Moving, or transitioning, as it is called. a newly elected President into the White House is a little more complicated than renting a U-Haul and loading it up.

There are literally thousands of action items that need addressing before the job is done. The “things to do” range from the obvious to the ridiculous however all must be accomplished and fulfilled. The task is enormous! 

And who’s in charge of a transition?  Nobody.

President-elect Barack Obama must move quickly to assemble his team in the first wartime transition in 40 years, national security and political experts agree, but a largely antiquated process is likely to make that cumbersome.

Obama did have an opportunity to get a jump on the transition, thanks to a new law that allows presidential candidates to submit names to the FBI to be vetted for key transition posts before the election.

That advantage, though, could be largely overshadowed by an increasingly complex process that includes political and security vetting as well as sometimes-difficult Senate confirmation hearings.

“The process will be marginally faster because of the new law and the naming of chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel who is not unfamiliar with the needs of the transition.

The General Service Administration’s (GSA) deputy administrator, David Bibb, is the senior executive designated to help organize the administrative support for the upcoming presidential transition effort.

GSA already has a transition support team identified and it has been meeting quarterly since mid-2004.  They’ve developed a detailed time-line and have identified temporary office space for a transition team of up to 600 people – along with parking, furniture, and support services. 

Bibb says their goal is to focus on logistics of the transition and the inauguration so the president-elect’s team can focus on the substance of the transition itself.  He says that up to 40 GSA staff will likely be involved.

There has been some talk of the need to “shore up” support and back up” the security-related agencies in light of the terrorists attacks at the time of leadership transition ins Spain and the United Kingdom in recent years and the need to be able to respond on Day One.

The Lang Report has not been complimentary of the Bush Administration however they have taken a proactive approach by giving both Obama and McCain intelligence briefings, and senior officials kept in close touch with both men about national security and economic issues during the general election, according to the White House.

“We know that Al Qaeda and others look for transitions of governments for an opportunity for weakness in defenses, and we want to make sure that there is no weakness at all,” said deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto. “We want the transition team and their eventual nominees as well-briefed as possible and fully informed with what they’re going to be dealing with.”

The Bush administration has also put seasoned career executives in place to help fill the gap left by departing political appointees. The administration worked with both campaigns to update the personnel office’s online résumé system. When President Bush took office in 2001, the system managed a flood of 100,000 résumés.

Now why couldn’t the Bush Administration be this attentive and professional during the past eight years they held office?

AROUND the BLOGOSPHERE:

A White House in transition - They were there because—inside the White House at that very moment—the current and future First Families were meeting to discuss the transition to the new Administration. President-elect Obama and his wife Michelle also were seeing the ...

Bush-Obama handoff: Legacy material - When Bush and Obama and the outgoing and incoming First Ladies Laura Bush and Michelle Obama meet Monday afternoon at the White House, the outgoing president will already have set in motion a transition that Bush hopes to make part of ...

Obama, Bush hold transition talks at White House - Xinhua - Obama, Bush hold transition talks at White House Xinhua, China - 14 minutes ago The auto industry is really, really back on its heels," Obama's transition team leader John Podesta said. The president and president-elect also are ...

Laura Bush And Michelle Obama In Whitehouse - President-elect Obama thanked President Bush for his commitment to a smooth transition, and for his and First Lady Laura Bush’s gracious hospitality in welcoming the Obama’s to the White House.” “After a brief private meeting, ...