U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

89–010 

" ! SENATE 115TH CONGRESS

2d Session 

REPORT

2018

115–386 

Calendar No. 672 

PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENT 

ACT OF 2018 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

S. 3487 

TO AMEND THE PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT OF 1963 

TO IMPROVE THE ORDERLY TRANSFER OF THE EXECUTIVE 

POWER DURING PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITIONS 

NOVEMBER 26, 2018.—Ordered to be printed 


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

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota 

STEVE DAINES, Montana 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire 

KAMALA D. HARRIS, California 

DOUG JONES, Alabama 

CHRISTOPHER R. HIXON, Staff Director 

GABRIELLE D’ADAMO SINGER, Chief Counsel 

COURTNEY J. ALLEN, Deputy Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs 

MARGARET E. DAUM, Minority Staff Director 

CHARLES A. MOSKOWITZ, Minority Senior Legislative Counsel 

KATHERINE C. SYBENGA, Minority Counsel 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 

Calendar No. 672 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 115–386 

PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2018 

NOVEMBER 26, 2018.—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. 3487] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (S. 3487) 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 .......................................................................... 4 

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

VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 5 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 6 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

The purpose of S. 3487 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 guide the transition process. 

2 

1Presidential Transition Act of 1963, § 2, Pub. L. No. 88–277, 78 Stat. 153 (1964). 

2 Id. at § 3; see also Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111–283, 124 

Stat. 3045 (2010). 3 Edward ‘‘Ted’’ Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 

2015, Pub. L. No. 114–136, 130 Stat. 301 (2016). 4Letter from Christopher J. Christie, Transition Chairman, Trump for America, Inc., to Timothy Horne, Federal Transition Coordinator, Gen. Serv. Admin. (Aug. 1, 2016) [GSA 004583]. 5Letter from Kory Langhofer, Counsel, Trump for America, Inc., to Senator Ron Johnson, 

Chairman, S. Comm. on Homeland Security and 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. 6Letter from Senator Ron Johnson, Chairman, S. Comm. on Homeland Security and 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.’’ 7Letter from Emily Murphy, Administrator, Gen. Serv. Admin., to Senator Ron Johnson, 

Chairman, S. Comm. on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Jan. 19, 2018). 

II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

To ‘‘promote the orderly transfer of the executive power,’’ Congress passed the Presidential Transition Act of 1963.1 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.2 The Edward ‘‘Ted’’ Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions 

Improvements Act of 2015 (hereinafter the ‘‘2015 Presidential 

Transitions Act’’) 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.3

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.4 In December 2017, the Committee received an allegation from TFA that GSA had unlawfully 

disclosed its privileged communications.5 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.6 The Committee received 6,400 of pages of 

documents produced by GSA and conducted an interview with a 

GSA attorney.7

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 memorandum 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 sets the terms and conditions by which GSA will provide, and the transition team will receive, transition-related services. In addition, the MOU must desVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Nov 29, 2018 Jkt 089010 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR386.XXX SR386
3 

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

9 Id. See also Edward ‘‘Ted’’ Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015, supra note 3 at § 2. 10 Id. 11 Id. See also Presidential Transition Act of 1963, supra note 1 at § 3. 12 Id. 13 Id. 14 Id. See also Edward ‘‘Ted’’ Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015, supra note 3 at § 2. 

ignate 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 the MOU is anticipated. 

In addition to the issue regarding transition team records, the 

non-partisan Partnership for Public Service (Partnership) learned 

of other statutory obstacles transition teams faced during the 2016 

presidential transition through interviews with transition officials.8

A main concern included differing interpretations of the services 

GSA could provide a transition team after inauguration day. According to the Partnership, despite the fact that the 2015 Presidential Transitions Act authorized 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 2017.9 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.’’ 10 Current statute also caused unnecessary delays for transition teams onboarding detailed congressional staff because statute 

requires an agency head to approve the detail.11

The Partnership also identified potential areas of improvement 

for transition activities within agencies during a presidential transition. According to the Partnership, transition officials viewed the 

agency transition directors council, established under the 2015 

Presidential Transitions 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.’’ 12 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.’’ 13 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.14

This bill also addresses these 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 transiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Nov 29, 2018 Jkt 089010 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR386.XXX SR386
4 

tion 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

Senator Ron Johnson (R–WI) introduced S. 3487 on September 

25, 2018. The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on September 25, 2018. 

The Committee considered S. 3487 at a business meeting on September 26, 2018. Senator Johnson offered an amendment that 

would allow GSA to provide services and facilities to a transition 

team for up to 60 days after inauguration of the President-elect 

and Vice-President-elect. The amendment would also terminate the 

designation of a transition representative under the MOU between 

a transition team and GSA either upon the request of the transition team or 180 days after inauguration of the President-elect and 

Vice-President-elect. The amendment was adopted by voice vote 

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

Daines, McCaskill, Carper, Heitkamp, Peters, Hassan, Harris, and 

Jones present. 

Senator Tom Carper offered an amendment that would impose 

new requirements on transition teams to develop an ethics plan 

and to report to Congress on each transition team member who applies for or receives a security clearance. It would also impose new 

requirements on any individual involved with a transition team to 

publicly disclose certain sources of their private income, regardless 

of the duration of involvement or the voluntary or compensated nature of the involvement. A voice vote was held on the amendment, 

and the amendment was not adopted. Senators Johnson, Portman, 

Paul, Lankford, Enzi, Hoeven, Daines, McCaskill, Carper, 

Heitkamp, Peters, Hassan, Harris and Jones were present for the 

voice vote. 

The legislation as amended by the Johnson amendment was 

passed by voice vote with Senators Johnson, Portman, Paul, 

Lankford, Enzi, Hoeven, Daines, McCaskill, Carper, Heitkamp, 

Peters, Hassan, Harris and Jones present. 

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 2018’’. 

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 docuVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Nov 29, 2018 Jkt 089010 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR386.XXX SR386
5 

ments. 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. This subsection 

also requires each agency to develop a succession plan for each senior non-career position in the agency by September 15 of a Presidential 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 

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, October 23, 2018. 

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. 3487, the Presidential Transitions Enhancement Act of 2018. 

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

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

S. 3487—Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2018 

S. 3487 would limit the period during which services and facilities are provided to Presidential transition teams and would authorize the executive branch to pay legislative employees working 

for them. S. 3487 also would set a timeline for the General Services 

Administration (GSA) to enter into agreements with campaigns to 

prepare for possible transitions. 

According to GSA, most of the bill’s provisions would not have a 

significant effect on the cost of a Presidential transition. However, 

by reducing from 180 days to 60 days after an inauguration the period in which a transition team may use government services and 

6 

facilities, the bill would reduce costs for staffing and office space. 

CBO estimates that the decrease in costs would be less than 

$500,000 annually over the next five years. 

Enacting S. 3487 would not affect direct spending or revenues; 

therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

CBO estimates that enacting S. 3487 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2029. 

S. 3487 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. The 

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 

7 

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 (chapter 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 

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 (section 8301 et seq. of title 5), the Federal 

Employees’ Compensation Act (section 8501 et seq. of title 5), 

the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Act of 1954 (section 8701 et seq. of title 5), and the Federal Employees Health 

Benefits Act of 1959 (section 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— 

ø(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 

ø(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. 

* * * * * * * 

8 

(h) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(2) 

(A) * * * 

(B) 

(i) * * * 

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

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. 

9 

(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) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(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. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ