Presidential transition of George W. Bush

President Bill Clinton (right) and President-elect George W. Bush (left) meet in theOval Office of theWhite House as part of the presidential transition on December 19, 2000.
Date of election	November 7, 2000
Transition start	December 12, 2000
Inauguration date	January 20, 2001
President-elect	George W. Bush (Republican)
Vice president-elect	Dick Cheney (Republican)
Outgoing president	Bill Clinton (Democrat)
Outgoing vice president	Al Gore (Democrat)
Headquarters	McLean, Virginia
Chairman of the transition	Dick Cheney

Thepresidential transition ofGeorge W. Bush took place following the2000 United States presidential election. It started after Bush was declared the victor of the election on December 12, 2000, when theBush v. Gore decision by theSupreme Court halted theelection recount in Florida, making Bush the victor in that state. The decision delivered him the state's 25electoral votes, thus giving him a total of 271 electoral votes. This was one more vote than the 270 needed to win the presidency outright, making himpresident-elect.

Due to the recount effort and litigation between Bush and his presidential opponentAl Gore leaving the outcome of the election unclear until December 12, 2000, Bush's official transition was abbreviated, at just 39 days. The transition was chaired byvice president-electDick Cheney.

Bush's victory was formallycertified on January 6, 2001, when ajoint session of Congress certified the electoral college count.^[1][2] The transition ended when Bush wasinaugurated onJanuary 20, 2001. This was the first presidential transition to be held after the passage of the Presidential Transition Act of 2000.^[3]

Due to the recount effort and litigation between Bush and his presidential opponentAl Gore leaving the election undecided until December 12, 2000, Bush's official transition was abbreviated to just 39 days.^[4] The last instance in United States history in which disputes over the election had delayed an individual becomingpresident-elect of the United States was the after the1876 United States presidential election, whenRutherford B. Hayes would not become president-elect until after theElectoral Commission's decision.^[5]

The official transition's abbreviated length gave the Bush team less time to prepare.^[6]

The shortened transition was also seen as having a potential impact on Bush's ability to readily make appointments to offices. The shortened transition meant that there was only a 5-week period before Bush would take office as president for requisiteFBI background checks to be performed on many of his prospective appointees for offices which required one.^[7] Despite having such a short transition, in his first year as president, Bush managed to appoint more people than any other modern president had in the same timeframe.^[4] The9/11 Commission Report argued that the abbreviated transition had resultantly left many national security positions unfilled by the time of theSeptember 11 attacks, and that slow transitions such as that of Bush's can imperil the nation's national security.^[8]

The transition Bush team also announced policy coordination groups on December 15, which included such membersJoshua Bolten,Gary Edson,John Bridgeland.^[9] The same day it also announced advisory teams, of whichBill Paxon was chair andMaria Cino was executive director.^[9]

Fred F. Fielding headed the transition's vetting and clearance process for prospective appointees.^[10]

The transition team also had a clearance counsel, confirmation teams, and various coordinator positions.^[9]

Some planning for Bush's potential presidential transition began as early as the spring of 1999.^[11] Per the later recounting ofClay Johnson III, Bush had asked him in June 1999 to help prepare a plan for a potential presidential transition.^[12] Johnson would agree, and would lead Bush's pre-election transition planning.^[5] Formal planning for a prospective transition began in August 2000.^[13] Throughout the pre-election planning efforts, Johnson would hold occasional meetings with Bush.^[14] While Johnson would continue to head pre-election planning, shortly afterthe Republican National Convention, it was decided that Bush's running mate,Dick Cheney would be the post-election transition chairman if the ticket were elected.^[15] The work Johnson oversaw was almost entirely done out of the public-eye, with little media coverage paid to the pre-election transition work until shortly before the day of the election.^[5]

Jonson communicated withMartha Joynt Kumar, head of the nonpartisan "White House Transition Project" group founded in 1999, who were researching presidential transitions. Johnson would later talk about receiving helpful insight from their research, and Bush would also credit them with having aided his transition effort.^[16][17]

A decision that Bush had privately decided upon two weeks before the election was that, if elected, he would nameAndrew Card hisWhite House chief of staff.^[5] This decision was made early due to Johnson's belief that it would be beneficial to have an individual in place for this role early.^[18]

While the election took place on November 7, its winner was unclear due to the unsettled result in Florida.

Bush proceeded with transition efforts while the election result was yet to be formally determined.^[19] In contrast to Bush, for some time after election day, Al Gore suspended his transition team's operations.^[20] Dick Cheney, conducted some transition work out of a private residence he owned inMcLean, Virginia.^[20]

Throughout the post-election recount and litigation, as prospective president and vice president, Bush and Cheney retainedUnited States Secret Service protection they had already been receiving before the election, as did Gore's vice presidential runningmateJoe Lieberman (Gore, as the incumbent vice president, was entitled to Secret Service protection at the time, regardless of the presidential election).^[21]

Gore had paused his transition efforts, and had involved himself with his team's efforts in addressing the recount in Florida. Contrarily, Bush would largely remain personally removed from his team's operations in Florida, and would instead busy himself with both transition planning tasks and actions related to his job asgovernor of Texas.^[22]

Bush began to conduct his transition in a manner strongly mimicking a president-elect afterFlorida Secretary of StateKatherine Harris certified her state's results on November 26 (an act that did not settle the result of the election, as Gore launched theGore v. Harris lawsuit that would later evolve into Bush v. Gore).^[20] Operating his transition effort in a public manner was seen to be, in part, a part of the Bush team's strategy to turn public opinion against Al Gore's contesting of the Florida election results, and to pressure Gore into dropping his legal challenge.^[19][23] Bush hoped to establish a perception that his victory was imminent, and would leak word of his national security team, and allow news cameras access to some of his transition meetings.^[24] Bush received criticism, particularly from Democrats, for operating such a full-fledged transition before the election outcome was officially determined.^[19][25] However, many Democrats conceded that it was a necessity for Bush to plan a transition so that he would be prepared to take office if he were to be determined the election's victor.^[19] Bush held meetings with many prospective appointees.^[25] Bush held some of these meetings at his ranch inTexas.^[23]

On November 26, Bush announced that Dick Cheney would be officially heading the transition.^[20] Cheney took on this work, despite having suffered aheart attack earlier that month.^[20] It was reported around this time that Bush had delegated to Cheney significant authority over deciding the composition and management style of the potential Bush administration.^[19] The choice to have the vice presidential running mate head the transition team, an unusual move, ultimately foreshadowed the central role Cheney would make in policy decisions during Bush's presidency.^[20] Cheney formed a transition team that primarily consisted of individuals that he had preexisting relationships with and many who had been on Cheney's own staff when he wasUnited States Secretary of Defense.^[20][19] In addition to this, Cheney namedClay Johnson III (Bush's gubernatorial chief of staff) as the executive director of the transition.^[4][26][27] Cheney also namedAri Fleischer, who had been a spokesman for the campaign, as the transition's press spokesman.^[27] On November 29, it was announced thatMichael E. Toner would be joining the transition team aslegal counsel, and that David Gribben would serve as director of congressional relations.^[19] By the time the election outcome would be decided, Bush's transition team already consisted of 75 employees and 20 volunteers.^[13]

On November 27, theGeneral Services Administration (GSA), led byDavid J. Barram, stated they would not give the Bush transition team access to government-provided transition office space or $5.3 million in earmarked funding for a transition, "until a final winner" was determined in the presidential election, citing thePresidential Transition Act of 1963's provision requiring the outcome of an election to be clear prior to the government providing any taxpayer funding to aid in a transition.^[26][27] On November 28, Barram announced to staffers of the GSA that he would postpone his planned resignation by two weeks, from November 29 to December 15, so that he could be in office when the office ceded these to an incoming president.^[28]

In response to the GSA's decision not to give the Bush transition team access to government office space and funding, Cheney announced on December 27 that the transition team would open a privately funded office inWashington, D.C., and would, to fund their transition effort, establish anonprofit organization that would accept direct andin-kind, contributions from individuals of up to a maximum of $5,000 per individual, which was the maximum contribution allowed under the Presidential Transition Act of 1963. The Bush transition effort opted to refuse corporate andPAC donations.^{[26][27][23][29][30]} The Bush camp targeted raising $3.5 million for their transition effort.^[23][29] The Bush transition effort would ultimately raise $1.5 million in funding through contributions by the time the election outcome was determined.^[7] It was not unprecedented for a presidential transition to raise private funds, as the previous 1992–1993 Clinton transition had raised $5.3 million to supplement the $3.5 million the federal government had provided it.^[29] The Bush team also pledged to voluntarily disclose contributions.^[29] However, the choice to raise private funds attracted some criticism, with the groupCommon Cause urging the Bush team not to continue with their plans to do so. While each saying it was problematic for them to raise private contributions, bothOpenSecrets director Larry Makinson and political scientistLarry Sabato conceded that the lack of federal funding for the transition had left the Bush team with little other choice.^[29]

On November 29, Cheney publicly announced the transition team's acquisition of office space near Washington, D.C. in suburban McLean, Virginia.^[19] The Bush transition moved into the 2,100 square feet of office space the following day.^[31] At this time, the transition effort began expanding its staff.^[21]

Incumbent presidentBill Clinton denied any involvement in the GSA's decision to withhold funding from the Bush transition effort.^[26][27][28] Some sources, however, alleged that, despite Clinton's denial, he was involved to some degree in the refusal of the GSA to not give the Bush team access to office space and funding, arguing that Clinton may have been acting on grudges stemming from his own transition, where his own team felt that the outgoing president, Bush's fatherGeorge H. W. Bush, was not helpful to them.^[28] Clinton publicly declared that he would prefer that the government, instead, provide funding both to the Bush and Gore transition efforts.^[26][28] TheUnited States Department of Justice investigated whether the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 could be interpreted as allowing this.^[26][28] However, on November 28, the Department of Justice reached the conclusion that the law did not allow the funds to be used to aid "multiple transition teams".^[32] The Clinton administration would, ultimately, attempt to act as though two different presidential transitions were taking place.^[20] At the same time that Bush was ramping up his transition efforts in late November, Gore began going forth with a transition effort of his own, headed byRoy Neel.^[20][21] A number of moves were announced by the White House on November 28.^[33] Clinton had theCIA begin giving classified daily intelligence briefings to Bush and Cheney (Al Gore was already a recipient of such briefings, as he was the incumbent vice president), with the White House announcing it November 28.^{[21][34][33][35]} The White House also announced on November 28 that it was offering to meet with both Bush's and Gore's transition directors, which the Bush team quickly accepted.^[33] The White House also announced on November 28 that they had requested for the Department of Justice to investigate whether theFBI could begin conducting background checks for each team's prospective nominees.^[33] This wound up receiving clearance later that week, and the FBI would begin conducting background check's for each team's prospective nominees.^[20][33] The White House asked Clinton's appointees to tender their resignations at the end of Clinton's term, to make room for a new administration's appointees, sending letters requesting resignations to roughly 3,000 Clinton appointees.^[20][33]John Podesta, Clinton'sWhite House Chief of Staff, ordered each executive branch department to create briefing books for the incoming cabinet secretaries, and to set-aside workspaces for the president-elect, once determined, to have their team utilize during their official transition.^[26] The GSA began consulting with the transition about how they preferred to see them outfit the taxpayer-funded office space, but continued to hold-off on providing such space to either transition effort while the election litigation was still pending.^[21][36]

Not only were federal agencies' normal handling for a transition of planning thrown-off by their being two potential contenders for the presidency so far after an election, but so were those responsible with planning aspects of the presidential inauguration.^[21] With the election being in limbo, neither Bush nor Gore had formed an inaugural committee to plan for their prospective inaugurations.^[37] Organizations such as the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee were forced to create contingency plans to help the eventual president-elect plan their inauguration at a faster-than-typical pace.^[21]

Prior to the election outcome being determined, the Bush transition team had already received 18,000 resumes for positions which Bush would have had the authority to make appointments to if he became president.^[7] Some resumes had been submitted through theinternet.^[7] The next president would have 1,125 Senate confirmable posts and 5,000 other posts to fill.^[7] Some designees were named for certain positions. For example, on November 22, Bush announced thatAndrew Card was his choice to serve as White House Chief of Staff.^[30] Others announced in this period included the selection ofColin Powell asSecretary of State andCondoleezza Rice asNational Security Advisor.^[13][25] However, many potential nominees Bush's team had been courting the strongest had proven reluctant to submit themselves to the level of scrutiny of federal background checks before Bush was declared president-elect.^[13]

In late November, Bush and his top associates began making phone calls to Republican congressional leaders, and indirect communication with Democratic leadership, in hopes of laying the ground for bipartisan cooperation on legislation if he became president.^[23]

By early December, a number of congressional Republicans, such asFred Thompson,Steve Horn, andJim Kolbe, had written to GSA head Barram to urge him to release funding and grant access to office space to the Bush transition team.^[38] Soon after, Horn, as chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology, began holding congressional hearings on the matter, and Republican congressmanSpencer Bachus introduced a bill that would require the GSA to provide support to the Bush transition team.^[39]

Bush became the president-elect of the United States on December 12. Gore formallyconceded on December 13.^[30] On December 14, Bush's transition team was given access by the GSA to three floors of workspace (totaling 90,000 square feet) in downtown Washington, D.C. and $5.2 million in presidential transition funds.^{[7][27][30][40]} GSA funding had also been allotted to aid the Clinton White House with their role in the transition.^[3] The Bush effort continued to raise millions in private contributions even after receiving GSA funding.^[41]

The day after the Supreme Court decision,Vice President-elect Cheney held meetings with five politically moderate Republican U.S. senators, and held meetings with other Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C.^[42]

Bush met with numerous prospectiveCabinet nominees throughout the month of December.^[43] He proceeded quickly, after becoming president-elect, to announce Cabinet selections.^[20] By December 24, he had already named 6 out of 14 Cabinet secretaries, and was poised to announce more.^[44] By January 2, the Bush transition had named a designee for every Cabinet position.^[5] This was only a week later than the date by which Clinton had announced a full Cabinet in the previous presidential transition.^[5] Bush had announced all of his Cabinet picks over a three-week period, compared to the eight to ten weeks over which these had been rolled out during the previous four presidential transitions.^[45]

On December 18, incoming First LadyLaura Bush met with Clinton's wifeHillary in theWhite House for tea and a tour of the residence.^[46]

On December 19, Bush met in the White House with Clinton.^[43][47] That same day, Bush also met atNumber One Observatory Circle with Gore, who was not just his defeated opponent, but was also the outgoing vice president.^[43][47]

Bush pledged that he would establish an "office of faith-based action" in his administration to search for ways that religious groups would be able to give such services asdrug treatment andwelfare-to-work programs that had been traditionally provided by the federal government.^[43] On December 20, Bush held a meeting inAustin, Texas with roughly 20 religious leaders from around the country, to discuss his plan for "faith-based" solutions to social issues.^[43] A third of the religious leaders wereblack.^[43] The number of black religious leaders included in this meeting was viewed to be part of an effort for Bush to reach out to black people, after the Bush–Cheneyticket was reported to have received the lowest share of the black vote by a Republican ticket since the share presidentRonald Reagan and his vice president George H. W. Bush (Bush's father) had received when they won reelection in1984.^[43]

The progress Bush made by Christmas lagged behind the progress that the previous, Clinton, transition had made by that point. However, Clinton did not experience the delay in starting his transition that Bush had faced.^[44] The pace that Bush's transition had been able to proceed at after its delayed start earned praise from political experts such asFred Greenstein.^[44] Bush felt so comfortable with the progress made by his transition effort, that he took a several-day "non-working" Christmas vacation, traveling both to his Texas ranch and to Florida.^[44] At the same time, many others in the transition effort took a break, causing the effort to decrease from the pace it had been accelerating at up to that point following Bush becoming president-elect.^[44]

The transition experienced some controversy when Bush's selection forSecretary of Labor,Linda Chavez, withdrew her nomination on January 9 after the media reported that she had previously employed anundocumented immigrant.^[20][48][49]

The transition was also marred by accusations of "damage, theft, vandalism and pranks" by members of the outgoingClinton administration. Initially, a 2001 audit by theGeneral Accounting Office (GAO) found little truth to the allegations of vandalism and pranks.^[50] However, after pressure from Republican congressmanBob Barr, the GAO launched a deeper investigation, producing a 2002 report which estimated that there had been between $13,000 to $14,000 worth of damage.^[50][51] This included graffiti in the men's bathroom at the White House, glue smeared on desk drawers, and missing doorknobs, medallions, and office signs.^[50][51] However, it is noted that similar pranks were reported in prior transitions, including the one from Bush's father to Clinton in 1993.^[51] Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer followed up the GAO report with a White House-produced list of alleged vandalism including removal of the 'W' key from keyboards.^[52] The Clintons were also accused of keeping for themselves gifts meant for the White House.^[53] The Clintons denied these accusations, but agreed to pay more than $85,000 for gifts given to the first family "to eliminate even the slightest question" of impropriety.^[54]

• 
  John Ashcroft
  Attorney General
  (announced December 22, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Ann Veneman
  Secretary of Agriculture
  (announced December 20, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Rod Paige
  Secretary of Education
  (announced December 29, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Linda Chavez
  Secretary of Labor
  (announced January 2, 2001; withdrew January 9, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Elaine Chao
  Secretary of Labor
  (announced January 11, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Tommy Thompson
  Secretary of Health and Human Services
  (announced December 29, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Mel Martinez
  Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
  (announced December 20, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Norman Y. Mineta
  Secretary of Transportation
  (announced January 2, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Anthony J. Principi
  Secretary of Veterans Affairs
  (announced December 29, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Joe Allbaugh
  Director of theFederal Emergency Management Agency
  (announced January 4, 2001)^[55]
• 
  John Bridgeland
  Director of theDomestic Policy Council and Deputy Domestic Policy Advisor
  (announced January 9, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Margaret La Montagne
  (now Spellings)
  Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy
  (announced January 5, 2001)^[55]

• 
  Don Evans
  Secretary of Commerce
  (announced December 20, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Paul H. O'Neill
  Secretary of the Treasury
  (announced December 20, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Robert Zoellick
  United States Trade Representative
  (announced January 11, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Lawrence Lindsey
  Chairman of theNational Economic Council
  (announced January 3, 2001)^[56]

• 
  Spencer Abraham
  Secretary of Energy
  (announced January 2, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Gale Norton
  Secretary of the Interior
  (announced December 29, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Christine Todd Whitman
  Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
  (announced December 22, 2000)^[55]

• 
  Donald H. Rumsfeld
  Secretary of Defense
  (announced December 28, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Colin Powell
  Secretary of State
  (announced in November 2000)^[13]
• 
  Condoleezza Rice
  National Security Advisor
  (announced in November 2000)^[13]
• 
  Stephen J. Hadley
  Deputy National Security Advisor
  (announced December 21, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Mark Rosenker
  Director of theWhite House Military Office and Deputy Assistant to the President
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]

• 
  Andrew Card
  White House Chief of Staff
  (announced November 27, 2000)^[30]
• 
  Joe Hagin
  White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations
  (announced December 28, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Joshua Bolten
  White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy
  (announced December 28, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Scooter Libby
  Chief of Staff to the Vice President
  (announced December 28, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Dean McGrath
  Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President
  (announced January 5, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Karen P. Hughes
  Counselor to the President
  (announced December 17, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Mitch Daniels
  Director of the Office of Management and Budget
  (announced December 22, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Clay Johnson III
  Director of theOffice of Presidential Personnel
  (announced December 29, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Ari Fleischer
  White House Press Secretary
  (announced December 28, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Scott McClellan
  White House Deputy Press Secretary
  (announced January 8, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Harriet Miers
  White House Staff Secretary
  (announced January 5, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Karl Rove
  Senior Advisor to the President
  (announced January 4, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Margaret Tutwiler
  Advisor to the President and Special Consultant for Communications
  (announced January 10, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Nicholas Calio
  Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs
  (announced January 4, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Brian D. Montgomery
  Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Advance
  (announced January 8, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Albert Hawkins
  Assistant to the President and Secretary to the Cabinet
  (announced January 5, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Mary Matalin
  Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Vice President
  (announced January 5, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Alberto R. Gonzales
  White House Counsel
  (announced December 17, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Timothy Flanigan
  Deputy White House Counsel
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Dan Bartlett
  Deputy to the Counselor and Deputy Assistant to the President
  (announced January 9, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Brad Blakeman
  Deputy Assistant to the President for Appointments and Scheduling
  (announced January 8, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Hector F. Irastorza, Jr.
  Deputy Assistant to the President for Management and Administration
  (announced January 8, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Tucker Eskew
  Deputy Assistant to the President for Media Affairs
  (announced January 9, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Ken Mehlman
  Deputy Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and White House Political Director
  (announced January 9, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Rachel Brand
  Assistant Counsel
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Noel Francisco
  Assistant Counsel
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Scott Sforza
  Special Assistant to the President and deputy director of Communications for Production
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Jim Wilkinson
  Special Assistant to the President and deputy director of Communications for Planning
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]
• 
  H. Christopher Bartolomucci
  Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Bradford A. Berenson
  Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Stuart Bowen
  Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Brett Kavanaugh
  Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Helgi C. Walker
  Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Courtney Simmons Elwood
  Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel
  (announced January 18, 2001)^[55]
• 
  David Addington
  Counsel to the Vice President
  (announced December 28, 2000)^[55]
• 
  Eric Draper
  Chief Official White House Photographer
  (announced January 17, 2000)^[55]

• 
  Andrea Ball
  Chief of Staff to the First Lady/Deputy Assistant to the President
  (announced January 8, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Catherine S. Fenton
  White House Social Secretary/Special Assistant to the President
  (announced January 8, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Noelia Rodriquez
  Press Secretary to the First Lady
  (announced January 8, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Anne Heiligenstein
  Director of Projects to the First Lady
  (announced January 8, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Desiree Thompson Sayle
  Director of Correspondence to the First Lady
  (announced January 8, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Quincy Hicks
  Director of Scheduling and Advance to the First Lady
  (announced January 8, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Lea Berman
  Residence Manager and Social Secretary
  (announced January 16, 2001)^[55]

• 
  Debra Dunn
  Chief of Staff to the Second Lady
  (announced January 16, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Margita Thompson
  Press Secretary to the Second Lady
  (announced January 16, 2001)^[55]
• 
  Jona Turner
  Second Lady's Director of Scheduling and Advance
  (announced January 16, 2001)^[55]

The adoption of theElectoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 amended the Presidential Transition Act to now enable the GSA administrator to provide transition funds to multiple "apparent successful candidates" if more than one candidate has not conceded within five days of the election.^[57]

In a January 28, 2001New York Times article, correspondent Richard L. Berke wrote,

As President Bush completes his first week in office, prominent Republicans and even many Democrats agree that he has presided over one of the most orderly and politically nimble White House transitions in at least 20 years.^[58]

In a 2020 article forCNN, history professor Thomas Balcerski named the transition between Clinton and George W. Bush (as well as thepresidential transition of Abraham Lincoln and thepresidential transition of Franklin D. Roosevelt) as an example of a "terrible" presidential transition "that hurt America". He cited the extended uncertainty of the election outcome, withholding of GSA funding, and allegations of vandalism and pranks by outgoing staff.^[59]

• George W. Bush 2000 presidential campaign
• First inauguration of George W. Bush

• Declassified Documents Concerning George W. Bush Transition –Bill Clinton Presidential Library & Museum

• Burke, John P. (2004).Becoming President : The Bush Transition, 2000-2003. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers.ISBN 1-58826-292-8.

• December 2000 in the United States
• January 2001 in the United States
• George W. Bush 2000 presidential campaign
• 2000 United States presidential election
• Presidency of George W. Bush
• United States presidential transitions
• Presidency of Bill Clinton
• Dick Cheney
• Al Gore

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