U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

89–010 

" ! SENATE 116TH CONGRESS

1st Session 

REPORT

2019

116–13 

Calendar No. 44 

PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENT 

ACT OF 2019 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

S. 394 

TO AMEND THE PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT OF 1963 TO 

IMPROVE THE ORDERLY TRANSFER OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER 

DURING PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITIONS 

MARCH 25, 2019.—Ordered to be printed 


E:\Seals\Congress.#13
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

MITT ROMNEY, Utah 

RICK SCOTT, Florida 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire 

KAMALA D. HARRIS, California 

KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona 

JACKY ROSEN, Nevada 

GABRIELLE D’ADAMO SINGER, Staff Director 

JOSEPH C. FOLIO III, Chief Counsel 

COURTNEY J. ALLEN, Deputy Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs 

DAVID M. WEINBERG, Minority Staff Director 

ZACHARY I. SCHRAM, Minority Chief Counsel 

ASHLEY E. POLING, Minority Director of Governmental Affairs 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 

Calendar No. 44 

116TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 116–13 

PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2019 

MARCH 25, 2019.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 394] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (S. 394), to amend the Presidential 

Transition Act of 1963 to improve the orderly transfer of the executive power during Presidential transitions, having considered the 

same, reports favorably thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1 

II. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................... 2 

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 4 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 5 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 5 

VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 6 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 7 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

The purpose of S. 394, the Presidential Transition Enhancement 

Act of 2019, is to strengthen the presidential transition process by 

clarifying responsibilities of the General Services Administration 

(GSA) and other agencies during a transition and by requiring a 

contractual relationship between GSA and a transition team to 

2 

1On September 26, 2018, the Committee approved S. 3487, the Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2018. That bill is substantially similar to S. 394. Accordingly, this committee 

report is in large part a reproduction of Chairman Johnson’s committee report for S. 3487, S. 

Rep. No. 115–386. 2Presidential Transition Act of 1963, § 2, Pub. L. No. 88–277, 78 Stat. 153 (1964). 

3 Id. at § 3; see also Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111–283, 

124 Stat. 3045 (2010). 4 Edward ‘‘Ted’’ Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 

2015, Pub. L. No. 114–136, 130 Stat. 301 (2016). 5Letter from Christopher J. Christie, Transition Chairman, Trump for America, Inc., to Timothy Horne, Federal Transition Coordinator, Gen. Serv. Admin. (Aug. 1, 2016). 6Letter from Kory Langhofer, Counsel, Trump for America, Inc., to Senator Ron Johnson, 

Chairman, S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental Affairs (Dec. 16, 2017). Acting Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein appointed Robert S. Mueller III to serve as a Special Counsel 

of the U.S. Department of Justice on May 17, 2017, and ordered the Special Counsel to investigate ‘‘the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.’’ See U.S. 

Dep’t of Justice, Order No. 3915–2017, Appointment of Special Counsel to Investigate Russian 

Interference with the 2016 Presidential Election and Related Matters, available at https:// 

www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/967231/download. 7Letter from Senator Ron Johnson, Chairman, S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental 

Affairs, to Emily Murphy, Administrator, Gen. Serv. Admin. (Dec. 19, 2017). See also S. Rule 

XXV(k)(10) referring to the Committee matters relating to ‘‘organization and reorganization of 

the executive branch of the Government.’’ 8Letter from Emily Murphy, Administrator, Gen. Serv. Admin., to Senator Ron Johnson, 

Chairman, S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental Affairs (Jan. 19, 2018). 

guide the transition process.1 The bill also codifies ethics requirements during the presidential transition process by requiring presidential candidates to develop and publicly release ethics plans for 

their transition teams prior to the election, requires a set of minimum requirements for these ethics plans, and requires transition 

team members to sign an ethical code of conduct. 

II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

To ‘‘promote the orderly transfer of the executive power,’’ Congress passed the Presidential Transition Act of 1963.2 This law and 

its successor statutes require the GSA to provide the Presidentelect and the Vice-President-elect with office space, equipment, 

staff, and communications services to prepare for the assumption 

of their official duties as President and Vice President.3 The Edward ‘‘Ted’’ Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions 

Improvements Act of 2015 established the White House Transition 

Coordinating Council and the agency transition directors council to 

ensure efficient coordination between Federal agencies and transition teams when conducting transition activities.4

Trump for America, Inc. (TFA) was the organization designated 

to carry out pre-election and post-election transition activities for 

then-candidate Donald J. Trump.5 In December 2017, the Committee received an allegation from TFA that GSA had unlawfully 

disclosed its privileged communications.6 Since the allegation 

raised concerns about whether future presidential transition teams 

would trust GSA to safeguard their confidential material, and as 

the committee tasked by the Standing Rules of the Senate to oversee presidential transitions, the Committee opened an examination 

of the GSA’s actions.7 The Committee received 6,400 of pages of 

documents produced by GSA and conducted an interview with a 

GSA attorney.8

The information provided to the Committee demonstrated that 

both GSA and transition teams need additional guidance and protections in the event of third-party interest in the activities and 

records of a transition team. Specifically, there is no statutory requirement for GSA and transition teams to enter into a MemoVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:57 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089010 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR013.XXX SR013
3 

9 E-mail from Partnership of Public Service to Committee staff (Nov. 2, 2018, 16:39 EDT). 

10 Id. See also Edward ‘‘Ted’’ Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015, supra note 4 at δ 2. 11 Id. 12 Id. See also Presidential Transition Act of 1963, supra note 2 at δ 3. 13 Id. 14 Id. 15 Id. See also Edward ‘‘Ted’’ Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015, supra note 4 at § 2. 

randum of Understanding (MOU) to lay out the terms and responsibilities for each party regarding transition services. There also is 

no statutory language to ensure GSA is fully transparent with a 

transition team regarding its maintenance and distribution of transition team records. This bill will address those deficiencies by requiring GSA and transition teams to enter into a MOU that agrees 

upon the terms and conditions by which GSA will provide, and the 

transition team will receive, transition-related services. In addition, 

the MOU must designate a transition representative in the transition team to whom GSA must direct all third-party inquiries for 

transition team records. The bill also requires GSA and transition 

teams to provide advance notice if any deviation from the terms of 

MOU is anticipated. 

In addition to the issue regarding transition team records, the 

Partnership for Public Service (Partnership) learned of other statutory obstacles transition teams faced during the 2016 presidential 

transition through interviews with transition officials.9 A main concern included differing interpretations of the services GSA could 

provide a transition team after inauguration day. According to the 

Partnership, despite the Presidential Transitions Improvements Act 

authorizing GSA to continue providing services and facilities for up 

to 180 days after inauguration day, GSA and the Trump transition 

team negotiated an agreement whereby the transition team paid a 

lease to remain in GSA building space through February 2017.10

Transition officials also told the Partnership that 60 days, rather 

than the 180 days authorized under current statute, is a sufficient 

amount of time to allow transition officials ‘‘to focus on recruiting 

and filling key positions while also transitioning incoming White 

House personnel officials into their new physical quarters within 

the Executive Office of the President.’’ 11 Current statute also 

caused delays for transition teams onboarding detailed Congressional staff because statute requires an agency head to approve the 

detail.12

The Partnership also identified areas of improved transition activities within agencies during a presidential transition. According 

to the Partnership, transition officials viewed the agency transition 

directors council, established under the Presidential Transitions 

Improvements Act, ‘‘as helping to build trust with the incoming administration because almost all [council] members were the senior 

career officials responsible for their agencies’ transitions.’’ 13 However, a few agencies sent an official to the council who was not the 

person responsible for their agency’s transition responsibilities, 

raising ‘‘a risk of undermining the cohesiveness of the transition 

strategy.’’ 14 The Partnership also learned of confusion among agencies regarding the statutory requirement to designate career officials to serve in an acting role for vacant senior political positions 

to be appointed by the incoming administration.15

4 

16 U.S. Gov’t Accountability Off., Presidential Transition: Information on Ethics, Funding, and 

Agency Services, 7–8, GAO–17–615R (Sept. 7, 2017). 17 Id. at 8. 18 Id. 

In a review of the Trump-Pence transition, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that, although transition team 

members who are not Federal employees, Members of Congress, or 

subject to post-Federal employment restrictions ‘‘are not subject to 

the laws and rules governing ethics,’’ both the Trump-Pence and 

Obama-Biden transition teams ‘‘asked their members to sign an 

ethical code of conduct prepared by the [t]ransition [t]eam as a condition of service’’ which ‘‘prohibited [t]ransition [t]eam members 

from having any conflicts of interest that would preclude them 

from working on the matters assigned to them.’’ 16 Further, 

‘‘[e]stablishing an ethical code of conduct was a requirement identified in the MOU between the Trump-Pence Transition Team and 

the White House and the Obama-Biden Transition Team and the 

White House.’’ 17 GAO did note ‘‘the ethical code of conduct for the 

Trump-Pence Transition Team did not identify any officials or entities to provide oversight’’ for compliance with the code.18

This bill will codify the existing practice of requiring transition 

team members to sign an ethical code of conduct, as part of an ethics plan to be developed by a transition team. Specifically, presidential candidates will be required to develop and publicly release 

ethics plans for their transition teams prior to the election. The 

ethics plans include a set of minimum requirements, including the 

identification of the individuals on a transition team that are responsible for ensuring compliance by transition team members 

with the ethical code of conduct. The ethics plans will also include 

information on how eligible presidential candidates will address 

their own conflicts of interest during a Presidential term if the 

Presidential candidate becomes the President-elect. 

This bill also addresses the concerns identified by the Partnership by clarifying that GSA can provide a transition team with 

services and facilities for up to 60 days after inauguration. This bill 

will reduce delays in detailing congressional staff to transition 

teams by having the Member of Congress for whom the staff works 

approve the detail rather than an agency head. The agency transition directors council will be required to be an agency employee 

whose job responsibilities include implementing presidential transition activities in order to prevent different individuals from leading 

transition activities of each agency and clarifies the requirement 

for agencies to establish a succession plan for each outgoing senior 

political position. 

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 394 was introduced on February 7, 2019, by Senators Ron 

Johnson (R–WI), Tom Carper (D–DE), and Maggie Hassan (D–NH). 

The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs on February 7, 2019. 

The Committee considered S. 394 at a business meeting on February 13, 2019. The legislation was passed by voice vote en bloc 

with Senators Johnson, Portman, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Enzi, 

Hawley, Peters, Carper, Hassan, Harris, Sinema and Rosen 

present. 

5 

Consistent with Committee rules, the Committee reports the bill 

with a technical and conforming amendment. 

IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title 

This section gives the bill the short title of the ‘‘Presidential 

Transition Enhancement Act of 2019.’’ 

Section 2. Presidential transition enhancements 

This section improves the operation of presidential transitions for 

GSA and presidential transition teams. 

Subsection (a) allows GSA to provide transition services to a 

transition team for up to 60 days after the inauguration of the 

President-elect and Vice-President-elect. This subsection clarifies 

that congressional employees may be detailed to a transition team 

and replaces the term ‘‘computers’’ with ‘‘information technology.’’ 

Under this subsection, transition teams and GSA will be required 

to enter into a MOU that will include the conditions by which transition teams will access GSA staff, facilities, and agency documents. The MOU also requires the transition team to designate a 

transition representative to whom GSA will direct any inquiries or 

legal instruments for transition team records. This designation 

ends either upon the request of the transition team or 180 days 

after the inauguration of the President-elect and Vice-Presidentelect. GSA will be required to notify a transition team at least 

three days in advance of taking any action that deviates from the 

terms and conditions of the MOU. 

Subsection (b) requires that an agency employee serving as a 

senior representative in the agency transition directors council 

must be serving in a career position at the agency. Each agency 

must also develop a succession plan for each senior non-career position in the agency by September 15 of a Presidential election year. 

This subsection also changes the required date of completion for 

a MOU between transition teams and the President of the United 

States from November 1 of an election year to October 1. This 

MOU must also include an agreement that the transition team will 

develop and enforce an ethics plan for all transition team members. 

Under this ethics plan, all transition team members must sign and 

be subject to a Code of Ethical Conduct, and the transition team 

must designate and identify the individuals responsible for enforcing the terms of the ethics plan. The ethics plan must also describe 

how covered eligible presidential candidates will address their own 

conflicts of interest during a Presidential term if the candidate becomes the President-elect. The ethics plan must be made publicly 

available on GSA’s website by the earlier of the completion of the 

MOU or October 1 of an election year. 

V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of 

the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this bill and determined that the bill will 

have no regulatory impact within the meaning of the rules. The 

Committee agrees with the Congressional Budget Office’s statement that the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

6 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

(UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, March 1, 2019. 

Hon. RON JOHNSON, Chairman, 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 394, the Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is David Hughes. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

S. 394 would limit the period during which services and facilities 

are provided to Presidential transition teams by the General Services Administration (GSA). The bill also would set a timeline for 

GSA to enter into memorandums of understanding with Presidential campaigns to prepare for potential transitions. Finally, S. 

394 would authorize the executive branch to pay legislative branch 

employees to work for the President-elect or Vice President-elect 

during transition periods. 

Using information from GSA, CBO expects that most of the bill’s 

provisions would not have a significant effect on the cost of a Presidential transition. However, one provision would reduce the period 

during which a transition team may use government services and 

facilities following an inauguration from 180 days to 60 days. CBO 

estimates that condensing the time frame during which government services and facilities may be used would reduce federal costs 


Insert offset folio 10 here SR13.001
7 

for staffing and office space by less than $500,000 annually in the 

years of Presidential inaugurations. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is David Hughes. This 

estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill, as 

reported, are shown as follows: (existing law proposed to be omitted 

is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in italic, and existing 

law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

UNITED STATES CODE 

* * * * * * * 

TITLE 3—THE PRESIDENT 

* * * * * * * 

CHAPTER 2—OFFICE AND COMPENSATION OF 

PRESIDENT 

* * * * * * * 

SECTION 102—COMPENSATION OF THE PRESIDENT 

* * * * * * * 

NOTES 

* * * * * * * 

PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT OF 1963 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 3. SERVICES AND FACILITIES AUTHORIZED TO BE PROVIDED TO 

PRESIDENTS-ELECT AND VICE-PRESIDENTS-ELECT. 

(a) The Administrator of General Services, referred to hereafter 

in this Act as ‘‘the Administrator,’’ is authorized to provide, øupon 

request, to each President-elect and each Vice-President-elect, for 

use in connection with his preparations for the assumption of official duties as President or Vice President necessary services and facilities, including¿ upon request, to each President-elect, each VicePresident-elect, and for up to 60 days after the date of the inauguration of the President-elect and Vice-President-elect, each President 

and Vice President, for use in connection with the preparations for 

the assumption of official duties as President or Vice President necessary services and facilities, including the following: 

(1) * * * 

(2) Payment of the compensation of members of office staffs 

designated by the President-elect or Vice-President-elect at 

rates determined by them not to exceed the rate provided by 

the Classification Act of 1949, as amended øchapter 51 and 

subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5¿, for grade GS–18: Provided, That any employee of any agency of any branch of the 

8 

Government, or an employee of a committee of either House of 

Congress, a joint committee of the Congress, or an individual 

Member of Congress, may be detailed to such staffs on a reimbursable basis with the consent of the head of the agency, or 

in the case of an employee in a position in the legislative 

branch, with the consent of the supervising Member of Congress; and while so detailed such employee shall be responsible 

only to the employment without interruption. Notwithstanding 

any other law, persons receiving compensation as members of 

office staffs under this subsection, other than those detailed 

from agencies, shall not be held or considered to be employees 

of the Federal Government except for purposes of the Civil 

Service Reform Act øsection 8301 et seq. of title 5¿, the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act øsection 8501 et seq. of title 

5¿, the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Act of 1954 

øsection 8701 et seq. of title 5¿, and the Federal Employees 

Health Benefits Act of 1959 øsection 8901 et seq. of title 5¿. 

* * * * * * * 

ø(b) The Administrator may not expend funds for the provision 

of services and facilities under this section in connection with any 

obligations incurred by the President-elect or Vice-President-elect— 

(1) before the day following the date of the general elections 

held to determine the electors of President and Vice President 

under section 1 or 2 of title 3, United States Code; or 

(2) after 180 days after the date of the inauguration of the 

President-elect as President and the inauguration of the VicePresident-elect as Vice President.¿ 

(b) The Administrator shall expend funds for the provision of 

services and facilities under this section— 

(1) in connection with any obligation incurred by the President-elect or Vice-President-elect, or after the inauguration of 

the President-elect as President and the inauguration of the 

Vice-President-elect as Vice President incurred by the President 

or Vice President, during the period— 

(A) beginning on the day after the date of the general 

elections held to determine the electors of the President and 

Vice President under section 1 or 2 of title 3, United States 

Code; and 

(B) ending on the date that is 60 days after the date of 

such inauguration; and 

(2) without regard to whether the President-elect, Vice-President-elect, President, or Vice President submits to the Administrator a request for payment regarding services or facilities before the end of such period. 

* * * * * * * 

(h) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(A) * * * 

(B) * * * 

(i) * * * 

(ii) shall, as appropriate, ensure that any øcomputers¿ information technology or communications 

9 

services provided to an eligible candidate under this 

subsection are secure; 

* * * * * * * 

(i) MEMORANDUMS OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 1 of a year during which a Presidential election occurs, the Administrator 

shall, to the maximum extent practicable, enter into a memorandum of understanding with each eligible candidate, which 

shall include, at a minimum, the conditions of access to employees, facilities, and documents of agencies by transition staff. 

(2) EXISTING RESOURCES.—To the maximum extent practicable, a memorandum of understanding entered into under 

paragraph (1) shall be based on memorandums of understanding relating to previous Presidential transitions. 

(3) TRANSITION REPRESENTATIVE.— 

(A) DESIGNATION OF REPRESENTATIVE FOR INQUIRIES.— 

Each memorandum of understanding entered into under 

this subsection shall designate a representative of the eligible candidate to whom the Administrator shall direct any 

inquiries or legal instruments regarding the records of the 

eligible candidate that are in the custody of the Administrator. 

(B) CHANGE IN TRANSITION REPRESENTATIVE.—The designation of a new individual as the transition representative of an eligible candidate shall not require the execution 

of a new memorandum of understanding under this subsection. 

(C) TERMINATION OF DESIGNATION.—The designation of a 

transition representative under a memorandum of understanding shall terminate— 

(i) not later than 180 days after the date of the inauguration of the President-elect as President and the inauguration of the Vice-President-elect as Vice President; or 

(ii) before the date described in clause (i), upon the 

request of the President-elect or Vice-President-elect, or 

after such inauguration upon request of the President 

or Vice President. 

(4) AMENDMENTS.—Any amendment to a memorandum of understanding entered into under this subsection shall be agreed 

to in writing. 

(5) PRIOR NOTIFICATION OF DEVIATION.—Each party to a 

memorandum of understanding entered into under this subsection shall provide written notice, except to the extent prohibited under another provision of law, not later than 3 days before taking any action that deviates from the terms and conditions agreed to in the memorandum of understanding. 

(6) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘eligible candidate’’ has the meaning given that term in subsection (h)(4). 

SEC. 4. TRANSITION SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES BEFORE ELECTION. 

(a) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(2) * * * 

10 

(3) the term ‘‘eligible candidate’’ has the meaning given that 

term in section 3(h)(4); øand¿ 

(4) the term ‘‘nonpublic information’’— (A) means information from the Federal Government that 

a member of a transition team obtains as part of the employment of the member and that such member knows or 

reasonably should know has not been made available to the 

public; and 

(B) includes information that a member of the transition 

team knows or reasonably should know— 

(i) is exempt from disclosure under section 552 of 

title 5, United States Code, or otherwise protected from 

disclosure by law; and 

(ii) is not authorized by the appropriate government 

agency or officials to be released to the public; and 

ø(4)¿ (5) the term ‘‘Presidential election’’ means a general 

election held to determine the electors of President and Vice 

President under section 1 or 2 of title 3, United States Code. 

* * * * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(A) * * * 

(B) * * * 

(C) a senior representative serving in a career position 

from each agency described in section 901(b)(1) of title 31, 

United States Code, the Office of Personnel Management, 

the Office of Government Ethics, and the National Archives and Records Administration whose responsibilities 

include leading Presidential transition efforts within the 

agency; 

(D) a senior representative serving in a career position 

from any other agency determined by the Co-Chairpersons 

to be an agency that has significant responsibilities relating to the Presidential transition process; and 

* * * * * * * 

(f) * * * 

(1) * * * 

ø(2) ACTING OFFICERS.—Not later than September 15 of a 

year during which a Presidential election occurs, and in accordance with subchapter III of chapter 33 of title 5, United States 

Code, for each noncareer position in an agency that the head 

of the agency determines is critical, the head of the agency 

shall designate a qualified career employee to serve in that position in an acting capacity if the position becomes vacant.¿ 

(2) ACTING OFFICERS.—Not later than September 15 of a year 

during which a Presidential election occurs, and in accordance 

with subchapter III of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, 

the head of each agency shall ensure that a succession plan is 

in place for each senior noncareer position in the agency. 

(g) * * * 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than øNovember 1¿ October 1 of 

a year during which a Presidential election occurs, the PresiVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:57 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089010 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR013.XXX SR013
11 

dent (acting through the Federal Transition Coordinator) shall, 

to the maximum extent practicable, negotiate a memorandum 

of understanding with the transition representative of each eligible candidate, which shall include, at a minimum, the conditions of access to employees, facilities, and documents of agencies by transition staff. 

(2) * * * 

(3) ETHICS PLAN.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—Each memorandum of understanding 

under paragraph (1) shall include an agreement that the 

eligible candidate will implement and enforce an ethics 

plan to guide the conduct of the transition beginning on the 

date on which the eligible candidate becomes the Presidentelect. 

(B) CONTENTS.—The ethics plan shall include, at a minimum— 

(i) a description of the ethics requirements that will 

apply to all members of the transition team, including 

any specific requirement for transition team members 

who will have access to nonpublic or classified information; 

(ii) a description of how the transition team will— 

(I) address the role on the transition team of— 

(aa) lobbyists registered under the Lobbying 

Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 

and individuals who were former lobbyists 

registered under that Act; and 

(bb) persons registered under the Foreign 

Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 

et seq.), foreign nationals, and other foreign 

agents; 

(II) prohibit a transition team member with conflicts of interest similar to those applicable to Federal employees under section 2635.402(a) and section 2635.502(a) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, related to current or former employment, affiliations, clients, or investments, from working on 

particular matters involving specific parties that 

affect the interests of such member; and 

(III) address how the covered eligible candidate 

will address his or her own conflicts of interest 

during a Presidential term if the covered eligible 

candidate becomes the President-elect; 

(iii) a Code of Ethical Conduct, which each member 

of the transition team will sign and be subject to, that 

reflects the content of the ethics plan under this paragraph and at a minimum requires transition team 

members to— 

(I) seek authorization from transition team leaders or their designees before seeking, on behalf of 

the transition, access to any nonpublic information; 

(II) keep confidential any nonpublic information 

provided in the course of the duties of the member 

12 

with the transition and exclusively use such information for the purposes of the transition; and 

(III) not use any nonpublic information provided 

in the course of transition duties, in any manner, 

for personal or private gain for the member or any 

other party at any time during or after the transition; and 

(iv) a description of how the transition team will enforce the Code of Ethical Conduct, including the names 

of the members of the transition team responsible for 

enforcement, oversight, and compliance. 

(C) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—The transition team shall 

make the ethics plan described in this paragraph publicly 

available on the internet website of the General Services 

Administration the earlier of— 

(i) the day on which the memorandum of understanding is completed; or 

(ii) October 1. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ