Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation. I appreciate the leadership of Senator Tom Carper in advocating for this bill which would improve the transition process for Presidential administrations.
When a new President takes office, it can take months for the new administration to put people in place. This bill would ensure that the Federal Government can continue its important functions during this transition and allow the head of an agency to put career employees in noncareer positions temporarily if necessary.
Under this legislation, a senior-level interagency transition council would be established to help develop an effective strategy for each Presidential transition. The General Services Administration would also be required to designate a Federal transition coordinator, and agencies would be required to designate senior career officials to oversee transition activities.
This bill would also help the National Archives carry out its mission by authorizing the President to include funds for the Archives to efficiently receive records from the outgoing administration.
Several changes were made to this legislation during consideration by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to address concerns raised by Ranking Member Cummings. For example, the Senate version of this bill would have required the Office of Personnel Management to report every quarter on requests for political appointees to convert to career employees. The bill before us today would still require OPM to report this information, but it would only be on an annual basis during nonelection years.
This bill will help future Presidents have a smooth and productive transition. I support this bill, and I have no additional speakers.
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