Partnership for Public Services center for president ial transition. Why is a successful president ial transition so important . Safety isabout our the ultimate answer here. When you think about it, our democratic system envisions transfers of power when you have election so you have accountable government. That means that a new team has to figure out how to take charge immediately on january 20 in an effective way. Its a big task. When you think about our government you are looking at trillions of dollars, 4 million of people 4 million people, hundreds of operating units, and historically president s have aborted 4000 political appointees. Its a massive underage have appointed 400 political employees. Its a massive undertaking. The world is such a dangerous place that there is not a lot of time on the other postosted january 20 january 20 to do your learning curve, you have to be on top of it right away and have plans in place and work well together. That is work that takes lots of people working very hard as the biden team has been doing since really the springtime. They have a phenomenal leadership there in ted kaufman who knows this arena extremely well and is close to president elect biden and has no ambition himself, i trifecta perfect person. The gsa has been cooperating up until now, but we are in a new phase, a phase that requires engagement with the incumbent government, mainly the career workforce. That is not happening and thats a bad thing. Host you talked about our safety. As the week was ending, and into the weekend, a number of republican senators and people like former chief of staff john kelly are calling on in biden team to be briefed these security briefings, for example the president ial daily briefings and things like that. Why are those so essential to the new team coming in . Max it goes back to what the job will be on january 20. It involves handling a myriad of problems we know about like responding to the pandemic and rebuilding the economy, but also problems that are undoubtedly around the corner and not yet on our doorstep. The best example was the transition to president bush in 2000 where he experienced a shortened transition period as a result of the disagreement about and thetion and florida 9 11 Commission Found explicitly that that truncated transition was one of the real reasons why we had such trouble in responding to 9 11. It meant it was a lot harder for the bush team to have a National Security team in place and it caused us real harm. Fundamentally is the most Important Organization we have to keep us safe as a society, and that is a real risk for us if we dont ensure there betweenate cooperation the incoming and outgoing administration. Its not just the National Security external, its also the pandemic. Think about all that has to be done to move forward with vaccines and the economy and that is a baton handoff that is fundamental to all of us and requires a large number of people to be well coordinated on the biden team and up to speed and that takes time. That is really what we are talking about here, ensuring that the biden team is given access not just to daily briefs, but to people working on these problems now, the information they need, and to the processing parts of our government that will enable enable their team to step in right away. Host we are talking about the process of the president ial transition, our guest is the president and ceo for the partnership for Public Service. Your calls are welcome, 202 7488000. Epublicans, 202 7488001 independents and others, 202 7488002. You mentioned the delay in the 2000 handoff. We so far have yet to have President Trump concede or recognize joe biden as the winner of the 2020 election. Is there any other historical similarity or similar sort of setting where there was a delay like this caused by one candidate refusing to acknowledge the other . This is in myy, mind unique. I dont think this is like 2000 for two big reasons. The first is the feud in 2000 was a very clear one and you had questions from Vice President gore and the change in perspective in a single state with a very small number of votes that were in question here which is not what we were we are experiencing now. Even more importantly we are aware now of the consequences of delay transition making, the point i made about 9 11 earlier. We know we are in a dangerous world and that delay can be a real problem for our health, welfare, and safety. President trump has not yet conceded, my view is that is not necessary for him to do in order to allow the transition process to move forward. The reality is he can maintain his ability to pursue litigation options and still have a for our safety. Thats the outcome we need. Gsa has to recognize that and the funding has to be turned on and provided for the incoming team, the biden team. Max you are absolutely right and i will reiterate that the solid anden a really capable partner in helping the biden team do transition preparation preelection. They are led by a serious administrator, and my hope is that she will make the decision to ascertain biden as the president elect so that work can continue forward, that so important. And large the engagement with the incumbent government is what the with the career workforce and they are the people who in my view run the place. They are the ones that hold the essential information that the biden team really needs to be able to prepare effectively. Host how is your group involved in this and how have you been involved in previous transitions . Are a nonpartisan, Nonprofit Organization focused on trying to make our federal government work better. We live in a world where pretty much every organization engages with government around their preferences around policy. Our view is, if you dont have a government working effectively, than those policy preferences dont make a lot of difference, that really the execution of that policy towards the fundamental. We see president ial transitions mosting one of the important processes for a new administration to get going well and run the government effectively. Recognize that about a dozen years ago this was an area where nobody had systemized it. We created a set of guide books on how to do it right and have worked closely with arius legislators including ted kaufman who has been the godfather of the modern transition process and currently runs the biden transition, to improve that process. There is no more important complicated and Critical Organization in our country other than our federal government not only in our country, but in history. Getting that transition right is really important. As a kid we are taught that one of the critical things our country brought to the world was a transfer of power. It has been peaceful but ugly, but we need to make sure it is not just peaceful but also effective and that the handoff is fundamental. We focus on that and trying to bring information to government leaders around what is happening inside government, we have a best place to work ranking in the federal government. We train career leaders, we see that as the most important cohort in government running well. We work to bring different parts of government together. The problems of today dont respect the historical boundaries of yesterday. Together,orking well congress and the executive working well together, the intergovernmental working well together and the public and private sector. Its a very interesting and i believe under focused on set of activities that we do and its important now. We have big problems and we need government working well to solve them. Host before we get the calls i want to get your reactions to the words of Richard Nixon published in the new york times. The pieces headlined nixon has some advice, in his memoir Richard Nixon wrote that he did not push for a recount after the 1960 election despite accusations of voter fraud, historians debate whether or not that is true. A writer called the memoir and unreliable account from an unreliable narrator. At least nixon talked a good game. These are the words of Richard Nixon. Wrote inesident nixon the 1960 election if he were to demand a recount the organization of the new administration and an orderly transfer of responsibility from old to new might be delayed for months. The situation within the federal government would be chaotic. Those in the Old Administration would not know how to act or with what clear powers and responsibilities those appointed by john kennedy to positions in the new administration would have the same difficulty making plans. To the bitterness that would be engendered by such a maneuver on my part what my would have done incalculable and lasting damage throughout the country. I could think of no worse example for nations abroad who were trying to put preelectoral procedures into effect than that of the United States wrangling over the results of our president ial election and even suggesting that the presidency itself could be stolen by thievery at the ballot box. The words of Richard Nixon on his on the 1960 election. A fantastic quote and a strong lesson for us today. We live in only a more dangerous world today that moves even faster than it did in 1960 by a large measure which then puts even a larger premium on the transition working well. There is such a diverse set of challenges we face as a country. They are so difficult to manage. We have no grace on this. Hard fort right is so an incoming team and we need to make it as easy as possible. The only difference i would have with the statement there is, i think you can pursue the transition planning and enable whatever litigation strategy that President Trump wants to pursue to move forward through the courts. They dont have to be in tension. What is clear is that the failure to allow a coordinated passing of the baton puts us at risk and we should not have that. So many important things that could be disrupted, the biden team is doing great work but they need that access to information. Fantastic quote and thank you for sharing with me. Host the words of President Trump from 10 minutes ago. Theonly one in the eyes of fake news media, i concede nothing, we have a long way to go. This is a rigged election we will win. Callers, marym lou in new jersey. Caller good morning, bill and mr. Stier. I would like to make a couple of comments. I would like to thank cspan for being one of the few Broadcasting Networks where we can get honest news. We really appreciate that. Stier, i take issue with some things you are talking about. You said something about the biden team was preparing for this since last spring. Does that mean that the biden team knew they were going to win this election . We are talking about a smooth transition. Recollectiont there was no smooth transition from the Obama Administration to the Trump Administration. Of fact everything humanly possible was done to disrupt the Trump Administration. You are talking about the Biden Administration wanting peace and safety for the american people. The democrats werent worried about peace and safety over the last several months when we had the rioting, the looting, in these various cities across the country. Transition goes you are talking about the government transitioning. What you are not understanding is that trump people are a special group of people, morally, legally, and spiritually and we have nothing in common with the biden people. They dont know what they are going to be in for if over the next few weeks this election does not lean towards donald trump. Host several things there. We will hear from our guest. Max i am so glad you raised that point about the early transition planning. Say, historically, most campaigns were very leery about doing early transition planning because they were worried about being accused of celebrating early. That really changed with a new law that gave support for early transition planning predilections. The First Campaign to take advantage of that law was that of mitt romney who did unexceptional job of preelection transition planning. President trump and Hillary Clinton also did early preelection planning very well. The norm now is the right norm, which is you actually cant be ready to govern if you dont prepare for the possibility that you will actually win. That is what preelection transition planning is about. In my view there is nothing wrong with it and nothing nefarious, it is being responsible to make sure that if you are going to win, you can actually govern effectively. Host doesnt also the Current Administration, whether the Trump Administration now or the Obama Administration previously, they also have offices within the government of at least teams that are preparing for potential handsoff up a potential handoff of power, correct . Requires that every agency identify a career official to lead transition planning, this is all occurring preelection, in the event that there is going to be a handoff of power. In the primary you prepare for the possibility you will get the general, the reality is if you dont prepare for the possibility of winning, then you wont be ready if you actually win. Thats true on the government side as well. Interestingly, President Trump has needed to prepare for the possibility of a second term. Most people dont think about that as a transition, but it is. Second term president s usually lose almost half of their most senior people, so they have to restaff the government and think about how they want to operate differently and what they learn from the first cycle to the second. The second that i would respond to on your comment is to say that in fact the obama team did a really strong job of preparing for the possibility of a trump or clinton win. They follow the model of the Bush Administration, which really has created the Gold Standard of handoffs. Becauset bush did this he recognized that our country was vulnerable during a transition, that there was a National Security imperative to ensure the handoff was done effectively. He had no experience in terms of the handoff from clinton to him and his experience with 9 11 that shaped his view around this. I think the record books will show that president bush really put us on a different course in terms of an incumbent president handing off to a new president. President obama tried to follow that course. President trump did a good job of preelection transition planning, and bluntly the wheel came off the bus after the election. When he fired Chris Christie and more importantly pushed aside the work that had been done, the preparation work that had been good until then. Host when did he fire Chris Christie . Caller the max the thursday after the election. What ultimately was more damaging was the failure to take advantage of all the work and people that had been put together to ensure an orderly transfer of power. That really set them back. He was the slowest president in putting his people in place. Of missteps in dealing with the government at the front end. The root of those problems come out of his failure at postelection Transition Training. He engaged in the same kind of preelection Transition Training that the biden team did. Understanding that these are facts and you can draw different conclusions from them. , andis now the normal way in fact the best way to be ready for the possibility that he will be president. Host lets hear from ken in chicago on the democrats line. Caller hello there. I have to agree with the previous caller on the honesty found on cspan. Thank you for giving us a intform to view our opinions a safer and more productive way than the screaming of a protest at someone that is not listening. Nevertheless, and i would like regardingome proof seeds that have been planted in the American Public months prior to the election when the current president said that if democrats should win the only way to do it was by fraud. President ist the willingly playing the people like a fiddle because he can do that. Protests and the looting on the streets are two separate incidences. Correctly, these businesses have lost so much money as a result of having to , that when things are stolen they can be written off as theft and reimbursed for those items that were stolen, so its a scam. Its an insurance scam plain and simple. There are two separate incidences. They look for opportunities in groups of people who are protesting to incite these riots. They can go in and steal these goods and these businesses can write them off as stolen theft objects. Host that is can in chicago, any response there . Caller max i keep coming back to that wonderful quote you read from president nixon and how fundamental it is for us to have the machinery of government and and the machinery of our election be trusted. Professor and remarkable thinker said you need three things for a successful democracy. You need to have rule of law, accountability, and effective government. The accountability piece is obviously what we are seeing in the election itself and the effective government is what transition is necessary for. The basic me that the processes of our elections and our government are andng under such scrutiny distrust. Scrutiny is ok, the distrust worries me. We need to have shared rules, we need to be able to have a shared faith in our processes to make sure that our voices are heard and that our government is responsive to the american people. Down. Tuff is breaking i think president nixon had it right in the 1960 context in saying, that is fundamental to our success as a nation and i hope we can come together as a people to bring that back. Know, is theas you biden team going ahead with the betting people they want in their administration, and how Many Political appointees will the new administration be responsible for . Max the biden team was up early, aggressively, and smartly and they have experienced people. One of the most fundamental tasks they have ahead is identifying terrific people to be leaders in our government. There are historically 4000 appointments that an administration makes, political appointments. There is no other democracy that i am aware of on the planet that has anywhere close to that. If you look at Great Britain as another example, they get nervous when you talk about tens of appointees not thousands, and for good reason. Part of the problem with that Many Political appointments is you have in essence a very large group of shortterm leaders that take a bunch of time to get into place and then turn over before they can really focus on the longterm needs of the government that they are running. Its a big task, what im describing as far as wanting fewer political appointees. Need a different conception of what being a leader in government really requires. The oath of office is to the constitution not any individual. What we really need our people who are oriented to the job of taking care of the public good and seeing their job as public stewards. The biden team to directly answer your question is undoubtedly keenly focused on betting folks right now and selecting amongst a very talented crew of people that want to come into the system, but they will need the cooperation of the incumbent government. They will need to have security clearances and work on financial agreements. They can do a lot of stuff on their own. They will often need to engage at some point with the government. Host lets hear from aleta in florida, go ahead. Morning, thank you, max, we appreciate you so much and thank you again cspan. The caller from new jersey, i totally disagree with her absolutely. Transition smooth between clinton, bush, obama. They are all still great friends today. This president we currently have is the president of the division , he goes against the grain. This is not from country, this is america. I would like to say it so important for transition, we are talking about security for americans, what is the problem with him doing what is supposed to be done . Just move on, you lost the election. When he won the previous four years he was on the tv every chance he could get saying the most awful things about them being losers and poor sports. He is pouting and has no sense of decency. Since he has been president the country has gone back 30 or 40 years and so much evil has come to the forefront. Its time to move on. Lets transition, this president elect need to the daily briefings, we are talking about security for america, its not about trump area its about america. No argument from me that this is about america. I think that we do need to separate the real passions that exist and the political venues around the republican democrat and etc. Recognize that there are shared interest that we have as a society. Our government is fundamentally the most important tool we have for collective action as society to deal with our biggest problem. What everyone views as their political persuasion or what they think about what government should or should not be doing, whatever it is doing we should have it be done well. Ultimately i think that moving forward with a transition preparation does not diminish President Trumps ability to pursue any legal theory he might have about why there is a problem in the election process. We do need to make sure that the president elect biden, the current presumed trip resident elect biden has the tools that he needs to start on day one. The metaphor for me is a pilot. We are all on this plane together and flying in turbulent conditions. We should want to make sure the pilot and crew are in place and wellequipped and working well together because our welfare is at stake. I think that is the fundamental issue that is at play right now in terms of allowing or the kind of information sharing and operation between the government and the Biden Transition Team, thats really what we are talking about here. From next is nate parkville, maryland on the democrats line. Caller good morning, bill and mr. Stier. Caller i want to touch three points. I want to begin with mary lou, she said the trump people is special, i think they are but not in the way she may believe. 2000i want to go back to when you said bush had a problem as far as the transition from the clinton team to himself. The Supreme Court decided in september. On august the sixth he had a president ial daily briefing. Im trying to figure out, eight months, im kind of confused as to how that impacted i will finish with my third point. My third point is, this is my message to america. Wants you you did dead because you chose not to support him. Nutshell, it a explains all his actions from covid to the protests. Host max, he mentioned the 2000 transfer, i think he is referring to the briefing that reportedly george w. Bush got before the 9 11 attacks. Max i think there are a couple things that play. You in love to join being called by my first name. Bill andcalls you calls me mr. Stier, max is fine. The color makes an important point. About thesome things gsa decision that would enable the Biden Transition Team to get access to certain resources are very clear, access to the agencies so they can go in and learn what happened, than there are things like the intelligence sharing during the daily brief, i think those things could happen without a former formal asset formal ascertainment. The Current Administration has a fair amount of discretion and i think they should move forward with everything. They should have ascertainment and move forward in every way possible to make sure that the biden team will have what it needs, assuming that they take charge on january 20. About, whatquestion happened in terms of the shortened transition . It was not until after the Supreme Court decision in december 14 that this was ecided and gore gave his concession that the ascertainment happened. There is some argument over whether it should have happened earlier. That may be the case, but the reality is that meant that president elect biden did nottelect bush have five plus weeks of did not lose five plus weeks of what will would have been his transition time. They were active in his transition planning, gentleman named clay johnson was tapped early on by then governor bush to think about transition planning. Clause created by the election dispute that did slow them down and it did mean they were not able to move with as much dispatch as they would have to get their people in place. ,hats what the 9 11 commission a bipartisan highly respected commission, identified as a real problem point in the response to 9 11. That truncated transition period in 2000 meant that the bush team was not as far an advanced as putting their National Security team in place at the time of the attack and that caused problems. Having your Leadership Team in place as fast as possible, to me, is probably the most fundamental responsibility of the incoming administration. A president is essential, the government is so large and complicated that getting the team in place and working well and doing it fast, its hard. This comes back to the question of 4000 political appointees, 1200 require senate confirmation. It is too onerous of a process to get your team in place. We should have fewer senate firmed commissions positions and fewer political appointees in general. We need to make it run more smoothly in the best of circumstances and dont need to make it worse. And already a hard process delayed makes what is difficult harder. Host former National Security adviser to president obama, susan rice, writing trump stalling risks our security, in 2020 as the days tick by and mr. Trump shows no signs of starting a transition the risks increase. Mr. Biden and his National Security team have not been provided the daily intelligence briefing to which they are entitled. The biden team is not receiving classified information. Reviewen Harris Agency teams are constituted but not but but have been denied access to every element of the executive branch, vital exchanges of information and expertise that would help combat covid19 and jumpstart the economy remain stalled. Lets hear from our republican line. Youryour measure guest is a miserable corrupt politician trying to instill fear in the nation that somehow as fast as possible we should go and install a new administration. First of all thats very dangerous. And its wrong. 9 11 was not because of bush, it was prepared during the Clinton Administration. [indiscernible] something the whole blame should be on the Clinton Administration. Fearto try to instill across every legal reasoning is very dangerous. There is a reason why mr. Trump has the right to go through these legal processes, whatever he wants to do he has the right. I would appreciate if you take pride in your existence as a corrupt politician and talk the truth. Your mental to fundamental to your wrong is that democrats had machinery prepared. I see many people coming from swamp who used to be in the Obama Administration completely ready for a transition. [indiscernible] this is the whole machinery people are and completely ready to do it. To try this is dangerous to install a new president as fast as possible. Nobody in the whole world is attacking america. Dont make me say it. Biden, wars, mr. Joe ofmary sponsor of 78 days bombing of syria and montenegro. Host im going to let you go, a lot on the table. Back to 2000, i think she raised that up there. How much transition was actually happening between george w. Bush between the Clinton Administration and a Bush Administration . How much had gotten underway . Followed bestteam practice, clay johnson was the head of the preelection transition preparation process. Workinged thinking and on this a year before the election and it was with good forethought that he did. Interrupted got from the point of the election until the gore concession on december 14. They lost a good chunk of time, really important time between the election and the inauguration that they would otherwise have been able to push for more aggressively. Caller, of that last comments. The argument here is not to move president elect biden into office any earlier. The constitution is very clear. It is on january 20 that you see a president being sworn in. The issue is, assuming he will be sworn in on january 20, do we want to see him and his team best prepared to run our government for all of us in a safer way . This is not about accelerating his movement into office or making sure he ricesou cited susan oped which i think is very strong, you should look at the other company he is keeping right now. Toomey,rubio, senator former bush, karl rove, the list of republicans who are serious minded who have signed off on the notion that this is really vital that the Transition Access be occurring right now and the shared information happening is large, its a Bipartisan Group and for good reason. President trump can pursue litigation remedies, whatever he thinks is appropriate to do, and that is independent of the issue of the biden team getting access to the resources they need if and when they take charge on january 20. This is not a partisan issue, its bipartisan. Every National Security figure, military, that i have heard on this, they are all of the same view that this is something that should happen. Host in addition to their role in confirming appointees in the senate, does con congress have any role in the president ial transition . Near term the most important rule the senate will play is in their advise and consent role, 1200 of the 4000 a political appointees that need senate confirmation. That thely Important Senate process be good. They have the right to vote up and down for someone they think does not meet the qualifications they can reject them. Moving forward with dispatch through the nominations and the incoming administrations responsibility to put forward nominees. Getting that done quickly is really important and has been a point of problems from president reagan to President Trump we have seen confirmation times double, and thats a big issue. There is no doubt thats the most important role. I think we have learned a lot about ways we can make the system work better and i am hoping that congress will focus intently on the issue, we have a whole reform agenda we are posing call the roadmap for renewal which is on our website. Our government needs to be refreshed and there is a lot we can do better, a lot of strong people and we need to refresh the workforce. Get onets see if we more quick call from tammy in belfast, maine on the independent line. Caller good morning. It is a question on how responsible and safe for the United States for joe biden to be talking to eight World Leaders already without having National Security clearance, without being sworn in and whatnot. How is the transition so important for him when he is decisions about how the u. S. Is going to handle those countries . Question, it is Standard Practice for a president elect to be having conversations with World Leaders. What is not Standard Practice is to have the president elect to have the president elect not have access to the state to help coordinate those calls. Normal forpriate and president elect biden to be having conversations. He should, this is an example of resources he has been denied. He should be having the assistance of state department folks who have been dealing with these World Leaders who understand every thing that is going on. That is the way they should do it if this administration should coordinate in that way. World leaders are reaching out to him as well. That does not help us. It hurts us. The issue here is to make sure seamless is a coordination. It is not about partisanship, it is about the way our country is going to deal with important allies and adversaries across the world. President elect biden has a lot of experience here, but still needs the engagement of the career workforce of the state department. Ceo of the partnership for Public Service talking about thanks for being with now so it will launch for astronauts above a space for Spacex Spacex j. We will bring you coverage at three 15 p. M. Eastern with a launch scheduled for 7 27 p. M. Eastern. The capsule is scheduled to dock at the International Space station. And we will bring you nasa updates as they happen. Watch live nasa coverage on cspan, and cspan. Org. Democratic senator tina smith and Health Professionals talked about expanded insurance access as more coronavirus cases reported in the u. S. They looked at the availability of health care for those with low incomes and the need for more Mental Health and telemedicine options. And welcome to Axios Health Care 21. I am sam
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