The presidential transition planning process has officially kicked off as both campaigns set the groundwork to prepare to govern for the next four years.
Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted federal support to prepare for her potential presidency.
Harris’s transition team and the General Services Administration (GSA) reached an agreement to receive resources for the presidential planning transition, according to a memorandum of understanding posted online on Monday.
Under the contract, GSA would provide office space, supplies, and other services “for the assumption of official duties as President and Vice President.”
The agreement comes after Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients last week hosted a meeting of the Transition Coordinating Committee in which representatives for both Harris’s and Trump’s transition teams met for the first time at the White House.
Meanwhile, Harris has named U.S. Ambassador Yohannes Abraham to lead the presidential transition team. Abraham was previously executive director of President Joe Biden’s transition team and worked on Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns.
Trump and Transition Planning
GSA and Trump have not yet reached an agreement but the agency said it is prepared to provide services to the 45th president. Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes confirmed that it continues to engage with the agency regarding federal support for transition services.
Trump has already publicly named members of his transition team to help him select other staff and develop policy for a possible second term in the White House. This includes independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
The Presidential Transition Act
“The transfer of power from one Administration to the next marks a significant moment in U.S. history,” the GSA states on its website.
The agency is required by the Presidential Transition Act to offer pre-election support for major party nominees.
The law was established by Congress in 1963 to promote the orderly transfer of executive power from the outgoing president and vice president to the president-elect and vice president-elect, according to the White House.
In addition to providing office space and other core support services, the Act also requires the White House and federal agencies to begin transition planning before a presidential election takes place.
2024 Race
Biden gave his final address as president at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday morning.
Meanwhile, Trump rallied supporters in Savannah, Georgia, while Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, held campaign events in Austin, Texas.
A new poll from the Institute for Global Affairs surveyed 1,835 Americans for their perspectives on Trump’s and Harris’s stances on key foreign policy issues. Voters in six key swing states think Trump is more likely than Harris to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and effectively respond to a potential attack on Taiwan by China. Fifty-eight percent of poll participants believe that Trump is stronger on these issues, while 42 percent favor Harris on the issues, according to the poll.
There are 42 days left until Election Day.