193-549: The presidential transition of Barack Obama began when he won the United States presidential election on November 4, 2008 , and became the president-elect . Obama was formally elected by the Electoral College on December 15, 2008. The results were certified by a joint session of Congress on January 8, 2009, and the transition ended when Obama was inaugurated on January 20, 2009 . The Obama transition organization
386-708: A global war on terrorism . He ordered an invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to overthrow the Taliban , destroy al-Qaeda , and capture Osama bin Laden . He also signed the controversial Patriot Act in order to authorize surveillance of suspected terrorists. In 2003, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq , alleging that the Saddam Hussein regime possessed weapons of mass destruction . Intense criticism came when neither WMD stockpiles nor evidence of an operational relationship with al-Qaeda were found. Before 9/11, Bush had pushed through
579-507: A simultaneous air and land attack on Iraq on March 20, 2003, in what the American media called " shock and awe ." With 145,000 soldiers, the ground force quickly overcame most Iraqi resistance, and thousands of Iraqi soldiers deserted. The U.S. captured the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on April 9, but Hussein escaped and went into hiding. While the U.S. and its allies quickly achieved military success,
772-405: A "careless and off-handed remark." There was one withdrawal, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson , whom Obama had named Secretary of Commerce . Richardson's administration was, at the time, the subject of a federal corruption probe; while maintaining that his administration was responsible for no wrongdoing, he withdrew so as to prevent a lengthy confirmation process from hindering the work of
965-698: A $ 1.3 trillion tax cut program and the No Child Left Behind Act , a major education bill. He also pushed for socially conservative efforts, such as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and faith-based welfare initiatives . Also in 2003, he signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act , which created Medicare Part D . During his second term, Bush reached multiple free trade agreements and successfully nominated John Roberts and Samuel Alito to
1158-626: A 58–42 vote in January 2006. In the years immediately after Roberts and Alito took office, the Roberts Court was generally more conservative than the preceding Rehnquist Court , largely because Alito tended to be more conservative than O'Connor had been. Bush also appointed 62 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals , 261 judges to the United States district courts , and 2 judges to
1351-620: A certified copy of the appointment's registration, and Burris delivered that copy, that bears the State Seal, to the Secretary of the Senate . His credentials declared valid, Burris was finally sworn in on January 15, 2009, by outgoing President of the Senate Dick Cheney . Biden had indicated that he would remain in the Senate until he was sworn in as vice president on January 20, 2009. Although he
1544-461: A halt to counting, rejection of votes, preventing certification of results, besides other remedies. Trump claimed that 2.7 million votes were "deleted" by the digital voting system used in some states, and said votes were switched from him to Joe Biden . Officials called the 2020 election the most secure in history and officials from all fifty states refuted claims of fraud. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden became generally acknowledged as
1737-650: A host of activities, such as vetting candidates for positions in the new administration, helping to familiarize the incoming administration with the operations of the executive branch, and developing a comprehensive policy platform. The use of the term "presidential transition" to describe the period between a president's election and assumption of office does not appear to have come to general usage until as late as 1948. The term " interregnum " has also been applied to this period of time. For much of U.S. history, they were far less elaborate operations and were carried out without very much advance planning or even cooperation from
1930-531: A judge, but who had worked as a corporate lawyer and White House staffer. Her nomination immediately faced opposition from conservatives (and liberals) who were wary of her unproven ideology and lack of judicial experience. After Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist informed Bush that Miers did not have the votes necessary to win confirmation, Miers withdrew from consideration. Bush then nominated Samuel Alito , who received strong support from conservatives but faced opposition from Democrats. Alito won confirmation in
2123-463: A longer-term economic agenda could then be formulated. That approach subsequently shifted to a longer-term stimulus plan, with a goal of creating 2.5 million jobs over a two-year period. With a cost of $ 700 to $ 800 billion, the stimulus plan would cost more than a quarter million dollars per job created (divide 750 billion by 2,500,000 yielding $ 300,000). In a nationally televised interview on December 7, he acknowledged that his agenda has changed over
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#17328511383512316-798: A major economic disaster, and he established the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to buy toxic assets from financial institutions. At various points in his presidency, Bush was among both the most popular and unpopular presidents in U.S. history. He received the highest recorded approval ratings in the wake of the September 11 attacks, but also one of the lowest such ratings during the Iraq War and 2007–2008 financial crisis. Although public sentiment of Bush has improved since he left office, his presidency has generally been rated as below-average by scholars. The oldest son of George H. W. Bush ,
2509-535: A massive investment in health information management technology . Consideration was also being given to funding for retraining medical workers, expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and expansion of the COBRA provisions, which allow unemployed workers to purchase health insurance through their previous employer's plan . One of the principal foreign policy issues that Obama ran on during
2702-451: A meeting to come up with a joint program to stop the crisis and calm investors, claiming it would limit his options, and as this "would guarantee that Roosevelt took the oath of office amid such an atmosphere of crisis that Hoover had become the most hated man in America". During this period, the U.S. economy suffered after thousands of banks failed. The relationship between Hoover and Roosevelt
2895-404: A month after Lincoln took office. In the 1876 election to succeed Ulysses S. Grant , there were disputes regarding 20 electoral votes in four states—enough to guarantee a majority for either Rutherford B. Hayes or Samuel J. Tilden —along with multiple allegations of electoral fraud . This made it unclear who would take the president's office on inauguration day. This constitutional crisis
3088-483: A more proactive manner in order to reach an agreement. A senior North Korean official recently told reporters that "we are ready to deal" with the incoming Obama administration. Obama also deliberated on how to deal with Iran. Outgoing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had assembled a coalition of six states—all five members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany—to confront Iran. While
3281-518: A partial manual recount, but the United States Supreme Court effectively ordered an end to this process, on equal protection grounds, in the case of Bush v. Gore , leaving Bush with a victory in both the state and the election. Bush won the presidential election with 271 electoral votes compared to Gore's 266, though Gore narrowly won a plurality of the nationwide popular vote, receiving 543,895 more votes than Bush. Bush thus became
3474-480: A program to spend $ 150 billion over 10 years to develop new renewable energy sources. This money would also be used to encourage energy conservation and help the auto industry develop fuel-efficient vehicles. However, Mother Jones reported that the Windfall Profits Tax on oil companies, which he frequently cited during the campaign, had been dropped from the agenda early in the transition. According to
3667-539: A resolution called the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists , authorizing the president to use the military against those responsible for the attacks. On October 7, 2001, Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan . General Tommy Franks , the commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), drew up a four-phase invasion plan. In the first phase, the U.S. built up forces in
3860-685: A reversal of Bush-era executive orders restricting funding to family planning (including abortion ) services and stem-cell research . There was also a possibility that a new cabinet level advisory post would be created overseeing the Department of Energy , Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency . According to Podesta, the transition team planned to conduct an exhaustive review of Bush's executive orders in an effort to find quick changes that could be implemented on
4053-557: A shift in U.S. public opinion towards support of the war, it failed to convince the French, Russians, or Germans. Contrary to the findings of Blix and ElBaradei, Bush asserted in a March 17 public address that there was "no doubt" that the Iraqi regime possessed weapons of mass destruction. Two days later, Bush authorized Operation Iraqi Freedom , and the Iraq War began on March 20, 2003. U.S.-led coalition forces, led by General Franks, launched
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#17328511383514246-545: A spirited challenge that was supported by many moderates and foreign policy hawks . McCain's loss in the South Carolina primary effectively ended the 2000 Republican primaries , and Bush was officially nominated for president at the 2000 Republican National Convention . Bush selected former secretary of defense Dick Cheney as his running mate; though Cheney offered little electoral appeal and had health problems, Bush believed that Cheney's extensive experience would make him
4439-501: A statement condemning the appointment and again calling on Blagojevich to resign. In addition, the Illinois Secretary of State , Jesse White , reiterated that he would not certify any appointment made by Blagojevich, although at the time it was not clear whether this could prevent Burris from taking office. Furthermore, the Senate might not actually have been able to refuse to seat Burris, as he met all constitutional requirements for
4632-553: A statement that "My focus now turns to a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power", although he continued to reiterate his false claims of widespread fraud and irregularities. President Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration , which made him the first president not to attend the inauguration of his elected successor since Andrew Johnson was absent from the first inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant in 1869. Vice President Mike Pence attended Biden's inauguration. Presidency of George W. Bush George W. Bush 's tenure as
4825-502: A struggle between the terrorists and the aircraft's passengers. The attacks had a profound effect on many Americans, who felt vulnerable to international attacks for the first time since the end of the Cold War . Appearing on national television on the night of the attacks, Bush promised to punish those who had aided the attacks, stating, "we will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them." In
5018-413: A terrorist campaign against U.S. targets, orchestrating attacks such as the 1998 United States embassy bombings and the 2000 USS Cole bombing . During Bush's first months in office, U.S. intelligence organizations intercepted communications indicating that al-Qaeda was planning another attack on the United States, but foreign policy officials were unprepared for a major attack on the United States. Bush
5211-485: A tour of the mansion. NBC News reported that Obama advanced his economic agenda with Bush, asking him to attempt to pass a stimulus package in a lame duck session of Congress before the inauguration. He also urged Bush to accelerate the disbursement of $ 25 billion in funds to bail out the automobile industry and expressed concern about additional Americans losing their homes as mortgage rates increase again. The Bush administration reportedly went out of its way to make
5404-530: A valuable governing partner. With Democratic President Bill Clinton term-limited, the Democrats nominated Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee for president and Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut for vice president. Bush's campaign emphasized their own candidate's character in contrast with that of Clinton, who had been embroiled in the Lewinsky scandal . Bush held a substantial lead in several polls taken after
5597-574: Is being rewarded." Summers was a leading advocate of the derivatives deregulation, together with Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin , and during his transition to Secretary of the Treasury, the act that kept commercial banks out of Wall Street , the Glass–Steagall Act , was repealed. Geithner instead was criticized for his failure to pay $ 34,000 in income taxes. The appointment of Eric Holder for attorney general raised concerns, due to his role in
5790-591: Is one of Obama's longest-serving advisers, and Pete Rouse , former Senate chief of staff for Tom Daschle who succeeded Rahm Emanuel as Obama's chief of staff. On November 5, the General Services Administration declared that Obama was the "apparent winner," making him eligible to receive transition funding and other government services, and granting him access to their 2008 presidential transition headquarters in Washington, D.C. Podesta estimated that
5983-445: Is the process during which the president-elect of the United States prepares to take over the administration of the federal government of the United States from the incumbent president . Though planning for transition by a non-incumbent candidate can start at any time before a presidential election and in the days following, the transition formally starts when the General Services Administration (GSA) declares an “apparent winner” of
Presidential transition of Barack Obama - Misplaced Pages Continue
6176-609: The 1796 United States presidential election . Despite most going smoothly, many have been bumpy and a few verged on catastrophic. During the 1860–61 transition from James Buchanan to Abraham Lincoln (November 6, 1860, to March 4, 1861), seven states seceded in February. Buchanan held the opinion that states did not have the right to secede, but that it was also illegal for the federal government to go to war to stop them. Buchanan peacefully transferred power to Lincoln on March 4, 1861. The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, just
6369-525: The 2016 presidential election cycle, Donald Trump began assembling his transition team in May, after he became the presumptive Republican nominee. His fall campaign opponent, Hillary Clinton , lagged behind in this regard, not forming a team until August, which was after she became the Democratic nominee. Key activities in this pre-election phase include: setting goals for the transition; assembling and organizing
6562-518: The 2016 presidential election , the acting GSA administrator issued the "ascertainment" letter the next day, on November 9, 2016. ) Biden had also been denied daily classified national security briefings. Further, the State Department denied access to communications from foreign leaders, leaving the Biden team to communicate through other unofficial channels. According to CBS News, "In past transitions,
6755-518: The 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas , took office following his narrow electoral college victory over Democratic incumbent vice president Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election , in which he lost the popular vote to Gore by 543,895 votes. Four years later, in the 2004 presidential election , he narrowly defeated Democrat nominee John Kerry , to win re-election and winning both
6948-450: The 9/11 attacks . The Presidential Transition Act of 2019 requires the incumbent president to establish "transition councils" by June of an election year to facilitate a possible handover of power. The transition process begins as leading presidential contenders forming a transition team to start making preliminary plans for building an administration and assuming the presidency should they be elected. This can take place at any time of
7141-524: The Bill Clinton administration , and with the Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan 's support, Bush argued that the best use of the surplus was to lower taxes. By the time Bush took office, reduced economic growth had led to less robust federal budgetary projections, but Bush maintained that tax cuts were necessary to boost economic growth. After Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill expressed concerns over
7334-507: The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act , stating that he thought the law would improve the financing system for elections but was "far from perfect." The law placed several limits on political donations and expenditures, and closed loopholes on contribution limits on donations to political candidates by banning the use of so-called "soft money." Portions of the law restricting independent expenditures would later be struck down by
7527-601: The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 , which included many of the president's proposals, but the bill did not pass the House of Representatives. After Democrats took control of Congress in the 2006 mid-term elections, Bush worked with Ted Kennedy to re-introduce the bill as the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 . The bill received intense criticism from many conservatives, who had become more skeptical of immigration reform, and it failed to pass
7720-619: The Education Department agency review team. Finally, John P. White and Michele Flournoy led the transition of the Defense Department . In mid-October, the George W. Bush administration convened a fourteen-member council to coordinate with and brief the winning campaign's transition team. The New York Times reported that White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten then planned to recruit his predecessor, Andrew Card , to oversee
7913-903: The Enron scandal, Bush signed the Sarbanes–Oxley Act into law. The act expanded reporting requirements for public companies Shortly after the start of his second term, Bush signed the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 , which had been a priority of his administration and part of his broader goal of instituting tort reform . The act was designed to remove most class action lawsuits from state courts to federal courts, which were regarded as less sympathetic to plaintiffs in class action suits. Bush endorsed civil rights and appointed blacks, women and gays to high positions. The premier cabinet position, Secretary of State, went to Colin Powell (2001–2005),
Presidential transition of Barack Obama - Misplaced Pages Continue
8106-491: The Illinois General Assembly to schedule a special election instead. Speaking through a surrogate, Obama called for Blagojevich's resignation on December 10. Had Blagojevich resigned or been removed from office before making the appointment, the duty would have fallen to Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn , who would succeed Blagojevich as governor. However, Illinois Senate president Emil Jones said that he would call
8299-473: The Inauguration Day (January 20) of a new president. The deputy secretaries are also expected to tender their resignation, but are commonly requested to stay on in an acting capacity until the confirmation by the Senate of the new secretary. Presidential transitions have existed in one form or another since 1797, when retiring president George Washington passed the presidency to John Adams , winner of
8492-479: The Iraq Study Group Lee H. Hamilton praising the choice. Obama's developing presidential agenda was divided into domestic and foreign policy issues. In most cases, this agenda involved addressing crises already underway. His principal strategic decisions concerned how quickly to move bills through Congress. Some of his advisors suggested moving quickly, as Franklin D. Roosevelt did in 1933, under
8685-666: The Iraqi insurgency opposed to the continuing U.S. presence. Fearing the further deterioration of Iraq's security situation, General John Abizaid ordered the end of the planned drawdown of soldiers, leaving over 130,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The U.S. captured Hussein on December 13, 2003, but the occupation force continued to suffer casualties. Between the start of the invasion and the end of 2003, 580 U.S. soldiers died, with two thirds of those casualties occurring after Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech. After 2003, more and more Iraqis began to see
8878-511: The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 , which cut taxes by another $ 350 billion over 10 years. That law also lowered the capital gains tax and taxes on dividends . Collectively, the Bush tax cuts reduced federal individual tax rates to their lowest level since World War II , and government revenue as a share of gross domestic product declined from 20.9% in 2000 to 16.3% in 2004. Most of
9071-939: The Kyoto Protocol , the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty , and the International Criminal Court . Terrorism had emerged as an important national security issue in the Clinton administration, and it became one of the dominant issues of the Bush administration. In the late 1980s, Osama bin Laden had established al-Qaeda , a militant Sunni Islamist multi-national organization that sought to overthrow Western-backed governments in Saudi Arabia , Jordan , Egypt , and Pakistan . In response to Saudi Arabia's decision to begin hosting U.S. soldiers in 1991, al-Qaeda had begun
9264-550: The OMB under Gerald Ford , was appointed secretary of the treasury, while former Missouri senator John Ashcroft was appointed attorney general. As Bush had little foreign policy experience, his appointments would serve an important role in shaping U.S. foreign policy during his tenure. Several of his initial top foreign policy appointees had served in his father's administration ; Vice President Cheney had been secretary of defense, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice had served on
9457-489: The Senate . Obama promised to promote a stimulus bill early in his presidency if one was not passed before his inauguration on January 20, 2009. In addition, Obama considered the request of the U.S. automotive industry for a cash infusion of $ 50 billion in addition to the $ 25 billion that had already been approved, but emphasizing that his support is "conditioned on them making significant adjustments." Obama also planned to push for
9650-589: The Supreme Court . He sought major changes to Social Security and immigration laws, but both efforts failed. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continued, and in 2007 he launched a surge of troops in Iraq . The Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina and the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy came under attack, with a drop in his approval ratings. A global meltdown in financial markets dominated his last days in office as policymakers looked to avert
9843-559: The Truman administration , Bush decided to use his newfound political capital to fundamentally change U.S. foreign policy. He became increasingly focused on the possibility of a hostile country providing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) to terrorist organizations. During his early 2002 State of the Union Address , Bush set forth what has become known as the Bush Doctrine , which held that
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#173285113835110036-482: The U.S. Department of Commerce . The position was filled by Gary Locke . Obama named Tim Kaine as new chairman of the Democratic National Committee , replacing Howard Dean who has clashed with Obama and his advisors in the past. Kaine served concurrently as Governor of Virginia until his term ended in January 2010. Obama named Aneesh Chopra for the new position of Chief Technology Officer of
10229-518: The U.S. Intelligence Community and expanded the government's domestic authority to conduct surveillance of suspected terrorists. The Patriot Act also authorized the use of roving wiretaps on suspected terrorists and expanded the government's authority to conduct surveillance of suspected " lone wolf " terrorists. Bush also secretly authorized the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless surveillance of communications in and out of
10422-644: The United States Court of International Trade . Among them were two future Supreme Court associate justices: Neil Gorsuch to a seat on the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 2006, and Brett Kavanaugh to the Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit in 2006. Bush's promise to cut taxes was the centerpiece of his 2000 presidential campaign, and upon taking office, he made tax cuts his first major legislative priority. A budget surplus had developed during
10615-570: The United States Supreme Court . Cheney and White House Counsel Harriet Miers selected two widely respected conservatives, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judge John Roberts and Fourth Circuit judge Michael Luttig , as the two finalists. In June 2005, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor unexpectedly announced that she would retire from the court, and Bush nominated Roberts for her position the following month. After Rehnquist died in September, Bush briefly considered elevating Associate Justice Antonin Scalia to
10808-607: The White House after his victory in the 1952 election . Eisenhower, smarting from an insult aimed at him by Truman during the campaign ("The general doesn't know any more about politics than a pig knows about Sunday."), declined to receive a direct briefing from Truman before the election. Truman also ordered federal agencies to assist with the transition. Eight years later, John F. Kennedy engaged in extensive transition planning on domestic and foreign policy issues, but did not meet with Eisenhower until December 6, 1960, four weeks after
11001-511: The federal government by updating heating and lighting systems in federal buildings, as well as significant investment in technology initiatives such as mandatory electronic medical records , improved computers in schools, and universal availability of broadband Internet access . Additional funding for Medicaid was also being considered. A similar stimulus bill was passed by the House of Representatives on September 26, 2008, but never approved by
11194-564: The reconciliation , which in turn necessitated that the tax cuts would phase out in 2011 barring further legislative action. After the tax bill was passed, Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party and began caucusing with the Democrats, giving them control of the Senate. After Republicans re-took control of the Senate during the 2002 mid-term elections, Bush proposed further tax cuts. With little support among Democrats, Congress passed
11387-400: The scientific consensus on climate change . Bush stated that he believed global warming is real and a serious problem, although he asserted that there existed a "debate over whether it's man-made or naturally caused". The Bush administration's stance on global warming remained controversial in the scientific and environmental communities. Critics alleged that the administration misinformed
11580-591: The $ 700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to buy toxic assets . The House rejected TARP in a 228–205 vote; although support and opposition crossed party lines, only about one-third of the Republican caucus supported the bill. After the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 778 points on the day of the House vote, the House and Senate both passed TARP. Bush later extended TARP loans to U.S. automobile companies, which faced their own crisis due to
11773-464: The 1980s, a mixture of Democrats and Republicans defied Speaker Dennis Hastert and passed a campaign finance reform bill. The House approved the bill with a 240–189 vote, while the bill passed the Senate in a 60–40 vote, the bare minimum required to overcome the filibuster. Throughout the congressional battle on the bill, Bush declined to take a strong position. However, in March 2002, Bush signed into law
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#173285113835111966-748: The 2000 election convinced many Republicans, including Congressman John Boehner of Ohio, to accept an education reform bill that increased federal funding. Seeking to craft a bipartisan bill, Bush courted Democratic senator Ted Kennedy , a leading liberal senator who served as the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, and Pensions . Bush favored extensive testing to ensure that schools met uniform standards for skills such as reading and math. Bush hoped that testing would make schools more accountable for their performances and provide parents with more information in choosing which schools to send their children. Kennedy shared Bush's concern for
12159-427: The 2000 election, Bush established a stable of advisers, including supply-side economics advocate Lawrence B. Lindsey and foreign policy expert Condoleezza Rice . With a financial team led by Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman , Bush built up a commanding financial advantage over other prospective Republican candidates. Though several prominent Republicans declined to challenge Bush, Arizona senator John McCain launched
12352-467: The 41st president of the United States, George W. Bush emerged as a presidential contender in his own right with his victory in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election . After winning re-election by a decisive margin in the 1998 Texas gubernatorial election , Bush became the widely acknowledged front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential election . In the years preceding
12545-504: The Ba'ath Party merely as a career move. Bremer's second major order disbanded the Iraqi military and police services, leaving over 600,000 Iraqi soldiers and government employees without jobs. Bremer also insisted that the CPA remain in control of Iraq until the country held elections, reversing an earlier plan to set up a transition government led by Iraqis. These decisions contributed to the beginning of
12738-583: The Bush administration arranged passage of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 . Falling home prices started threatening the financial viability of many institutions, leaving Bear Stearns , a prominent U.S.-based investment bank, on the brink of failure in March 2008. Recognizing the growing threat of a financial crisis, Bush allowed Treasury secretary Paulson to arrange for another bank, JPMorgan Chase , to take over most Bear Stearn's assets. Out of concern that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might also fail,
12931-423: The Bush administration put both institutions into conservatorship . Shortly afterwards, the administration learned that Lehman Brothers was on the verge of bankruptcy, but the administration ultimately declined to intervene on behalf of Lehman Brothers. Paulson hoped that the financial industry had shored itself up after the failure of Bear Stearns and that the failure of Lehman Brothers would not strongly impact
13124-488: The Bush administration's goals differ from those Obama that would adopt as president. In the Middle East, Bush began a new approach to the peace process, the so-called Annapolis process , which attempted to encourage Israeli and Palestinian leaders to agree on the outlines of a peace accord. Although both sides cited some success in these discussions, critics believed the talks unduly ignored Hamas , which has been labeled by
13317-542: The Bush tax cuts were later made permanent by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 , though that act rolled back the tax cuts on top earners. Contrary to the rhetoric of the Bush administration and Republicans, the budget deficit increased, leaving many to believe the tax cuts were at fault. Statements by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney , and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist that these tax cuts effectively "paid for themselves" were disputed by
13510-546: The CBPP, the U.S. Treasury Department and the CBO. Aside from tax cuts, Bush's other major policy initiative upon taking office was education reform. Bush had a strong personal interest in reforming education, especially regarding the education of low-income and minority groups. He often derided the "soft bigotry of low expectations" for allowing low-income and minority groups to fall behind. Although many conservatives were reluctant to increase federal involvement in education, Bush's success in campaigning on education reform in
13703-422: The Gulf War; after the war, it had submitted to WMD inspections conducted by the United Nations Special Commission until 1998, when Hussein demanded that all UN inspectors leave Iraq. The administration believed that, by 2001, Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction, and could possibly provide those weapons to terrorists. Some within the administration also believed that Iraq shared some responsibility for
13896-758: The Hamas government would accept a Palestinian state that followed the Green Line and would offer Israel a long-term truce if Israel recognised the Palestinians' national rights. During his second term, Bush pursued an agreement with North Korea to end its nuclear weapons programs. To that end, Bush agreed to remove North Korea from the State Department's list of State Sponsors of Terrorism , which Obama supported. Obama had criticized Bush for taking so long to engage with North Korea, and indicated he would be eager to engage in
14089-524: The National Security Council, and deputy secretaries Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Armitage had also served in important roles. Secretary of State Colin Powell had served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first president Bush. Bush had long admired Powell, and the former general was Bush's first choice for the position. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld , who had served in
14282-564: The Northern Alliance began its offensive on October 19. The capital of Kabul was captured on November 13, and Hamid Karzai was inaugurated as the new president of Afghanistan. However, the senior leadership of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, including bin Laden, avoided capture. Karzai would remain in power for the duration of Bush's presidency, but his effective control was limited to the area around Kabul, as various warlords took control of much of
14475-760: The Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015 ( Pub. L. 114–136 (text) (PDF) ), the Presidential Transition Act of 2019, and the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022. The Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010 requires the General Services Administration to provide potential presidential transition teams with office space, facilities, funding for transition staff, and access to government services. For example, spending on Mitt Romney's transition team in 2012
14668-457: The Senate back into session to write a law that would result in Obama's replacement being determined in a special election. However, after the state legislature did not pass a law mandating a special election for the seat, on December 30, Blagojevich announced that he was appointing Roland Burris , a former Illinois Attorney General , Illinois Comptroller , and U.S. Treasury Department official, to
14861-406: The Senate effective November 16, 2008. Initially, it was thought that his replacement would be named by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich . Since the term for the seat expired in January 2011, it would come up for its normal election in 2010 with no special election necessary. Blagojevich was expected to name Obama's immediate successor in the Senate by January 3, 2009. However, on December 9, 2008,
15054-548: The Senate's recommended certification form, as it is only "recommended" under the Standing Rules of the United States Senate. The Court further remarked that "no explanation has been given as to how any rule of the Senate, whether it be formal or merely a matter of tradition, could supersede the authority to fill vacancies conferred on the states by the federal constitution". Following the ruling, White provided Burris with
15247-423: The Senate, Biden went on a diplomatic fact-finding trip to Iraq , Afghanistan , and Pakistan, becoming the first vice-president-elect to undertake such a mission before entering office. On November 5, 2008, the transition team launched change.gov , the official website of the transition. The website included a blog and jobs page. It also had a section that allowed visitors to share stories or their visions for
15440-401: The Senate. After years of financial deregulation accelerating under the Bush administration, banks lent subprime mortgages to more and more home buyers, causing a housing bubble . Many of these banks also invested in credit default swaps and derivatives that were essentially bets on the soundness of these loans. In response to declining housing prices and fears of an impending recession,
15633-408: The September 11 attacks, and hoped that the fall of Hussein's regime would help spread democracy in the Middle East, deter the recruitment of terrorists, and increase the security of Israel . In the days following the September 11 attacks, hawks in the Bush administration such as Wolfowitz argued for immediate military action against Iraq, but the issue was temporarily set aside in favor of planning
15826-429: The State Department has facilitated the logistics of the calls and provided translation services, possible talking points, and even taken notes". On November 23, Murphy issued the letter of ascertainment naming Biden as the "apparent winner", making funds available for him towards the transition, although Trump had still not conceded. After pro-Trump protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump offered
16019-541: The Supreme Court in the 2010 case of Citizens United v. FEC . After the passage of the Bush tax cuts and the No Child Left Behind Act, Bush turned his domestic focus to healthcare. He sought to expand Medicare so it would also cover the cost of prescription drugs , a program that became known as Medicare Part D . Many congressional Democrats opposed the bill because it did not allow Medicare to negotiate
16212-516: The U.S. as an occupying force. The fierce fighting of the First Battle of Fallujah alienated many in Iraq, while cleric Muqtada al-Sadr encouraged Shia Muslims to oppose the CPA. Sunni and Shia insurgents engaged in a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the United States, blunting the technological and organizational advantages of the U.S. military. While fighting in Iraq continued, Americans increasingly came to disapprove of Bush's handling of
16405-479: The United States , Vivek Kundra as Chief Information Officer and Jeffrey Zients Chief Performance Officer and deputy director for management of the Office of Management and Budget Initial reaction to Obama's choice of Leon Panetta as CIA director was mixed, with some intelligence professionals expressing concern that Panetta lacked specific intelligence experience, and others such as former Congressman and co-chair of
16598-651: The United States as a terrorist organization, despite the fact that it had held an enormous amount of political power in the region. Obama had not specified what his approach would be, although it was considered likely that he would appoint a high-level Middle East envoy, in part to free his Secretary of State so that other matters can also be addressed. Hamas expressed a willingness to talk to Obama, who has said that he would reciprocate only if it renounced terrorism , recognized Israel's right to exist, and agreed to abide by past agreements. The Hamas leader in Gaza , Ismail Haniyeh , said
16791-646: The United States had launched the Gulf War against Iraq after the latter invaded Kuwait . Though the U.S. forced Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, it left Saddam Hussein 's administration in place, partly to serve as a counterweight to Iran . After the war, the Project for the New American Century , consisting of influential neoconservatives like Paul Wolfowitz and Cheney, advocated for the overthrow of Hussein. Iraq had developed biological and chemical weapons prior to
16984-406: The United States was the world's lone superpower , it could act unilaterally if necessary. At the same time, Bush sought to enact the less interventionist foreign policy he had promised during the 2000 campaign. Though the first several months of his presidency focused on domestic issues, the Bush administration pulled the U.S. out of several existing or proposed multilateral agreements, including
17177-486: The United States would implement a policy of preemptive military strikes against nations known to be harboring or aiding a terrorist organization hostile to the United States. Bush outlined what he called the " Axis of Evil ," consisting of three nations that, he argued, posed the greatest threat to world peace due to their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and potential to aid terrorists. The axis consisted of Iraq , North Korea and Iran . Bush also began emphasizing
17370-401: The United States. McCain's 2000 presidential campaign brought the issue of campaign finance reform to the fore of public consciousness in 2001. McCain and Russ Feingold pushed a bipartisan campaign finance bill in the Senate, while Chris Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA) led the effort of passing it in the House. In just the second successful use of the discharge petition since
17563-557: The White House in the wake of the Dubai Ports World controversy and several botched White House initiatives, and he was replaced by Joshua Bolten. Bolten stripped Rove of some of his responsibilities and convinced Henry Paulson , the head of Goldman Sachs , to replace Snow as secretary of the treasury. After the 2006 elections, Rumsfeld was replaced by former CIA director Robert Gates . The personnel shake-ups left Rice as one of
17756-410: The activity. On November 6, Obama received his first classified intelligence briefing from director of national intelligence John Michael McConnell and Central Intelligence Agency director Michael Hayden . President Bush invited Obama and his team to attend the 2008 G-20 Washington summit held between November 15 and 20 in order to introduce him to more than twenty world leaders who attended
17949-405: The administration decided to overthrow Afghanistan 's conservative Taliban government, which harbored the leaders of al-Qaeda. Powell took the lead in assembling allied nations in a coalition that would launch attacks on multiple fronts. The Bush administration focused especially on courting Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf , who agreed to join the coalition. On September 14, Congress passed
18142-468: The belief that a more moderate approach would waste valuable time early in his presidency , when his political capital will be strongest. Others suggested moving more slowly, as Bill Clinton did before his attempt to enact a national healthcare program , based on the notion that rapid change could quickly wear down any bipartisan consensus . He was expected, in any case, to issue a series of executive orders within days of his inauguration, including
18335-413: The candidate's choosing. In 2008, the presidential campaign of Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama began informally planning for a possible presidential transition several months before Election Day. Obama's transition team , called the "Obama- Biden Transition Project", analysed prior transition efforts, the workings of federal government agencies, and what priority positions needed to be filled by
18528-526: The city of New Orleans after the failure of that city's levees . Over eighteen hundred people died in the hurricane, and Bush was widely criticized for his slow response to the disaster. Stung by the public response, Bush removed Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael D. Brown from office and stated publicly that "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government." After Hurricane Katrina, Bush's approval rating fell below 40 percent, where it would remain for
18721-529: The country. Visitors were able to comment on issues important to them using the Citizen's Briefing Book . Individuals applying for work within the Obama administration via this site were required to go through intensive consumer and criminal background checks performed by the ChoicePoint Corporation . The website used a Creative Commons license . As part of their efforts towards transparency, on December 5
18914-475: The court battle of Terri Schiavo , a comatose Florida woman who ultimately died. In March 2001, the Bush administration announced that it would not implement the Kyoto Protocol , an international treaty signed in 1997 that required nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The administration argued that ratifying the treaty would unduly restrict U.S. growth while failing to adequately limit emissions from developing nations. The administration questioned
19107-500: The current mechanisms to facilitate an orderly and peaceful transition of power . Under existing federal law and custom, the major-party presidential candidates receive classified national security briefings once their nomination is formalized by their party. They are also entitled to presidential transition services and facilities provided by the General Services Administration, including office space, equipment and
19300-482: The day after the election, November 9, 2016, outgoing president Barack Obama made a statement from the Rose Garden of the White House in which he announced that he had spoken the previous evening with (apparent election winner) Donald Trump and formally invited him to the White House for discussions to ensure "that there is a successful transition between our presidencies." Obama said he had instructed his staff to "follow
19493-525: The day of the presidential election , outgoing president Barack Obama spoke with presumptive winner Donald Trump and formally invited him to the White House for November 10, for discussions to ensure "that there is a successful transition between our presidencies". Early on November 9, media outlets projected Trump would secure enough votes in the Electoral College to win the presidential election, and Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton conceded
19686-503: The decisions of the Bush administration, particularly the launching of the Iraq War, Powell resigned following the 2004 elections. He was replaced by Rice, while then-deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley took Rice's former position. Most of Bush's top staffers stayed on after the 2004 election, although Spellings joined the Cabinet as secretary of education and Gonzales replaced Ashcroft as attorney general. In early 2006, Card left
19879-492: The economy, but news of the failure caused stock prices to tumble and froze credit. Fearing a total financial collapse, Paulson and the Federal Reserve took control of American International Group (AIG), another major financial institution that teetered on the brink of failure. Hoping to shore up the other banks, Bush and Paulson proposed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 , which would create
20072-508: The education of impoverished children, but he strongly opposed the president's proposed school vouchers , which would allow parents to use federal funding to pay for private schools. Both men cooperated to pass the No Child Left Behind Act , which dropped the concept of school vouchers but included Bush's idea of nationwide testing. Both houses of Congress registered overwhelming approval for the bill's final version, which Bush signed into law in January 2002. However, Kennedy would later criticize
20265-659: The election . The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 ( Pub. L. 88–277 ) established the mechanisms to facilitate an orderly and peaceful transition of power , and has been amended numerous times: by the Presidential Transitions Effectiveness Act of 1998 ( Pub. L. 100–398 ), the Presidential Transition Act of 2000 ( Pub. L. 106–293 (text) (PDF) ), the Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010 ( Pub. L. 111–283 (text) (PDF) ),
20458-407: The election to him later that day. Also on November 9, GSA Administrator Denise Turner Roth issued the "ascertainment letter” to officially designate Trump president-elect, and the transition team was provided office space and were also eligible for government funding for staff. Also on November 9, Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence were offered the full President's Daily Brief , with
20651-458: The election, thereby releasing the funds appropriated by Congress for the transition, and continues until inauguration day , when the president-elect takes the oath of office , at which point the powers , immunities, and responsibilities of the presidency are legally transferred to the new president. The 20th Amendment to the Constitution , adopted in 1933, moved the beginning and ending of
20844-632: The event. However, Obama did not come, and his transition team instead sent former Republican Rep. Jim Leach and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to meet with the heads of state. Obama was expected to address a United Nations global warming summit in Poland in December or allow a representative such as Al Gore to present his policies. On November 10, Obama traveled to the White House and met with President Bush to discuss transition issues while First Lady Laura Bush took his wife Michelle on
21037-417: The example" of the administration of George W. Bush in 2008, who he said could "not have been more professional or more gracious in making sure we had a smooth transition". This phase of the process lasts between 72 and 78 days, ending on the inauguration day. During this time, the transition team must handle the influx of campaign staff and additional personnel into daily operations and prepare to take over
21230-599: The face of unified opposition, Republicans abandoned Bush's Social Security proposal in mid-2005. Hurricane Katrina , one of the largest and most powerful hurricanes ever to strike the United States, ravaged several states along the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005. On a working vacation at his ranch in Texas, Bush initially allowed state and local authorities to respond to the natural disaster. The hurricane made landfall on August 29, devastating
21423-537: The fears of critics that this would dissolve the traditional separation of church and state in the United States . To further this commitment, he created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to assist faith-based service organizations. In 2003, Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act , which banned intact dilation and extraction , an abortion procedure. Early in his administration, President Bush became personally interested in
21616-455: The final debate in October, but the unearthing of Bush's 1976 DUI arrest appeared to sap his campaign's momentum. By the end of election night, Florida emerged as the key state in the election, as whichever candidate won the state would win the presidency. Bush held an extremely narrow lead in the vote by the end of election night, triggering an automatic recount . The Florida Supreme Court ordered
21809-615: The first Black appointee at that high a level. He was followed by Condoleezza Rice (2005–2009), the first Black woman. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (2005–2007) was and remains in 2024 the highest appointed Hispanic in the history of American government. In addition Bush appointed the first senior officials who were publicly gay. However he campaigned against quotas, and warned that affirmative action that involved quotas were unacceptable. He deliberately selected minorities known as opponents of affirmative action for key civil rights positions. Thus in 2001 Bush nominated Linda Chavez to be
22002-433: The first Latina in the cabinet as Secretary of Labor. She had to withdraw when it was reported that a decade earlier she had hired an illegal immigrant. Upon taking office, Bush had little experience with foreign policy, and his decisions were guided by his advisers. Bush embraced the views of Cheney and other neoconservatives , who de-emphasized the importance of multilateralism ; neoconservatives believed that because
22195-621: The first briefing taking place on November 15. The Trump transition website was launched on November 9. The Trump transition team was led by Mike Pence and had six vice-chairs: former transition head Chris Christie , Ben Carson , Newt Gingrich , Michael Flynn , Rudy Giuliani and Jeff Sessions . Incumbent president Donald Trump prematurely claimed victory in the 2020 presidential election on Election Day, November 3 and demanded all further vote counting cease. The president also alleged widespread fraud, corruption and other misconduct, and commenced multiple lawsuits in multiple states seeking
22388-409: The first day in office. Part of this enhanced cooperation is required by laws passed at the behest of the 9/11 Commission , while part is attributed to the difficulty that the Bush administration had with its own transition, which lasted only five weeks and was felt to have had a deleterious effect on Bush's ability to govern. "I'm not sure I've ever seen an outgoing administration work as hard at saying
22581-401: The first day in office. Podesta also says that there is a great deal that can be accomplished without waiting for Congress to act and that Obama wanted to move quickly once in office to restore "a sense that the country is working on behalf of the common good." The economic agenda under development initially focused on short-term measures intended to hold off widespread economic losses so that
22774-606: The first director of the newly created department. The department was charged with overseeing immigration, border control, customs, and the newly established Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which focused on airport security . Though the FBI and CIA remained independent agencies, the DHS was assigned jurisdiction over the Coast Guard , the Immigration and Naturalization Service (which
22967-541: The first of many challenges the U.S. would face in keeping the peace in Iraq. Bush appointed Paul Bremer to lead the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which was charged with overseeing the transition to self-government in Iraq. In his first major order, Bremer announced a policy of de-Ba'athification , which denied government and military jobs to members of Hussein's Ba'ath Party . This policy angered many of Iraq's Sunnis , many of whom had joined
23160-411: The following days, Bush urged the public to renounce hate crimes and discrimination against Muslim-Americans and Arab-Americans . He also declared a " War on Terror ", instituting new domestic and foreign policies in an effort to prevent future terrorist attacks. As Bush's top foreign policy advisers were in agreement that merely launching strikes against al-Qaeda bases would not stop future attacks,
23353-507: The fourth person to win the presidency while losing the popular vote . In the concurrent congressional elections , Republicans retained a narrow majority in the House of Representatives , but lost five seats in the Senate , leaving the partisan balance in the Senate at fifty Republicans and fifty Democrats. Rejecting the idea of a powerful White House chief of staff , Bush had high-level officials report directly to him rather than Chief of Staff Andrew Card . Vice President Cheney emerged as
23546-434: The functions of government. Key activities in this phase include staffing the office of the president-elect ; deploying agency review teams; building out the president-elect's management and policy agendas and schedule; and identifying the key talent necessary to execute the new president's priorities. It is the practice for Cabinet secretaries and high-level political appointees to tender their resignation with effect on
23739-453: The government again run deficits. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 won the support of congressional Republicans and a minority of congressional Democrats, and Bush signed it into law in June 2001. The act lowered the top income tax rate from 39 percent to 35 percent, and it also reduced the estate tax . The narrow Republican majority in the Senate necessitated the use of
23932-458: The group won approval from the United Nations , Iran largely ignored its demands. While Obama had previously advocated carefully planned direct talks with Iran, he was now being seen as likely to build on the current coalition to broker an agreement with Iran. In addition, Obama formulated a policy to deal with the U.S. missile defense shield that was under construction in Poland. He discussed
24125-479: The healthcare system remains strong and focused", said Daschle. During a news conference on December 11, 2008, Obama linked health care reform to the upcoming economic stimulus package, noting that "It's not something that we can sort of put off because we're in an emergency ." "This is part of the emergency." He expected the stimulus legislation to include a $ 40 billion increase in Medicaid spending over two years, plus
24318-565: The implementation of the act, arguing that Bush had promised greater federal funding for education. Shortly after the September 11 attacks , Bush announced the creation of the Office of Homeland Security and appointed former governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge its director. After Congress passed the Homeland Security Act to create the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Ridge became
24511-423: The importance of spreading democracy worldwide, stating in 2005 that "the survival of liberty in our land depends on the success of liberty in other land." Pursuant to this newly interventionist policy, the Bush administration boosted foreign aid and increased defense expenditures. Defense spending rose from $ 304 billion in fiscal year 2001 to $ 616 billion in fiscal year 2008. During the presidency of his father ,
24704-451: The incoming administration first. In April 2012, before Mitt Romney became the Republican Party nominee, the Romney presidential campaign began planning for a potential transition. Romney's transition team made extensive plans for the transfer of power, called the "Romney Readiness Project", which also included a legislative agenda for the first 200 days of a Romney administration. During
24897-504: The invasion of Afghanistan. Beginning in September 2002, the Bush administration mounted a campaign designed to win popular and congressional support for the invasion of Iraq. In October 2002, Congress approved the Iraq Resolution , authorizing the use of force against Iraq. While congressional Republicans almost unanimously supported the measure, congressional Democrats were split in roughly equal numbers between support and opposition to
25090-466: The invasion was strongly criticized by many countries ; UN secretary-general Kofi Annan argued that the invasion was a violation of international law and the U.N. Charter . On May 1, 2003, Bush delivered the " Mission Accomplished speech ," in which he declared the end of "major combat operations" in Iraq. Despite the failure to find evidence of an ongoing WMD program or an operational relationship between Hussein and al-Qaeda , Bush declared that
25283-560: The issue of stem cell research. The Clinton administration had issued guidelines allowing the federal funding of research utilizing stem cells, and Bush decided to study the situation's ethics before issuing his own executive order on the issue. Evangelical religious groups argued that the research was immoral as it destroyed human embryos , while various advocacy groups touted the potential scientific advances afforded by stem cell research. In August 2001, Bush issued an executive order banning federal funding for research on new stem cell lines;
25476-524: The key transition team staff; allocating responsibilities among the team and allocating resources and personnel for each core work stream; developing an overall management work plan to guide the team through the entire transition process; and establishing relationships with Congress, the outgoing administration, General Services Administration, the Office of Government Ethics , the FBI and the Office of Personnel Management to encourage information sharing and to begin
25669-399: The last-minute pardon issued by Bill Clinton for fugitive financier Marc Rich . During his first press conference as president-elect, on November 7, Obama remarked about former first lady Nancy Reagan holding seances in the White House, which gained widespread attention. Termed his "first gaffe," Obama called Mrs. Reagan later that evening to apologize for what his spokesperson said was
25862-408: The matter with both Polish President Lech Kaczyński and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev . While his advisors were working on a missile shield policy, his position at that time was simply that one might be deployed if and when it has been "proved to be workable". United States presidential transition [REDACTED] [REDACTED] In the United States , a presidential transition
26055-579: The most powerful individual in the White House aside from Bush himself. Bush brought to the White House several individuals who had worked under him in Texas, including Senior Counselor Karen Hughes , Senior Adviser Karl Rove, legal counsel Alberto Gonzales , and Staff Secretary Harriet Miers . Other important White House staff appointees included Margaret Spellings as a domestic policy adviser, Michael Gerson as chief speechwriter, and Joshua Bolten and Joe Hagin as White House deputy chiefs of staff. Paul H. O'Neill , who had served as deputy director of
26248-412: The most prominent individuals in the administration, and she played a strong role in directing Bush's second term foreign policy. Gonzales and Rove both left in 2007 after controversy regarding the dismissal of U.S. attorneys, and Gonzales was replaced by Michael Mukasey , a former federal judge. After the 2004 election, many expected that the aging Chief Justice William Rehnquist would step down from
26441-539: The need for regime change, and the latter three countries each possessed veto power on the United Nations Security Council . At the behest of British prime minister Tony Blair , who supported Bush but hoped for more international cooperation, Bush dispatched Powell to the U.N. to make the case to the Security Council that Iraq maintained an active WMD program. Though Powell's presentation preceded
26634-581: The office and was not involved in the Blagojevich corruption scandal (per the U.S. Supreme Court decision Powell v. McCormack ). On January 9, 2009, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in the case Burris v. White that the appointment only required the signature of the governor to be valid, and not that of the Illinois Secretary of State, and that the state of Illinois is not required to use
26827-457: The official start of the transition, without which the winning candidate's transition team is not entitled to government funding, secure office space, equipment and access to agencies. The right to the ownership and confidentiality of emails and phone records produced by the transition team is, however, not secure as against the GSA and the government. There are no firm rules on how the GSA determines
27020-479: The order allowed research on existing stem cell lines to continue. In July 2006, Bush used his first presidential veto on the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act , which would have expanded federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. A similar bill was passed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate early in mid-2007 as part of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 's 100-Hour Plan , but
27213-550: The outgoing president. Legally, a president-elect is not required to come to the capital until the inauguration and need not have substantial policy or procedural discussions with the outgoing administration. It was not until the 1950s that much public attention was brought to the idea of presidential transitions. President Harry S. Truman set the stage for modern presidential transitions by offering to provide intelligence briefings to Republican Party candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower and then by inviting President-elect Eisenhower to
27406-453: The past month, and that a short-term stimulus package had again become his first priority. He wanted to emphasize " shovel ready " infrastructure projects to create new jobs quickly. Barack Obama said he hoped to sign the stimulus package into law soon after taking office on January 20. Obama's most immediate concern was an economic stimulus proposal that some Congressional Democrats had advocated. Like previous stimulus packages, that proposal
27599-566: The payment of certain related expenses. Just after the presidential election, a revised edition of the Plum Book is published, which lists over 9,000 federal civil service leadership and support political appointment positions which an incoming administration needs to review, and fill or confirm. Though the formal transition commences when it is clear that a non-incumbent candidate has won the election, counting of votes continues until all votes are counted, after which officials from each state certify
27792-480: The popular and the electoral college vote. Bush served two terms and was succeeded by Democrat Barack Obama , who won the 2008 presidential election . He is the eldest son of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush . A decisive event reshaping Bush's administration was the September 11, 2001 event. In its aftermath, Congress created the United States Department of Homeland Security and Bush declared
27985-417: The position of chief justice, but instead chose to nominate Roberts for the position. Roberts won confirmation from the Senate in a 78–22 vote, with all Republicans and a narrow majority of Democrats voting to confirm Roberts. To replace O'Connor, the Bush administration wanted to find a female nominee, but was unsatisfied with the conventional options available. Bush settled on Miers, who had never served as
28178-433: The president-elect on November 7, 2020. The GSA Administrator , Emily Murphy , a Trump appointee, initially refused to issue the "ascertainment" letter declaring Biden the "apparent winner", on the basis that the election result was disputed. The declaration would mark the official start of the transition: withholding it denied the Biden transition team full funds, secure office space, and access to agencies. (Following
28371-411: The president-elect. Typically, the GSA chief might make the decision after reliable news organizations have declared the winner or following a concession by the loser. The GSA administrator's declaration releases about $ 9.9 million in transition funds for salary, support, and computer systems; allows transition officials to establish government email addresses and receive federal office space; and allows
28564-512: The presidential campaign was his promise to withdraw most American troops from the Iraq War within sixteen months of his inauguration. Another issue concerned the three areas that President Bush had been focusing on during the final months of his term: Iran's nuclear development , North Korea's nuclear arsenal , and the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks . In all three cases, a diplomatic structure had already been established, although some of
28757-488: The prices of drugs, while many conservative Republicans opposed the expansion of the government's involvement in healthcare. Assisted by Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Senate majority leader Bill Frist , Bush overcame strong opposition and won passage of his Medicare bill. In December 2003, Bush signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act , the largest expansion of Medicare since
28950-460: The program's creation in 1965. After winning re-election in 2004, Bush made the partial privatization of Social Security his top domestic priority. He proposed restructuring the program so that citizens could invest some of the money they paid in payroll taxes , which fund the Social Security program. The president argued that Social Security faced an imminent funding crisis and that reform
29143-645: The public and did not do enough to reduce carbon emissions and deter global warming. On January 6, 2009, President Bush designated the world's largest protected marine area. The Pacific Ocean habitat includes the Mariana Trench and the waters and corals surrounding three uninhabited islands in the Northern Mariana Islands , Rose Atoll in American Samoa, and seven islands along the equator. In July 2002, following several accounting scandals such as
29336-417: The public. He introduced the nominees and occasionally took questions from the press regarding issues such as economic difficulties and the war in Afghanistan. The appointments of Lawrence Summers and Timothy F. Geithner to key economic positions were criticized, on grounds that they had been prominently involved in creating many of the conditions that led to the financial crisis of 2007–2008 , so "failure
29529-482: The resolution. Bowing to domestic and foreign pressure, Bush sought to win the approval of the United Nations before launching an attack on Iraq. Led by Powell, the administration won the November 2002 passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 , which called on Iraq to dismantle its WMD program. Meanwhile, senior administration officials became increasingly convinced that Iraq did indeed possess WMDs and
29722-422: The rest of his tenure in office. Although he concentrated on other domestic policies during his first term, Bush supported immigration reform throughout his administration. In May 2006, he proposed a five-point plan that would increase border security , establish a guest worker program , and create a path to citizenship for the twelve million illegal immigrants living in the United States. The Senate passed
29915-457: The rest of the country. While the Karzai's government struggled to control the countryside, the Taliban regrouped in neighboring Pakistan. As Bush left office, he considered sending additional troops to bolster Afghanistan against the Taliban, but decided to leave the issue for the next administration. After the September 11 attacks, Bush's approval ratings increased tremendously. Inspired in part by
30108-474: The right thing," said Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution . "This is really quite memorable." During the transition, the Bush administration had many important matters to address, even as a lame duck president. There was an ongoing financial crisis , and this was the first presidential transition since the presidential transition of Richard Nixon to occur while the United States was at war. At
30301-508: The same position during the Ford administration , rounded out the key figures in the national security team. Rumsfeld and Cheney, who had served together in the Ford administration, emerged as the leading foreign policy figures during Bush's first term. O'Neill, who opposed the Iraq War and feared that the Bush tax cuts would lead to deficits, was replaced by John W. Snow in February 2003. Frustrated by
30494-467: The seat by Blagojevich, as that individual would be an ineffective representative of Illinois because of "questions of impropriety." Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus , including Rush, expressed their support for seating Burris, who would be the only African-American in the Senate; Rush compared a Senate rejection of Burris to a lynching . However, President-elect Obama released
30687-472: The seat, citing his constitutional duty in the absence of a law requiring a special election. Blagojevich, Burris, and Representative Bobby Rush urged the public to consider the qualifications of Burris as a public servant and not the scandals in which Blagojevich was embroiled. However, the Senate Democrats released a statement in which they reaffirmed that they would refuse to seat anyone appointed to
30880-500: The security clearance process for select personnel. The GSA administrator officially determines the "apparent winner" of a presidential election. If it is not the incumbent president, the winner can access federal agencies and transition funds. To free government funds, the GSA Administrator is required to issue an "ascertainment" letter declaring a non-incumbent candidate the "apparent winner" of an election. The declaration marks
31073-578: The senior staff were also removed. Nonetheless, by April 2012, the Bush administration had transferred electronic records for the presidential components within the Executive Office of the President to the National Archives and Records Administration . Included in these records was more than 80 terabytes of data, more than 200 million emails and 4 million photos. On the evening of November 8, 2016,
31266-439: The state's final tally before the presidential electors are formally appointed and the Electoral College meets in mid-December to cast their votes for the president and vice president. Transition normally involves a transition team to carry out some pre-election planning by the non-incumbent candidates, and involves consideration of key personnel from the outgoing and incoming presidents' staffs, requires resources, and includes
31459-410: The status of Obama's succession in the Senate was cast in doubt after Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges , which included allegedly attempting to sell the appointment. Although placed in federal custody and released on $ 4,500 bail, as long as he remained governor Blagojevich continued to have sole authority to make the appointment. Several Democrats, including Sen. Dick Durbin , asked
31652-611: The surrounding area and inserted CIA and special forces operatives who linked up with the Northern Alliance , an Afghan resistance group opposed to the Taliban. The second phase consisted of a major air campaign against Taliban and al-Qaeda targets, while the third phase involved the defeat of the remaining Taliban and al-Qaeda forces. The fourth and final phase consisted of the stabilization of Afghanistan, which Franks projected would take three to five years. The war in Afghanistan began on October 7 with several air and missile strikes, and
31845-399: The tax cut's size and the possibility of future deficits, Vice President Cheney took charge of writing the bill, which the administration proposed to Congress in March 2001. Bush initially sought a $ 1.6 trillion tax cut over a ten-year period, but ultimately settled for a $ 1.35 trillion tax cut. The administration rejected the idea of "triggers" that would phase out the tax reductions should
32038-399: The terms of the president and vice president from March 4 to January 20, thereby also shortening the transition period. After the election, an outgoing president is commonly referred to as a lame-duck president . A transition can also arise intra-term if a president dies, resigns or is removed from office, though the period may be very short. The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 provides
32231-473: The time of their election, President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden were incumbent U.S. senators from Illinois and Delaware respectively. In accordance with Article I, Section 6 of the United States Constitution , both were required to resign their respective Senate seats on or before January 20, 2009, in order to become president and vice president. Obama resigned from
32424-414: The toppling of Hussein "removed an ally of al-Qaeda" and ended the threat that Iraq would supply weapons of mass destruction to terrorist organizations. Believing that only a minimal residual American force would be required after the success of the invasion, Bush and Franks planned for a drawdown to 30,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by August 2003. Meanwhile, Iraqis began looting their own capital, presenting one of
32617-411: The transition as seamless as possible for the incoming administration, earning accolades from Obama staff members and outside experts alike. According to nearly all accounts, the Bush administration streamlined the process for new officials to obtain security clearances and planned training exercises for the incoming national security team, to ensure that they would be ready to face a possible crisis on
32810-643: The transition team announced that "all policy documents from official meetings with outside organizations will be publicly available for review and discussion on Change.gov." After the inauguration, many of the functions of change.gov were transferred to a redesigned White House website. Thirty-one of the appointments to the transition team had previously worked in the Clinton administration , including Podesta, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel , and Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain . Obama held near-daily press conferences as president-elect to announce his administration nominees to
33003-616: The transition team of the Treasury Department . In addition, Thomas Donilon and Wendy Sherman oversaw the transition of the State Department . Seth Harris oversaw the transition in all of the labor, education, and transportation agencies with Edward B. Montgomery leading the Labor Department agency review team, Mortimer Downey leading the Transportation Department agency review team, and Judith Sherman leading
33196-453: The transition team to start work with the Office of Government Ethics on required financial disclosure and conflict-of-interest forms for incoming nominees. The actual transition phase begins immediately following the presidential election (barring any electoral disputes) when a sitting president is not re-elected or is concluding a second term. In the case of the Obama-Trump transition, on
33389-430: The transition would employ approximately 450 people and have a budget of about $ 12 million: $ 5.2 million would be paid by the federal government and the remaining $ 6.8 million would be funded by private sources, with each contribution limited to $ 5,000. The transition project would not accept money from political action committees or federal lobbyists. On November 5, Obama announced his complete transition team, which
33582-693: The transition's website, Obama also hoped to rekindle volunteerism by expanding AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps and also creating a new Classroom Corps. Other volunteer efforts reportedly include a Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Middle and high school students would be asked to do 50 hours of community service work a year. College students would be eligible for $ 4,000 in tuition tax credits in exchange for community service work. Improved volunteerism programs aimed at senior citizens were projected, as well as augmented Youth Build and Head Start programs. On December 5, Tom Daschle, who
33775-579: The weak economy. Though TARP helped end the financial crisis, it did not prevent the onset of the Great Recession , which would continue after Bush left office. On his first day in office, President Bush reinstated the Mexico City policy , thereby blocking federal aid to foreign groups that offered assistance to women in obtaining abortions . Days later, he announced his commitment to channeling more federal aid to faith-based service organizations, despite
33968-577: Was demand-side ( Keynesian ) in nature. It would likely consist of increased funding for unemployment benefits , the Food Stamp Program , and infrastructure projects, rather than tax rebates . In fact, Obama claimed to be planning "the largest infrastructure program in roads and bridges and other traditional infrastructure since the building of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s." However, he also emphasized his plans to "green"
34161-474: Was anxious to avoid the appearance that the transition was working behind closed doors to create a sweeping agenda for change. This technique, developed by grass roots organizations like MoveOn.org , was designed to reinforce the notion that Obama intended to aggressively pursue his health care reform agenda despite the worsening economy. "President-elect Obama has made health reform one of his top priorities, and I'm here to tell you that his commitment to changing
34354-595: Was briefed on al-Qaeda's activities, but focused on other foreign policy issues during his first months in office. On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners and flew two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City , destroying both 110-story skyscrapers. A third plane crashed into Pentagon , and a fourth plane was brought down in Pennsylvania following
34547-551: Was called the Obama-Biden Transition Project. The transition team was convened during the height of the campaign , well before the outcome could be known, to begin making preparations for a potential administration. It was co-chaired by John Podesta , who was Bill Clinton 's fourth and last White House chief of staff and the president/ chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress , Valerie Jarrett , who
34740-403: Was considered seamless, with Bush granting Obama's request to ask Congress to release $ 350 billion of bank bailout funds . At the start of his inaugural speech, Obama praised Bush "for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition". The White House website was redesigned and “cut over” at exactly 12:01 pm, January 20, 2009. This
34933-454: Was described by some as a "new inaugural tradition spawned by the Internet-age". Additionally, the information system was provided to the Obama administration without a single electronic record from the previous administration. Not only were emails and photos removed from the environment at the 12:01pm threshold, data elements like phone numbers of individual offices and upcoming meetings for
35126-452: Was designated to lead Obama's efforts for health care reform , announced a month-long campaign to solicit public input on the shape of that reform. People were encouraged to hold community meetings to discuss the issue, and to post their thoughts on www.change.gov, where over 10,000 comments had already been posted. Although Democratic leaders had met in private for several months to prepare a legislative package for unveiling in January, Daschle
35319-716: Was divided into three agencies), the United States Customs Service (which was also divided into separate agencies), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency . The Homeland Security Act represented the most significant departmental reorganization since the National Security Act of 1947 . On October 26, 2001, Bush signed into law the Patriot Act . Passed on the president's request, the act permitted increased sharing of intelligence among
35512-452: Was going to be $ 8.9 million, all funds appropriated by the federal government . It requires the GSA to inform major-party presidential candidates along with what the GSA might consider third-party “principal contenders” in a presidential general election of their right to receive certain services, facilities, and supplies within three business days of nomination by their party. It was passed in part due to national security concerns following
35705-470: Was likely to furnish those WMDs to al-Qaeda; CIA Director George Tenet assured Bush that it was a "slam dunk" that Iraq possessed a stockpile of WMDs. After a U.N. weapons inspections team led by Hans Blix , as well as another team led by Mohamed ElBaradei , failed to find evidence of an ongoing Iraqi WMD program, Bush's proposed regime change in Iraq faced mounting international opposition. Germany, China, France, and Russia all expressed skepticism about
35898-521: Was necessary to ensure its continuing solvency. Bush expected a difficult congressional battle over his proposal, but, as he put it, "I've got political capital, and I intend to spend it." Groups like the AARP strongly opposed the plan, as did moderate Democrats like Max Baucus , who had supported the Bush tax cuts. Ultimately, Bush failed to win the backing of a single congressional Democrat for his plan, and even moderate Republicans like Olympia Snowe and Lincoln Chafee refused to back privatization. In
36091-544: Was one of the most strained between presidents: while Hoover had little good to say about his successor, there was little he could do. Roosevelt, however, supposedly could—and did—engage in various spiteful official acts aimed at his predecessor, ranging from dropping him from the White House birthday greetings message list to having Hoover's name struck from the Hoover Dam along the Colorado River border, which would officially be known only as Boulder Dam until 1947. The 2000–01 transition from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush
36284-441: Was organized as a nonprofit tax-exempt organization under U.S. federal tax code 501(c)(4) . The advisory board consisted of Carol Browner , William M. Daley , Christopher Edley , Michael Froman , Julius Genachowski , Donald Gips , Janet Napolitano , Federico Peña , Susan Rice , Sonal Shah , Mark Gitenstein and Ted Kaufman . Members of the transition team's senior staff included: Joshua Gotbaum and Michael Warren headed
36477-411: Was resolved only two days before the scheduled inauguration through the Compromise of 1877 under which federal troops were withdrawn from the South, and the Reconstruction era was brought to an end. The 1932–33 transition (November 8, 1932, to March 4, 1933) from Herbert Hoover to Franklin D. Roosevelt was during the Great Depression . After the election, Roosevelt refused Hoover's requests for
36670-475: Was shortened by several weeks due to the Florida recount crisis that ended after the Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Bush v. Gore which made Bush the president-elect. Due to the recount effort and litigation between Bush and his presidential opponent Al Gore leaving the election undecided until December 12, 2000, Bush's official transition was the shortest in United States history, at just 39 days. The 2008–09 transition from Bush to Barack Obama
36863-546: Was staunchly opposed to euthanasia and supported Attorney General John Ashcroft's ultimately unsuccessful suit against the Oregon Death with Dignity Act . However, while he was governor of Texas , Bush had signed a law giving hospitals the authority to remove life support from terminally ill patients against the wishes of spouses or parents, if the doctors deemed it as medically appropriate. This perceived inconsistency in policy became an issue in 2005, when Bush signed controversial legislation to initiate federal intervention in
37056-507: Was sworn in for a seventh Senate term in early January 2009, he resigned from the seat on January 15, 2009, having served just over 36 years in the body. He was Delaware's longest-serving senator. On November 24, 2008, Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner announced that Ted Kaufman would serve as Biden's appointed replacement. Kaufman was sworn in on January 16, 2009. A special election was held in November 2010, which elected Democratic candidate Chris Coons . During his abbreviated final term in
37249-475: Was vetoed by Bush. After the Supreme Court struck down a state sodomy law in the 2003 case of Lawrence v. Texas , conservatives began pushing for the Federal Marriage Amendment , which would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Bush endorsed this proposal and made it part of his campaign during the 2004 and 2006 election cycles. However, President Bush did break from his party in his tolerance of civil unions for homosexual couples. Bush
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