OGE to Play a Critical Role in the Presidential Transition

One of the great traditions of our nation is the peaceful transition of power. History is made every four or eight years when our government turns over the reins of power from one Presidential administration to the next.

At the same time, the work of a Presidential transition is a monumental undertaking. In just over ten weeks between the election and the inauguration, the President-elect must prepare to take control of a government comprising more than 130 agencies, hundreds of subcomponents, and millions of civilian and uniformed personnel.

OGE recognizes that the Presidential transition is a critical time when the nation is vulnerable, with the potential for manmade, natural, or economic disasters to strike while the government’s top leadership positions are vacant. OGE will work in partnership with the Presidential Transition Team to make sure that prospective nominees are free of conflicts of interest, so that top leadership positions can be filled quickly.

The demands on the Presidential transition team, OGE, and other executive branch agencies, during the Presidential transition will be extreme, but achieving an effective transition is vital to the nation’s interests. Success depends largely on investing resources, time, and effort needed to achieve an effective transition.

One of OGE’s key responsibilities is to help the President-elect fill top leadership positions by moving prospective nominees through the nomination process quickly and free from conflicts of interest. For the past two years, we have been preparing for the influx of nominees that the transition will bring, focusing on training ethics officials, creating resources for incoming leaders and administration officials, and working with agencies and outside groups to establish best practices for the incoming administration.

Now that the transition is approaching, OGE will continue to work toward establishing a strong ethical culture in the new Presidential administration. Our mission is to do everything we can to get the new administration off to a strong start. The President-elect and the American people deserve nothing less.