Presidential Transition in The United States
In the United States, a presidential election is held every four years. While transitions between presidents are peaceful, they are highly complicated and expensive. After the President-elect is sworn in, one of his primary obligations is to build his administration. The most publicized of these duties is appointing members of his Cabinet (Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Defense, et cetera). In total, the President makes 6,000 to 9,000 appointments, although he has the right to appoint as many as 700,000 to the federal bureaucracy. Sometimes, a President will allow appointments from the previous administration to maintain their position. "Normally these appointments include: Cabinet Officers and heads of other executive branch agencies; Under Secretaries; Assistant Secretaries; Directors of Bureaus and Services; and Chairpersons and Members of Boards, Commissions, and Committees. Theses appointments are often authorized by specific provisions of law or approved by the Senate. "
Until 1963, the President-elect paid for his own smooth transition. In 1963, Congress passed the Presidential Transition Act in which allocates up to $900,000.
There are three different types of positions that the President can delegate.
- PA - Presidential appoint officials unilaterally.
- PAS - President has the ability to appoint officials with the advice and assent of the Senate.
- SES- Non-career Senior Executive Service- are appointed "based on their responsibility for advocating public policy.
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- confidential character. (Sometimes referred to as 'Schedule C' position)
- The average age of a SES is 54 and serves for 23 years.
There are different pay levels for Executive employees, ranging from $114,500 to $ 157,000. Civilian Payroll for Executive Agencies is nearly 12 million a year. Executive Direct Compensation was $129,923 million and personal benefits were $47,596 million. (As of September 2006)
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