TRANSITION | Forming the next government
16 January 2009
Road to the White House
Transition to the Obama administration
Although Barack Obama does not take office until January 20, the president-elect is busy preparing for his presidency by meeting with former and current government officials and appointing advisers who will play key roles in his administration.
January 15
Five days before he takes the oath of office as vice president of the United States, Joe Biden resigned his Delaware Senate seat. Biden has represented Delaware for 36 years, since he was 30 years old.
Speaking to his Senate colleagues, Biden said, “I may be resigning from the Senate today, but I will always be a Senate man. Except for the title ‘father,’ there is no title, including vice president, that I am more proud to wear than that of United States senator.”
New York Senator Hillary Clinton also said her goodbyes, anticipating her resignation when she becomes secretary of state. The Senate is likely to vote on her confirmation soon after Inauguration Day. Clinton is expected to easily win confirmation.
January 15
Throughout the week, Senate committees held hearings for Barack Obama's Cabinet choices. Even though Obama cannot formally nominate officials until he becomes president on January 20, Senate committee members can question nominees and discuss their qualifications.
On January 13, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee spent hours questioning the likely future secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. (See “Hillary Clinton Seeks to Renew U.S. Leadership Through Diplomacy.”)
The committee voted today 16 to 1 to recommend she be confirmed. The entire Senate will hold a vote on her confirmation once she is formally nominated, and she is expected to be confirmed soon after Inauguration Day.
Today Senate committees also are reviewing the qualifications of Ken Salazar for secretary of the interior, Susan Rice for U.N. ambassador, Eric Holder for attorney general and Janet Napolitano for secretary of homeland security. A schedule of upcoming hearings is available on the Senate Web site.
For more on Obama's Cabinet selections, see “Future Cabinet.”
January 11
About 3,000 people were involved in staging a dress rehearsal for what will be one of the biggest events Washington has hosted in years — Inauguration Day. Stand-ins were used for the Obama family as a mock oath of office and short inaugural speech were given.
The Obama stand-ins then walked down Pennsylvania Avenue with some of the bands that will perform on January 20. Crowds gathered to watch the event, which closed down several streets.
Washington is preparing for much larger crowds at the real event. To ensure the inauguration is secure, many streets will be closed and there will be restrictions on vehicles entering the city from neighboring Virginia.
January 9
Preparations are well under way for a number of events leading up to President-elect Obama’s inauguration on January 20. Among them is a day of community service on January 19. The Obama family and Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife will participate in activities on what is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell encouraged Americans to participate by serving their communities. Most American schools and businesses are closed on the holiday, which should give Americans time to volunteer. The Presidential Inaugural Committee says more than 5,000 organizations have listed volunteer opportunities on the Web site USAservice.org.
“The Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday is not only a day off. … It’s a day to reach out to our fellow citizens in need,” Powell said. Powell also said Americans should find time to volunteer throughout the year.
January 9
Obama announced his selection of two people who, if confirmed by the Senate, will play an important role in shaping U.S. intelligence: The president-elect said he will nominate Leon Panetta to be CIA director and Dennis Blair to be national intelligence director.
Panetta, a former congressman, was President Clinton’s White House chief of staff. Blair formerly served as commander of the U.S. Pacific Command and had a long career in the Navy.
Obama has faced some criticism for these choices because neither Panetta nor Blair has much experience in the intelligence community.
“I am confident that Dennis Blair and Leon Panetta are the right leaders to advance the work of our intelligence community. They are public servants with unquestioned integrity, broad experience, strong management skills and the core pragmatism we need in dangerous times,” Obama said.
January 8
In what his transition team billed as a “major economic speech,” President-elect Obama spoke about his plan to strengthen the U.S. economy. “This plan must begin today, a plan I am confident will save or create at least 3 million jobs over the next few years,” Obama said.
Obama said many of these new jobs would come from new alternative-energy industries, and predicted his plan would double the production of alternative energy in the next three years. His plan also would invest more in education, so today’s students can be prepared to compete effectively in a global economy.
To provide economic relief to American families, Obama said he would like to implement a $1,000 middle-class tax cut. He also said he supported an extension of unemployment insurance and health care coverage for people who have lost jobs.
Obama said he expects Congress to work quickly to help pass legislation to enact some of these proposals. “I know the scale of this plan is unprecedented, but so is the severity of our situation,” he said. “I’m asking Congress to work with me and my team day and night, on weekends if necessary, to get the plan passed in the next few weeks.”
The full text of Obama's speech is available on America.gov.
January 8
Just days before he takes the oath of office, Barack Obama officially was declared the next president of the United States. In the final step of the American election process, Congress met to officially certify the Electoral College votes. Electors formally cast their ballots at their states’ capitals December 15.
Vice President Cheney presided over the count in a joint meeting of the House and Senate. Each state was called to announce how it was awarding its votes. As expected, Obama received 365 votes, McCain 173. As vice president, Cheney also serves as president of the Senate.
January 7
President Bush invited Obama and the three living former presidents – Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush and Jimmy Carter – to a private White House luncheon. It was the first time all the living presidents have gathered at the White House since 1981.
The event allowed President-elect Obama to speak with and learn from his predecessors. “All the gentlemen here understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office,” Obama said. “For me to have the opportunity to get advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary.”
“We want you to succeed,” President George W. Bush said during a short photo opportunity. “Whether we’re a Democrat or Republican, we care deeply about this country.” The president and president-elect also had a short private meeting.
January 5
Today is the Obama family’s first full day living in Washington. Crowds gathered outside the Hay Adams Hotel, where the Obamas will stay until January 15, to welcome the new first family. The Obamas will reside at Blair House, a White House guesthouse, from January 15 until January 20, when the family will move into the White House.
The Obamas came to Washington early so that Malia, age 10, and Sasha, age 7, could start the semester at their new school. They will attend Sidwell Friends, an elite Washington private school that is used to teaching famous children. Past students include former President Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea.
President-elect Obama will spend part of his first day in Washington meeting with congressional leaders about a potential economic stimulus bill.
January 4
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson said he will withdraw from consideration to be the next secretary of commerce. Obama had selected Richardson for the post December 3, 2008.
Richardson, a Cabinet member in the Clinton administration, said he was withdrawing because of an ongoing investigation of a company that donated funds to Richardson’s gubernatorial campaign. Richardson said in a statement that he did nothing wrong but does not want the investigation to hold up completion of the Obama Cabinet.
“Given the gravity of the economic situation the nation is facing, I could not in good conscience ask the President-elect and his administration to delay for one day the important work that needs to be done,” Richardson said in a statement.
It is not unusual for U.S. political appointees to withdraw from consideration prior to Senate confirmation.
December 30
Throughout the transition, Obama has said he will seek to reform the U.S. health care system and that his team wants to hear directly from Americans about their health care concerns. Tom Daschle, a former U.S. senator from South Dakota and Obama’s selection for secretary of health and human services, met with some of these Americans in Dublin, Indiana.
Daschle met with area residents and health care workers and listened to their concerns about the cost and quality of health care. Daschle said he plans to attend several more forums around the country. He and a transition team will gather information and make reform recommendations to Obama.
Daschle will also be the director of the newly created White House Office of Health Reform. “He will be responsible not just for implementing our health care plan. He will also be the lead architect of that plan,” Obama said December 11.
December 27
While vacationing in Hawaii, President-elect Obama had an eight-minute phone call with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The two discussed the current situation in Gaza.
“The president-elect appreciated the call and the information from Secretary Rice,” an aide said. “He will continue to closely monitor these and other global events.”
The president-elect has met with his advisers and is being kept up to date about the events. With Inauguration Day nearing, the Obama transition team realizes the situation in the Middle East could affect the early days of his presidency. However, transition officials have emphasized that there is “only one president at a time,” which is why the president-elect has remained fairly quiet about the current situation.
December 23
The Presidential Inaugural Committee announced today that when President-elect Obama takes the oath of office January 20, he will use the same Bible President Lincoln used at his first inauguration on March 4, 1861.
Presidents traditionally have placed their hand on a Bible while taking the oath of office, but this is not a constitutional requirement. The Lincoln Bible, which belongs to the Library of Congress, originally was purchased by William Thomas Carroll, clerk of the Supreme Court.
With Inauguration Day less than a month away, the committee and officials from local, state and federal governments are busy planning the day’s festivities, which will include a presidential speech, a parade and balls. Millions of people may come to Washington to watch the events.
December 21
The Obama transition team announced that Obama will create a White House Task Force on Working Families to be chaired by Vice President Joe Biden.
“The Task Force will be a major initiative targeted at raising the living standards of middle-class, working families in America,” according to a Change.gov press release.
The goals of the task force include finding ways to expand educational opportunities, improve work and family balance and protect families’ retirement savings.
“President-elect Obama and I know the economic health of working families has eroded, and we intend to turn that around,” Biden said in the press release.
December 18
With economic issues among Americans’ top concerns, Obama announced more members of the economic team that he hopes will help strengthen the economy.
At a Chicago press conference, Obama picked Mary Schapiro to be chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC,) Gary Gensler to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Dan Tarullo as a governor of the Federal Reserve Board. If confirmed by the Senate, Schapiro will be the first female to chair the SEC.
“Financial regulatory reform will be one of the top legislative priorities of my administration, and as a symbol of how important I view this reform, I’m announcing these appointments months earlier than previous administrations have. These individuals will help put in place new, common-sense rules of the road that will protect investors, consumers, and our entire economy from fraud and manipulation by an irresponsible few,” Obama said.
For more on Obama’s economic team, see “President-elect Obama Announces Top Economic Advisers.”
December 17
In a Chicago press conference, President-elect Obama said he intends to nominate Colorado Senator Ken Salazar to be the next secretary of the interior and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack to be secretary of agriculture. “Together, they will serve as guardians of the American landscape on which the health of our economy and the well-being of our families so heavily depend,” Obama said.
“I look forward to protecting our national parks, public lands and open spaces, and America’s farm and ranch lands,” Salazar said. Salazar is a farmer and rancher, as his family has been for decades.
Vilsack said the Department of Agriculture must “aggressively promote policies and programs that support sustainable practices, to conserve and preserve our precious natural resources: our land, our water and our forests.” Vilsack’s home state is one of the most productive agricultural states in the nation.
December 16
President-elect Obama announced his intention to nominate Arne Duncan to be the next secretary of education. The choice is subject to Senate confirmation. Duncan is currently the head of the Chicago public school system – the third-largest system in the country.
On the campaign trail and during the transition, Obama has spoken about how he believes improving U.S. education ultimately will help the American economy. “In the long run, the path to jobs and growth begins right here, in America’s schools, in America’s classrooms,” Obama said.
“I am convinced that no issue … is more pressing than education,” Duncan said. “Whether it’s fighting poverty, strengthening our economy, or promoting opportunity, education is the common thread. It is the civil rights issue of our generation, and it is the one sure path to a more equal, fair and just society.”
December 15
President-elect Obama announced four members of his environment and energy team in a late-afternoon Chicago press conference. These four — two of whom need Senate confirmation — are poised to play influential roles in shaping Obama’s energy initiatives.
If confirmed by the Senate, Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, would become the next secretary of energy; Lisa Jackson, who previously led New Jersey’s environmental protection office, would be the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.)
Obama also announced he will appoint Nancy Sutley the chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Sutley served as deputy mayor for energy and the environment in Los Angeles.
“The scope of the effort before us will demand coordination across the government and my personal engagement as president,” Obama said. “That’s why I’m naming Carol Browner to a new post in the White House to coordinate energy and climate policy.” Browner served as EPA administrator during the Clinton administration.
“I’m confident that we will be ready to begin the journey toward a new energy frontier on January 20th,” Obama said. “This will be a leading priority of my presidency and a defining test of our time.”
December 15
At state capitals across the country and the District of Columbia, electors gathered to formally cast their Electoral College votes for Barack Obama and John McCain. As prescribed in the U.S. Constitution, U.S. presidents are not elected directly by the people but by a group of designated citizens known as electors. This group of electors makes up the Electoral College.
The 538 electors never all gather together — rather each state’s delegation meets at its own statehouse. The electors officially cast their votes for president and vice president. The Constitution requires them to vote for a president and vice president from the same ticket. Obama earned 365 electoral votes, but only 26 states and the District of Columbia have laws requiring their electors to support the winner of the state’s popular vote.
Once the votes are cast, “certificates of vote” are sent to the U.S. Senate, the state’s secretary of state, the judge of the district in which the electors have assembled, and the National Archives.
By January 3, 2009, the National Archives will send the certifications to Congress. In what will be one of the first duties of the 111th Congress on January 6, 2009, the House and Senate will count the electoral votes. Then, just two weeks before Obama takes the oath of office, he officially will be elected president.
December 13
In his weekly radio address, Obama announced he intends to nominate Shaun Donovan to be the 15th secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Donovan currently serves as commissioner of housing preservation and development in New York City. He served as a deputy assistant secretary at HUD during the Clinton administration.
The mission of HUD is to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination. “With experience that stretches from the public sector to the private sector to academia, Shaun will bring to this important post fresh thinking, unencumbered by old ideology and outdated ideas,” Obama said.
December 11
President-elect Obama announced two members of his health care team that he said would be “critical” to efforts to reform the U.S. health care system: Tom Daschle and Jeanne Lambrew.
Daschle, a former U.S. senator from South Dakota, will be Obama’s secretary of health and human services, if confirmed by the Senate. He will also be the director of a newly created White House Office of Health Reform. “As such, he will be responsible not just for implementing our health care plan. He will also be the lead architect of that plan,” Obama said. Lambrew will serve as the office’s deputy director. Lambrew, who has worked in the Office of Management and Budget and for the National Economic Council, is a health care researcher.
“The time has come — this year, in this new administration — to modernize our health care system for the 21st century; to reduce costs for families and businesses; and to finally provide affordable, accessible health care for every American,” Obama said.
“There is no question that fixing health care is, and has been for many years, our largest domestic policy challenge,” Daschle said. “Addressing our health care challenges will not only mean healthier and longer lives for millions, it will also make American companies more competitive, address the cause of half of all of our personal bankruptcies and foreclosures and help pull our economy out of its current tailspin.”
December 9
Climate change and energy issues were the focus of a two-hour meeting among President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and former Vice President Al Gore. Gore, who won a Nobel Prize for his efforts to draw international attention to climate change, is seen as one of the nation’s foremost leaders on environmental issues.
The men also discussed how investing in alternative energies could create new jobs, helping the economy. Obama said that global warming “is a matter of urgency and national security ... [but] it is not only a problem, it is also an opportunity.”
“We have the opportunity now to create jobs all across this country in all 50 states to repower America, to redesign how we use energy and think about how we are increasing efficiency to make our economy stronger, make us more safe, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and make us competitive for decades to come — even as we save the planet,” he said.
Gore staff members have said the former vice president is not interested in taking a permanent position with the Obama administration.
December 8
New York Senator Hillary Clinton, President-elect Obama’s choice for secretary of state, had a private dinner with Secretary Condoleezza Rice at Rice’s apartment in Washington. Details of the menu were released — they dined on sea bass, wild rice and mushroom soup — but the specifics of their discussion were kept private.
“They talked just very generally about policy — the challenges, the opportunities, talked a little bit about the job of secretary of state; talked about … managing a big operation,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Clinton must be formally nominated by Obama once he is president and then confirmed by the Senate before she becomes the next secretary of state, but in the meantime she likely will hold many meetings with Rice and other State officials. As is common in the United States, most Bush Cabinet members will meet with their designated successors to help ensure each federal agency has a smooth transition.
December 7
On the anniversary of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, President-elect Obama said Americans “owe it to all our veterans to honor them as we honored our greatest generation,” adding, “not just with words, but with deeds.”
Obama announced he will nominate retired General Eric Shinseki to be the next secretary of veterans affairs. Shinseki, the nation’s first Asian-American four-star general, had a 40-year career with the Army.
“We don’t just need to better serve veterans of today’s wars, we need to build a 21st century [Department of Veterans Affairs] that will better serve all who’ve answered our nation’s call,” the president-elect said. “There is no one more distinguished, more determined or more qualified” to do this work than Shinseki, Obama said.
December 6
In a weekly radio address, President-elect Obama laid out goals for what he calls an economic recovery plan. Obama said his plan will jump-start the economy by making public buildings energy efficient, improving infrastructure and modernizing schools.
His plan would “launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy efficient,” Obama said. He said that would save taxpayers billions of dollars each year. Obama said his plan would “create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s.” (See “Federal-State Partnership Creates Transportation Success Story.”)
His economic recovery plan also would “launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen,” Obama said. By improving the American education system, “we’ll strengthen America’s competitiveness in the world,” the president-elect said.
Obama will need to work with the next Congress to pass legislation to make most of his proposals a reality.
December 1
Selections for several Cabinet and White House positions focused on national security were announced by President-elect Obama at a press conference in Chicago.
Topping the list is former first lady Senator Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Current defense secretary Robert Gates is being asked to remain at his job, and James Jones, a former chief of the Marine Corps, is Obama’s choice for national security advisor.
Obama also announced Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as his choice for secretary of homeland security, Eric Holder as U.S. attorney general and Susan Rice as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
A multilateral foreign policy is needed in an increasingly interconnected world, the president-elect said, but he added that under his leadership the United States will be “relentless in defense of our people.”
For more information, see “National Security Team Announced by Obama.”
November 24
President-elect Barack Obama made his first official Cabinet selection, announcing Tim Geithner as his pick for Treasury secretary.
Obama also announced a team of financial experts and former Clinton administration officials who will help craft the next administration’s response to the current financial crisis.
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers will head the National Economic Council; Christina Romer will chair the Council of Economic Advisors; and Melody Barnes will serve as director of the Domestic Policy Council.
“I’ve sought leaders who could offer both sound judgment and fresh thinking, both a depth of experience and a wealth of bold new ideas — and most of all, who share my fundamental belief that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street without a thriving Main Street, that in this country, we rise and fall as one nation, as one people,” Obama said.
For more information, see “President-elect Obama Announces Top Economic Advisers.”
November 19
Obama’s transition team announced it has established a series of policy working groups that will review existing policies and develop the priority policy proposals for the upcoming administration. The policy working groups will focus on the following areas: economy, education, energy and environment, health care, immigration, national security, and technology, innovation and government reform.
Some of the groups are led by people well-known to political observers. For example, Tom Daschle, who oversees the health care group, is a well-known former senator who published a book earlier in 2008 on health policy. One of the leaders of the national security group is Susan Rice, a former State Department official and a foreign policy adviser to the Obama campaign.
More information about the working groups is available on the Obama Transition Web site.
November 18
Future first lady Michelle Obama took her daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha, to Washington to visit potential future schools.
“She brought the girls to visit choices for their new schools to make sure they find the right fit,” Michelle Obama’s spokeswoman Katie McCormick Lelyveld told journalists. “Their move to Washington is her top priority.” The spokeswoman declined to say which schools the Obamas were visiting, but that did not keep Washington journalists from staking out the schools they thought were most likely contenders in hopes of catching a glimpse of the future first family.
This political transition also marks a personal transition for the Obama family, with two young children moving to a new city for the first time in their lives. Many Americans are interested in this personal transition and are following reports about how the daughters might redecorate White House bedrooms or what kind of puppy they will adopt — their father promised them a dog when they move to Washington. But avid first-family fans probably will be disappointed: Like most presidents before him, Obama has vowed to keep his daughters out of the public eye as much as possible.
November 17
Barack Obama invited the man he defeated for the presidency, Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, for a private meeting at Obama’s transition office in Chicago. In the United States, it is not unusual for former political rivals to work with each other, but it is somewhat extraordinary for two presidential competitors to meet so soon after the election.
“At this defining moment in history, we believe that Americans of all parties want and need their leaders to come together and change the bad habits of Washington so that we can solve the common and urgent challenges of our time. It is in this spirit that we had a productive conversation today about the need to launch a new era of reform where we take on government waste and bitter partisanship in Washington in order to restore trust in government, and bring back prosperity and opportunity for every hardworking American family,” Obama and McCain said in a joint statement.
“We hope to work together in the days and months ahead on critical challenges like solving our financial crisis, creating a new energy economy, and protecting our nation’s security,” they said. Few details about the meeting were released.
November 16
President-elect Barack Obama officially resigned his seat in the U.S. Senate, where he had represented the state of Illinois since 2005.
“Today, I am ending one journey to begin another. After serving the people of Illinois in the United States Senate — one of the highest honors and privileges of my life — I am stepping down as senator to prepare for the responsibilities I will assume as our nation’s next president,” Obama said.
It was during Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign that his impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention made him a national figure. On the day Illinois voters headed to the polls in 2004, an exit poll asked if the not-yet-elected Obama would make a good president. Nearly half of the respondents said he would.
