II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1172 

To improve the process of presidential transition. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2015 

Mr. CARPER (for himself and Mr. JOHNSON) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve the process of presidential transition. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Transi5 tions Improvements Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION IMPROVEMENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Presidential Transition Act 

8 of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating sections 4, 5, and 6 as sec10 tions 5, 6, and 7, respectively; and 

11 (2) by inserting after section 3 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 4. TRANSITION SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES BEFORE 

2 ELECTION. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Administrator’ means the Ad5 ministrator of General Services; 

6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘agency’ means an Executive 

7 agency, as defined in section 105 of title 5, United 

8 States Code; 

9 ‘‘(3) the term ‘eligible candidate’ has the mean10 ing given that term in section 3(h)(4); and 

11 ‘‘(4) the term ‘Presidential election’ means a 

12 general election held to determine the electors of 

13 President and Vice President under section 1 or 2 

14 of title 3, United States Code. 

15 ‘‘(b) GENERAL DUTIES.—The President shall take 

16 such actions as the President determines necessary and 

17 appropriate to plan and coordinate activities by the Execu18 tive branch of the Federal Government to facilitate an effi19 cient transfer of power to a successor President, including 

20 by— 

21 ‘‘(1) establishing and operating a White House 

22 transition coordinating council in accordance with 

23 subsection (d); and 

24 ‘‘(2) establishing and operating an agency tran25 sition directors council in accordance with subsection 

26 (e). 


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1 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL TRANSITION COORDINATOR.—The 

2 Administrator shall designate an employee of the General 

3 Services Administration who is a senior career appointee 

4 to— 

5 ‘‘(1) carry out the duties and authorities of the 

6 General Services Administration relating to Presi7 dential transitions under this Act or any other provi8 sion of law; 

9 ‘‘(2) serve as the Federal Transition Coordi10 nator with responsibility for coordinating transition 

11 planning across agencies, including through the 

12 agency transition directors council established under 

13 subsection (e); 

14 ‘‘(3) ensure agencies comply with all statutory 

15 requirements relating to transition planning and re16 porting; and 

17 ‘‘(4) act as a liaison to eligible candidates. 

18 ‘‘(d) WHITE HOUSE TRANSITION COORDINATING

19 COUNCIL.— 

20 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 

21 months before the date of a Presidential election, the 

22 President shall establish a White House transition 

23 coordinating council for purposes of facilitating the 

24 Presidential transition. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The White House transition co2 ordinating council shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) provide guidance to agencies and the 

4 Federal Transition Coordinator regarding prep5 arations for the Presidential transition, includ6 ing succession planning and preparation of 

7 briefing materials; 

8 ‘‘(B) facilitate communication and infor9 mation sharing between the transition rep10 resentatives of eligible candidates and senior 

11 employees in agencies and the Executive Office 

12 of the President; and 

13 ‘‘(C) prepare and host interagency emer14 gency preparedness and response exercises. 

15 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of the 

16 White House transition coordinating council shall in17 clude— 

18 ‘‘(A) senior employees of the Executive 

19 branch selected by the President, which may in20 clude the Chief of Staff to the President, any 

21 Cabinet officer, the Director of the Office of 

22 Management and Budget, the Administrator, 

23 the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage24 ment, the Director of the Office of Government 

25 Ethics, and the Archivist of the United States; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the Federal Transition Coordinator; 

2 ‘‘(C) the transition representative for each 

3 eligible candidate, who shall serve in an advi4 sory capacity; and 

5 ‘‘(D) any other individual the President de6 termines appropriate. 

7 ‘‘(4) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 

8 White House transition coordinating council shall be 

9 a senior employee in the Executive Office of the 

10 President, designated by the President. 

11 ‘‘(e) AGENCY TRANSITION DIRECTORS COUNCIL.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall estab13 lish and operate an agency transition directors coun14 cil, which shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) ensure the Federal Government has 

16 an integrated strategy for addressing inter17 agency challenges and responsibilities around 

18 Presidential transitions and turnover of non19 career appointees; 

20 ‘‘(B) coordinate transition activities be21 tween the Executive Office of the President, 

22 agencies, and the transition team of eligible 

23 candidates and the President-elect and Vice24 President-elect; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) draw on guidance provided by the 

2 White House transition coordinating council 

3 and lessons learned from previous Presidential 

4 transitions in carrying out its duties. 

5 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—As part of carrying out the re6 sponsibilities under paragraph (1), the agency tran7 sition directors council shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) assist the Federal Transition Coordi9 nator in identifying and carrying out the re10 sponsibilities of the Federal Transition Coordi11 nator relating to a Presidential transition; 

12 ‘‘(B) provide guidance to agencies in gath13 ering briefing materials and information relat14 ing to the Presidential transition that may be 

15 requested by eligible candidates; 

16 ‘‘(C) ensure materials and information de17 scribed in subparagraph (B) are prepared not 

18 later than November 1 of a year during which 

19 a Presidential election is held; 

20 ‘‘(D) ensure agencies adequately prepare 

21 career employees who are designated to fill non22 career positions under subsection (f) during a 

23 Presidential transition; and 

24 ‘‘(E) consult with the President’s Manage25 ment Council, or any successor thereto, in carVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:21 May 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1172.IS S1172

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1 rying out the duties of the agency transition di2 rectors council. 

3 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of the agen4 cy transition directors council shall include— 

5 ‘‘(A) the Federal Transition Coordinator, 

6 who shall serve as Chairperson of the agency 

7 transition directors council; 

8 ‘‘(B) a senior employee serving in the Ex9 ecutive Office of the President, who shall be ap10 pointed by the President; 

11 ‘‘(C) a senior representative from each 

12 agency described in section 901(b)(1) of title 

13 31, United States Code, the Office of Personnel 

14 Management, the Office of Government Ethics, 

15 and the National Archives and Records Admin16 istration whose responsibilities include leading 

17 Presidential transition efforts within the agen18 cy; 

19 ‘‘(D) a senior representative from any 

20 other agency determined by the Federal Transi21 tion Coordinator to be an agency that has sig22 nificant responsibilities relating to the Presi23 dential transition process; and 

24 ‘‘(E) during a year during which a Presi25 dential election will be held, a transition repVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:21 May 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1172.IS S1172

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1 resentative for each eligible candidate, who shall 

2 serve in an advisory capacity. 

3 ‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The agency transition direc4 tors council shall meet— 

5 ‘‘(A) subject to subparagraph (B), not less 

6 than once per year; and 

7 ‘‘(B) during the period beginning on the 

8 date that is 6 months before a Presidential elec9 tion and ending on the date on which the Presi10 dent-elect is inaugurated, on a regular basis as 

11 necessary to carry out the duties and authori12 ties of the agency transition directors council. 

13 ‘‘(f) INTERIM AGENCY LEADERSHIP FOR TRANSI14 TIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) OVERSIGHT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF

16 TRANSITION.—Not later than 6 months before the 

17 date of a Presidential election, the head of each 

18 agency shall designate a senior career employee of 

19 the agency and a senior career employee of each 

20 major component and subcomponent of the agency 

21 to oversee and implement the activities of the agen22 cy, component, or subcomponent relating to the 

23 Presidential transition. 

24 ‘‘(2) ACTING OFFICERS.—Not later than Sep25 tember 15 of a year during which a Presidential 


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1 election occurs, and in accordance with subchapter 

2 III of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, for 

3 each noncareer position in an agency that the head 

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

5 agency shall designate a qualified career employee to 

6 serve in the position in an acting capacity if the po7 sition becomes vacant. 

8 ‘‘(g) MEMORANDUMS OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than November 1 

10 of a year during which a Presidential election oc11 curs, the President (acting through the Federal 

12 Transition Coordinator) shall, to the maximum ex13 tent practicable, negotiate a memorandum of under14 standing with the transition representative of each 

15 eligible candidate, which shall include, at a min16 imum, the conditions of access to employees, facili17 ties, and documents of agencies by transition staff. 

18 ‘‘(2) EXISTING RESOURCES.—To the maximum 

19 extent practicable, the memorandums of under20 standing negotiated under paragraph (1) shall be 

21 based on memorandums of understanding from pre22 vious Presidential transitions. 

23 ‘‘(h) EQUITY IN ASSISTANCE.—Any information or 

24 other assistance provided to eligible candidates under this 


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1 section shall be offered on an equal basis and without re2 gard to political affiliation. 

3 ‘‘(i) REPORTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting 

5 through the Federal Transition Coordinator, shall 

6 submit to the Committee on Oversight and Govern7 ment Reform of the House of Representatives and 

8 the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern9 mental Affairs of the Senate reports describing the 

10 activities undertaken by the President and agencies 

11 to prepare for the transfer of power to a new Presi12 dent. 

13 ‘‘(2) TIMING.—The reports under paragraph 

14 (1) shall be provided 6 months and 3 months before 

15 the date of a Presidential election.’’. 

16 (b) OTHER IMPROVEMENTS.—Section 3 of the Presi17 dential Transition Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (8)— 

21 (i) in subparagraph (A)(i)— 

22 (I) by inserting ‘‘and during the 

23 term of a President’’ after ‘‘during 

24 the transition’’; and 


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1 (II) by striking ‘‘after inaugura2 tion’’; and 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

4 ‘‘or Executive agencies (as defined in sec5 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code)’’ 

6 before the period; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (10), by inserting ‘‘in8 cluding, to the greatest extent practicable, 

9 human resource management system software 

10 compatible with the software used by the in11 cumbent President and likely to be used by the 

12 President-elect and Vice President-elect’’ before 

13 the period; 

14 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘30 days’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘180 days’’; 

16 (3) in subsection (g), by inserting ‘‘except for 

17 activities under subsection (a)(8)(A),’’ before ‘‘there 

18 shall be no’’; and 

19 (4) in subsection (h)(2), by adding at the end 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(D) An eligible candidate shall have a right to the 

22 services and facilities described in this paragraph until the 

23 date on which the Administrator is able to determine the 

24 apparent successful candidates for the office of President 

25 and Vice President.’’. 


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1 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 (1) Section 3 of the Pre-Election Presidential 

3 Transition Act of 2010 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is re4 pealed. 

5 (2) The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (3 

6 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended— 

7 (A) in section 3— 

8 (i) in subsection (a)(4)(B), by striking 

9 ‘‘section 6’’ and inserting ‘‘section 7’’; 

10 (ii) in subsection (b), in the matter 

11 preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sec12 tion 3 of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘this sec13 tion’’; and 

14 (iii) in subsection (h)(3)(B)(iii), by 

15 striking ‘‘section 5’’ each place it appears 

16 and inserting ‘‘section 6’’; 

17 (B) in section 6, as redesignated by sub18 section (a) of this section, by striking ‘‘section 

19 6(a)(1)’’ each place it appears and inserting 

20 ‘‘section 7(a)(1)’’; and 

21 (C) in section (7)(a)(2), as redesignated by 

22 subsection (a) of this section, by striking ‘‘sec23 tion 4’’ and inserting ‘‘section 5’’. 


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1 (3) Section 8331(1)(K) of title 5, United States 

2 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 4’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘section 5’’. 

4 (4) Section 8701(a)(10) of title 5, United 

5 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 4’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘section 5’’. 

7 (5) Section 8901(1)(I) of title 5, United States 

8 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 4’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘section 5’’. 

10 SEC. 3. NATIONAL ARCHIVES PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION. 

11 Section 2203(g) of title 44, United States Code, is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para14 graph (4); and 

15 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(3) When the President considers it prac18 ticable and in the public interest, the President shall 

19 include in the President’s budget transmitted to 

20 Congress, for each fiscal year in which the term of 

21 office of the President will expire, such funds as may 

22 be necessary for carrying out the authorities of this 

23 subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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