Cheney and other aides said Bush intends to move cautiously over the next several days by quietly contacting potential hires. No appointments are expected before the end the of week, at the earliest, but campaign advisors said Bush is ready to name retired Gen. Colin Powell his secretary of state and foreign policy aide Condoleezza Rice his national security advisor. Cheney said the time has come to act. Cheney said in Washington as he outlined Bush's plans. He announced that Clay Johnson, Bush's gubernatorial chief of staff, would serve as executive director of the prospective transition, and that Ari Fleischer, a senior campaign spokesman who had moved to Austin for the campaign, would return to Washington to serve as transition spokesman.
Card is a former U.S. secretary of transportation.
But Bush's plans were constrained by political realities. In moving ahead visibly on transition preparations, Bush and his advisors hoped to build public acceptance of his claim to the White House. At the same time, they wanted to avoid any actions that smacked of arrogance or presumption. Administration officials said Bush will not get the money or the keys to the already-equipped transition office until the election dispute is settled. White House Spokesman Jake Siewert said a 1963 law, the Presidential Transition Act, prohibits spending federal money until the race is decided.