Presidency - Presidential Transition in The United States

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.
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)

Read more about this topic:  Presidency

Famous quotes containing the words united states, presidential, transition, united and/or states:

    As a Tax-Paying Citizen of the United States I am entitled to a voice in Governmental affairs.... Having paid this unlawful Tax under written Protest for forty years, I am entitled to receive from the Treasury of “Uncle Sam” the full amount of both Principal and Interest.
    Susan Pecker Fowler (1823–1911)

    Under a Presidential government, a nation has, except at the electing moment, no influence; it has not the ballot-box before it; its virtue is gone, and it must wait till its instant of despotism again returns.
    Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)

    There is not any present moment that is unconnected with some future one. The life of every man is a continued chain of incidents, each link of which hangs upon the former. The transition from cause to effect, from event to event, is often carried on by secret steps, which our foresight cannot divine, and our sagacity is unable to trace. Evil may at some future period bring forth good; and good may bring forth evil, both equally unexpected.
    Joseph Addison (1672–1719)

    On the whole, yes, I would rather be the Chief Justice of the United States, and a quieter life than that which becomes at the White House is more in keeping with the temperament, but when taken into consideration that I go into history as President, and my children and my children’s children are the better placed on account of that fact, I am inclined to think that to be President well compensates one for all the trials and criticisms he has to bear and undergo.
    William Howard Taft (1857–1930)

    I asked myself, “Is it going to prevent me from getting out of here? Is there a risk of death attached to it? Is it permanently disabling? Is it permanently disfiguring? Lastly, is it excruciating?” If it doesn’t fit one of those five categories, then it isn’t important.
    Rhonda Cornum, United States Army Major. As quoted in Newsweek magazine, “Perspectives” page (July 13, 1992)