended the PTA with additional provisions for pre-election transition support for eligible presidential candidates. As amended, the PTA directs the President and the incumbent Administration to establish a specified transition-related infrastructure, with some features ongoing and others during a presidential election year only. It also authorizes the provision by the incumbent Administration of certain pre-election transition support for eligible candidates. In addition, the PTA authorizes eligible candidates to fund pre-election transition activities through their campaigns. The statute also establishes a process for designating and preparing career officials who will act as agency leaders during the transition process. It further provides for the negotiation, before the election, of memoranda of understanding between the incumbent President and eligible candidates concerning post-election transition matters. Once the President-elect and Vice President-elect have been ascertained by the GSA Administrator, the PTA authorizes the Administrator to provide, to each President-elect and Vice President-elect, certain facilities, funds, and services, such as office space and payment for office staffs and travel expenses. In order to receive services and funds under the act, eligible candidates, Presidents-elect, and Vice Presidents-elect are required to adhere to certain transition-related contribution limits and disclosure requirements. Other provisions of the PTA provide for expedited security clearance processes for transition team members and the incoming President’s top appointees. In general, presidential transition activities under these statutes are coordinated by the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The President’s FY2016 budget proposal for GSA included a request for $13.278 million in funding for activities authorized by the Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010 in anticipation of the 2016-2017 presidential transition. These requests were endorsed by Congress and included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, which was enacted on December 18, 2015 (P.L. 114-113). The President’s FY2017 budget proposal for GSA included a request for $9.5 million for PTA-related activities. The budget request for the Executive Office of the President included $7.582 million for PTA-related activities “and similar expenses.” Each of these two requests was funded at the proposed level in the Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017. From enactment of the PTA in 1964 (P.L. 88-277) through the presidential transition of 2008- 2009, much of the PTA-authorized and funded support was provided after the election of the incoming President and Vice President. The pre-election-related provisions enacted in 2010 had effect for the first time during the 2012 presidential election cycle, and those provisions enacted in 2016 will come into effect during the 2016-2017 presidential transition.