4 LAW WISE | JANUARY 2021
have qualified, declaring who shall then act as president, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a president or vice president shall have qualified.”
• Requires outgoing executive branch officials to provide the president-elect with a detailed classified, compartmented summary of specific threats to national security as soon as possible after the date of the general election.
Presidential Transition Act of 1963
• Expresses the sense of the senate that the senate should give expedited consideration to national security officials nominated by a president-elect.
As noted at the beginning of this legislation, the Presidential Transition Act served: “To promote the orderly transfer of the executive power in connection with the expiration of the term of office of a President and the Inauguration of a new President.” The Act designated an administrator to provide office space, funds for staff, outside experts and consultants, travel, and communication resources to the “president-elect” once the administrator ascertains who has won the election. It also allocates services and facilities for the outgoing president and vice-president. Presidential Transition Act of 2000
• Provides for expedited security clearance determinations for members of a president-elect’s transition team. Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010 This Act provided for the General Services Administration to provide logistical and financial support to eligible presidential and vice-presidential candidates prior to the general election. Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015
This Act offers some amendments to the earlier 1963 legislation to have the administrator pay expenses to incoming presidential cabinet appointees during the transition period. Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004
This act directed the GSA to establish a White House transition coordinating council and an agency transitions director council consisting of senior career employees from the various federal agencies. Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019
Though not primarily concerned with presidential transitions, in response to the 9/11 Commission Report that noted the abbreviated transition resulting from the 2000 election, made the following provisions and recommendations:
In addition to extending the period of GSA support for the incoming president and vice-president, this act requires the GSA to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with eligible candidates regarding the administrative support and facilities available during the transition.
Difficult Transitions of Power
T
hroughout American history and politics, most presidential transitions have been uneventful, although at particular points in time, some transitions held the possibility for conflict, if not the potential for civil war. The fact that violence did not take place is another testament to the strength of the American system of governance. The Election of 1800 The election of 1800 in which Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic-Republican Party defeated the incumbent John Adams and his Federalist Party served as the first election that might have created enough political instability to threaten the relatively new American republic. Adams and his running mate Charles Coteworth Pinckney finished third and fourth in the Electoral College while Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received the same number of electoral votes. Since neither Burr nor Jefferson had earned a majority within the Electoral College, the decision now rested with the House of Representatives.
According to the Constitution, each state delegation had one vote. With 16 delegations, the winning candidate needed to earn nine of these votes. In 1801, the Democratic-Republican Party controlled eight delegations, the Federalists held six, and two delegations were evenly split. The Federalists favored Burr over Jefferson. For six days, the Representatives slept on cots and had meals brought into the chamber. The possibility that the Federalists might deprive Thomas Jefferson of the presidency had some Republicans nearly up in arms. Pennsylvania Republican John Beckley warned such a result would mark “the first day of revolution and Civil War.” Republican governors in Pennsylvania and Virginia made plans to mobilize their state militias to install Jefferson as President. Others considered the possibility of calling a convention to rewrite the Constitution to their favor. Finally, on the 36th ballot, Federalist delegates from Delaware, Maryland, and Vermont abstained which allowed Jefferson to control 10 delegations and to win the election.
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