MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE CONGRESS The Congress may wish to consider --the desirability of increasing the amount of funds authorized under the Presidential Transition Act for the incoming President and Vice President (see p. 47), --the need for an extension of the time during which Presidential Transition Act funds are available to the former President and Vice President (see p. 48), and, --the need to amend the Former Presidents Act to provide for adjustment of the overall limit on compensation of the former President's staff, in line with pay raises in general. Or, perhaps, in view of the uncertain purpose for the limitation on total salaries within the total appropriations available, the limitation could be safely eliminated (see p. 49). DIGEST Contents INTRODUCTION TRANSITION PROBLEMS AND EXPERIENCE BEFORE 1968-69 Modern recognition of need for leadership and effective government The outgoing administration The President-elect's problems Relationships between the President and the President-elect Staffing arrangements Policy and program preparations Costs and finances The transition act ACTIVITIES OF PRESIDENT-ELECT NIXON The search for talent The search for new insights and fresh ideas Financial and other support FORMER PRESIDENTS Former Presidents Hoover and Truman Former President Eisenhower Former President Johnson Former Vice President Humphrey CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Adequacy of transition funds for incoming ad- Period of availability of transition funds Limitation on salaries of former President's SCOPE OF REVIEW Acknowledgment APPENDIX Selected bibliography 39-600 - 74 - 52 COMPTROLLER GENERAL'S DIGEST FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR WHY THE REVIEW WAS MADE Under modern conditions, a change of administration is a complex and difficult process, requiring forethought and cooperation by the principal participants--the incoming and outgoing Presidents and their leading associates--if the transition is to be carried through successfully. The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 was an important recognition of the public interest in orderly transitions; it sought to make that interest effective by establishing objectives and guidelines for the behavior of those involved and by authorizing the use of public facilities and funds. The full application of the Presidential Transition Act was first demonstrated in the 1968-69 transition. Therefore, GAO believed it appropriate to review the operation of the Presidential Transition Act and other related legislation. The basic purpose of this report is to provide information on the transitional process, which may be of interest to the Congress and the executive branch. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The transition of 1968-69 from President Lyndon B. Johnson to President Richard M. Nixon continued the trend, begun in the last several transitions, toward more careful advance preparations and greater continuity. In broad outline, the 1968-69 transition fulfilled the objectives of the act of 1963. There are, however, several matters which GAO believes warrant further attention by the Congress. Adequacy of transition funds for incoming administrations A question arises as to whether the transition funds made available to the incoming President and Vice President are adequate. Certainly, the question is encouraged by the manner in which the amounts were determined. The starting point was an estimate presented to the Congress by the Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget) in its testimony on legislation leading to the Presidential Transition Act. The Bureau estimated that $1,225,000 would be a conservative amount to authorize for transition expenses. The bill passed by the House authorized an amount of $1,300,000 (apparently the Bureau's estimate rounded). This amount was compromised to $900,000 in conference with the Senate. Although the act is silent on the matter of the division of the funds between the incoming and outgoing administrations, the legislative history reflects an expectation that they be divided equally. This was done in the case of the 1968-69 transition. (See pp. 24 and 25.) Although the $450,000 in assistance made available to incoming administrations might well have been based on a more accurate determination of the actual expenses, it can also be argued that Presidents-elect and Vice-Presidents-elect have both quasi-official and political responsibilities in uncertain proportion and that there is no objective means of determining in what proportion their total expenses should be borne by public and private funds. GAO believes, however, that, if the Presidential Transition Act is to function as intended, the Federal assistance must cover a substantial part of the transition expenses. GAO believes also that the $450,000 in Federal funds made available to the incoming Nixon administration was clearly inadequate in light of the $1.5 million estimated to have been spent during the 1968-69 transition. (See p. 34.) Period of availability of transition funds to outgoing administrations In the normal course of events, the monies authorized for the former President and the former Vice President under the Presidential Transition Act are available for only 6 months after they have left office. At the end of this period, funds for the former President would be made available at a much-reduced level for staff and other expenses under the Former Presidents Act while the former Vice President would receive no further funds. (See pp. 22 and 38.) On the basis of experience gained from the last transition, GAO believes that the extension of the period of availability of transition funds beyond the 6 months set by the Presidential Transition Act is desirable. It is GAO's view that, although existing legislation correctly assumes that the burdens of former Presidents and Vice Presidents are greatest in the months immediately after leaving office, the actual burdens do not decline as rapidly as the 6-month limitation in the Presidential Transition Act implies; therefore, a strict adherence to the 6-month limitation makes the timing of fund availability out of phase with the workload pattern. |