Order Code RS22979
October 30, 2008
Presidential Transition Act:
Provisions and Funding
Henry B. Hogue
Analyst in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Summary
The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (PTA), as amended, authorizes funding for
the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide suitable office space, staff
compensation, and other services associated with the presidential transition process.1
Section 6 of the PTA directs the President to include in his budget request, for each
fiscal year in which his regular term of office will expire, “a proposed appropriation for
carrying out the purposes of this Act.” The President’s FY2009 budget proposal
included $8.52 million in funding for the 2008-2009 presidential transition. Of this sum,
not more than $1 million was to be used for training and orientation activities under
specified provisions of the PTA. These recommendations were endorsed by Congress
and included in the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing
Appropriations Act.2
Introduction3
The constitutional transfer of power and authority from an incumbent American
President to a successor is a momentous occasion in American government. In the present
day, this transfer of authority is a complex and multi-faceted undertaking, as the outgoing
Administration concludes its affairs and the incoming Administration gets organized.
In recent decades, presidential transition activities have begun months before the
general election; the major candidates usually have asked individuals or small groups to
begin to formulate plans in the event of an electoral victory. Preparations have accelerated
after the election, as the attention of the President-elect and his supporters has turned from
campaigning to governing. The President-elect and his team have approximately 11 weeks
1 3 U.S.C. § 102 note.
2 P.L. 110-329. The text of the appropriations provision, § 137, may be found on page H.R. 2638-
7 of the enrolled version of the underlying bill, H.R. 2638 (110th Congress).
3 This report draws upon and supercedes CRS Report RS20709, Presidential Transitions:
Background and Federal Support, by Stephanie Smith.

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between election day and inauguration day to organize the new Administration, and to
make plans for implementing the promises of the campaign. The incoming President must
also prepare to assume national security and homeland security responsibilities from the
incumbent.
While a formal transition process is essential to ensure continuity in the conduct of
the affairs of the executive branch, the concept of a federally funded, institutionalized
transition process is relatively new. Before enactment of the PTA in 1964,4 the methods
for transferring information and responsibility were developed in an ad hoc fashion with
each presidential transition. In addition, the political party organization of the incoming
President was the primary source of funding for transition expenses.5 Many facets of
presidential transitions continue to be developed anew, according to the preferences and
priorities of each outgoing and, in particular, each incoming President, but the PTA now
provides a basic framework for funding and support of this process.
Funding Authorization
As enacted in 1964, the PTA authorized funding not to exceed $900,000 for any one
transition “for carrying out the purposes” of the act.6 In 1976, this provision was amended
to authorize “not more than $2,000,000 ... for the purposes of providing services and
facilities to the President-elect and Vice President-elect” and “not more than $1,000,000
... for the purposes of providing services and facilities to the former President and former
Vice President....”7 In 1988, this provision was amended once again, and the authorized
amounts were increased to $3.5 million and $1.5 million, respectively.8 The 1988
amendments also directed that the “amounts authorized to be appropriated [by these
provisions] be increased by an inflation adjusted amount, based on increases in the cost
of transition services and expenses which have occurred in the years following the most
recent Presidential transition....”9
The GSA Administrator (Administrator) is authorized to spend these funds for the
provision of most of the PTA-specified “services and facilities ... in connection with any
obligations incurred by the President-elect or Vice-President-elect” between the day
following the general election and 30 days after the inauguration.10 For the purposes of
the PTA, the “President-elect” and “Vice-President-elect” are defined as “the apparent
successful candidates for the office of President and Vice President, respectively, as
4 This statute was enacted March 7, 1964, but it retained the title “Presidential Transition Act of
1963.” For a detailed discussion of presidential transitions preceding this act, see Laurin L.
Henry, Presidential Transitions (Washington: Brookings Institution, 1960).
5 U.S. President’s Commission on Campaign Costs, Financing Presidential Campaigns, April
1962, pp. 23-24.
6 P.L. 88-277, § 5; 78 Stat. 153, 156.
7 P.L. 94-499, § a; 90 Stat. 2380.
8 P.L. 100-398, § 2; 102 Stat. 985.
9 Ibid.
10 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; Presidential Transition Act of 1963 [hereafter PTA], § 3(b).

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ascertained by the Administrator following the general elections....”11 In the immediate
aftermath of the contested November 7, 2000, presidential election, neither candidate was
provided with the resources that would be available for the President-elect and Vice
President-elect. In testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform,
Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology, Administrator
David J. Barram testified: “In this unprecedented, incredibly close and intensely contested
election, with legal action being pursued by both sides, it is not apparent to me who the
winner is. That is why I have not ascertained a President-elect.”12 In his testimony, the
Administrator drew on 1963 House floor debate concerning the PTA, during which a
sponsor of the legislation stated that, “in a close contest, the Administrator simply would
not make the decision.”13 The GSA Deputy Administrator reportedly provided PTA
facilities and funds to the Bush-Cheney transition team on December 14, 2000, the day
following Vice President Al Gore’s concession speech.14
In the event the President-elect is the incumbent President, or the Vice President-
elect is the incumbent Vice President, no funds are to be spent on the provision of services
and facilities to this incumbent. Any funds appropriated for such purposes are to be
returned to the Treasury.15
The President-elect and Vice President-elect may designate an assistant to act on
their behalf in connection with the support provided by the Administrator under the PTA.
Up to 10% of the expenditures under the PTA “may be made upon the basis of a
certificate” by one of the two elected officials or the designated assistant “that such
expenditures are classified and are essential to the national security,” and that they are
consistent with PTA provisions.16
The Administrator is also authorized, under the PTA, to provide services and
facilities to each outgoing President and Vice President, “for use in connection with
winding up the affairs of his office,” for a period “not to exceed seven months from 30
days before the date of the expiration of his term of office.”17 In the event that the
11 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 3(c).
12 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government
Management, Information, and Technology, Transitioning to a New Administration: Can the Next
President Be Ready? hearings, 106th Cong., 2nd sess., December 4, 2000, (Washington: GPO,
2001), p. 69.
13 Rep. Dante Fascell, “Presidential Transition Act of 1963,” remarks in the House,
Congressional Record, vol. 109, July 25, 1963, p. 13348.
14 Ben White, “White House Transition; Transition Officials Moving to D.C. Office; Team Gets
$5.3 Million To Ready Administration,” Washington Post, December 15, 2000, p. A39.
15 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 3(g).
16 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 3(e).
17 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 4. Other provisions of law provide each former President with an
annual lifetime pension, Secret Service protection, and staff and office allowances after the
transition period expires. See CRS Report RL34631, Former Presidents: Pensions, Office
Allowances, and Other Federal Benefits, by Wendy Ginsberg.

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outgoing Vice President is becoming President, the PTA limits the authorized
expenditures in this area.18
Funding for 2008-2009. The President’s FY2009 budget requested $8.52 million
for PTA-authorized purposes during the 2008-2009 presidential transition. Of this total,
$1 million was requested for briefings and related transition services for incoming
personnel associated with the new administration.19 These recommendations were
endorsed by Congress and included in the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and
Continuing Appropriations Act.20 Of the $8.52 million, no more than $5.3 million may
be used by the President-elect and Vice President-elect, and no more than $2.2 million
may be used by the outgoing President and Vice President.21
Transition Support: Services, Facilities, and Funds
Pre-election Support. As noted above, most PTA-authorized support is provided
after the “apparent successful” President-elect and Vice President-elect have been
“ascertained by the Administrator.” The PTA also provides, however, for “consultation
by the Administrator with any candidate for President or Vice President to develop a
systems architecture plan for the computer and communications systems of the candidate
to coordinate a transition to Federal systems, if the candidate is elected.”22
Post-election Support. Once the “apparent successful” President-elect and Vice
President-elect have been “ascertained by the Administrator,” the PTA authorizes the
Administrator to provide, to each President-elect and Vice President-elect, certain
facilities, funds, and services, including the following:
! Suitable office space appropriately equipped with furniture, furnishings,
office machines and equipment, and office supplies ...;
! Payment of the compensation of members of office staffs designated by
the President-elect or Vice-President-elect ...;
! Payment of expenses for the procurement of services of experts or
consultants or organizations thereof for the President-elect or Vice-
President-elect ...;
! Payment of travel expenses and subsistence allowances, including rental
of Government or hired motor vehicles ...;
! When requested by [one of the incoming officers or a designee], and
approved by the President, Government aircraft ... for transition purposes
on a reimbursable basis;
18 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 6(a)(2).
19 U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year
2009 — Appendix (Washington: GPO, 2008), p. 1075.
20 P.L. 110-329. The text of the appropriations provision, § 137, may be found on page H.R.
2638-7 of the enrolled version of the underlying bill, H.R. 2638 (110th Congress).
21 General Services Administration, e-mail communication with author, Oct. 22, 2008.
22 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 3(a)(10).

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! [W]hen requested by [one of the incoming officers or a designee], aircraft
... chartered for transition purposes ...;
! Communications services ...; and
! Payment of expenses for printing and binding....23
In addition, the PTA authorizes funding for the use of the postal service by the
President-elect and Vice President-elect “in connection with [their] preparations for the
assumption of official duties.24
The PTA also authorizes the Administrator to fund, during the transition, orientation
activities, primarily for “individuals the President-elect intends to nominate as department
heads or appoint to key positions in the Executive Office of the President.” The purpose
of these activities is to acquaint the incoming leadership “with the types of problems and
challenges that most typically confront new political appointees when they make the
transition from campaign and other prior activities to assuming the responsibility for
governance after inauguration.” Personnel who may be involved in this process include
individuals who “(I) held similar leadership roles in prior administrations; (II) are
department or agency experts from the Office of Management and Budget or an Office
of Inspector General of a department or agency; or (III) are relevant staff from the
Government Accountability Office.”25 The orientation activities specified in the statute
include “training or orientation in records management ... including training on the
separation of Presidential records and personal records,” as well as “training or orientation
in human resources management and performance-based management.”26
The statute also provides that these orientation activities “shall include the
preparation of a detailed classified, compartmented summary ... of specific operational
threats to national security; major military or covert operations; and pending decisions on
possible uses of military force.” This summary is to be conveyed to the President-elect as
soon as possible after the general election.27
The PTA directs the Administrator to work with the Archivist of the United States
to create, in support of the orientation activities, a transition directory compiling “Federal
publications and materials with supplementary materials developed by the Administrator.”
The directory is to include “information on the officers, organization, and statutory and
administrative authorities, functions, duties, responsibilities, and mission of each
department and agency.”28
Transition-Related Security Clearances
The PTA recommends submission by the President-elect to the agency with national
security clearance functions of the “names of candidates for high level national security
positions through the level of undersecretary of cabinet departments” as soon as possible
23 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 3(a).
24 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, §§ 3(a)(7) and 3(d).
25 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 3(a)(8).
26 Ibid.
27 Ibid.
28 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 3(a)(9).

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after the presidential election and requires the responsible agency or agencies to carry out
background investigations of these candidates for high-level national security positions
“as expeditiously as possible ... before the date of the inauguration.”29
A separate transition-related provision of law that is not included in the PTA is worth
noting here. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 200430 included
a provision that facilitates pre-election security clearances for transition team members.
Under the provision, major party candidates “may submit, before the date of the general
election, requests for security clearances for prospective transition team members who
will have a need for access to classified information to carry out their responsibilities as
members of the President-elect’s transition team.”31 The provision also directs that
“[n]ecessary background investigations and eligibility determinations to permit
appropriate prospective transition team members to have access to classified information
shall be completed, to the fullest extent practicable, by the day after the date of the general
election.”32
Disclosure Requirements
The PTA requires that the President-elect and Vice President-elect disclose certain
financial and personnel information as a condition for receiving services and funds under
the act. They must disclose, to the Administrator and the Comptroller General, the dates,
sources, amounts, and expenditure of all non-federal funds (such as private contributions)
received before or after the general election, “for use in the preparation of the President-
elect or Vice-President-elect for the assumption of [their] official duties.”33 They must
submit a report to the Administrator not later than 30 days after inauguration; these
disclosures are then to be released to the public by the Administrator. The PTA also sets
limitations on transition-related donations as a condition for receiving services and funds
under the act. Under these limitations, the President-elect and Vice President-elect “shall
not accept more than $5,000 from any person, organization, or other entity for the
purposes of carrying out activities authorized by” the PTA.34 The PTA also requires that
the incoming team disclose to the public (1) “the names and most recent employment of
all transition personnel ... who are members of the President-elect or Vice-President-
elect’s Federal department or agency transition teams”; and (2) “information regarding
the sources of funding which support the transition activities of each transition team
member.” These disclosures, which must be kept up to date, are to be completed before
the team contacts the department or agency.35
29 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 3(f).
30 P.L. 108-458.
31 50 U.S.C. § 435b note.
32 Ibid.
33 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 5(a).
34 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 5(c).
35 3 U.S.C. § 102 note; PTA, § 5(b).

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