Change.gov - The Official Web Site of the The U.S. Presidential Transition

“Working collectively, together with the President-elect, we have the chance to do something extraordinary.”

That’s just part of the reaction we got from talking with Secretary-designate of Education Arne Duncan about the Citizen’s Briefing Book project now underway on the site.

Mr. Duncan adds an insider’s viewpoint to some of the topics that the community has raised in the Citizen’s Briefing Book—issues like student loan forgiveness, more access to higher education, increasing the money going into Pell Grants, and creating alternative routes into the teaching profession.

With your input, the Citizen’s Briefing Book is becoming a venue for these ideas and others to be relayed directly to the President.

Watch Mr. Duncan’s video here, and then add your own ideas and comments in the Citizen’s Briefing Book.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden returned to Washington D.C. today and toured the Transition offices with President-elect Barack Obama.

They were joined by Armed Services Committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who recently traveled with Vice President-elect Biden to Kuwait, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq as part of a bipartisan fact-finding delegation.

As incoming Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council in the White House, Heather Higginbottom's daily work will involve an array of diverse topics and issue areas.

By monitoring the Citizen's Briefing Book, she's been able to follow some of your dicussions and track your ideas about the same issues she handles daily. She recently sat down with us to talk more about what she's found. Watch Heather's video below and go to http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov/ to submit you own ideas.

We'll have more reactions from Transition team members to the Citizen's Briefing Book project soon.

President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden visited the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. today. They met with Chief Justice John G. Roberts and seven of the other eight justices.

See pictures from the event below.

Right now, the community on this site is writing and producing a Citizen's Briefing Book that will land on President Obama's desk in the White House soon after he takes office.

The project has solicited thousands of submissions and comments. Transition team members have been attentively watching the Book's creation, and several of them have taken the time to sit with our video crew and talk about what they're seeing unfold online.

We're putting together a series of videos with their reactions to some of the most popular ideas in the Citizen's Briefing Book. It's a chance for some of the leading experts (and soon-to-be administration officials) in fields like energy, the environment, and education to give real-time responses to your comments.

Chair-designee for the White House Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley kicks off the series. Watch the video below, and stay tuned for more installments.

Today we're launching a series of videos to give you a feel for the some of conversations we've been having over the course of the Transition. Check out our videos from recent meetings with advocates for women small business owners, LGBT and youth issues, and let us know what you think.

Inside the Transition: Youth Groups

Inside the Transition: LGBT Advocates

Inside the Transition: Women Small Business Owners

Today we are releasing the new official portrait for President Barack Obama.

It was taken by Pete Souza, the newly-announced official White House photographer.

It is the first time that an official presidential portrait was taken with a digital camera.

You can see the portrait below, or click here to download a copy.

President-elect Obama met with the Senate Democratic caucus today on Capitol Hill.

See pictures from the event below.

Over the past few weeks, thousands of people in all fifty states have volunteered to participate in health care discussions in their communities. They invited their friends, neighbors and co-workers and met in cafes, living rooms and schools. You can see some of the photos they sent us here:

We asked these grassroots groups to report back to us, and our health care team is currently reviewing their ideas and proposed solutions.

Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle -- who has also been asked to become the Director of the White House Office of Health Reform -- was able to travel to two of the discussions over the holidays.

His first stop was hosted by the local fire department in Dublin, Indiana, a town of approximately 700 people. The next day he dropped in on a meeting at a wellness center in Southeast Washington, DC.

Watch Sen. Daschle's journey in the video below, and let us know if you've had similar discussions in your own communities.

Continuing a long-standing tradition between the leaders of the two nations, President-elect Obama met today with Mexican President Felipe Calderón to discuss some of the major issues that will be the cornerstone of U.S.-Mexico relations during the coming Administration.

According to incoming Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, President-elect Obama "expressed his commitment to advance cooperation on a range of issues, including security, the economy and immigration."

The two leaders met at the Mexican Cultural Institute for lunch, and later visited the José Clemente Orozco Gallery in Washington D.C.

See pictures of the meeting below.