Washington, DC - U.S. Rep. Edolphus “Ed” Towns, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement, will hold a hearing entitled, “Passing the Baton: Preparing for the Presidential Transition,” on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 2 p.m. in room 2247 of the Rayburn House Office Building.  The hearing will continue the Subcommittee’s oversight of the ongoing preparations for the upcoming presidential transition. 

With only 77 days between the November election and the January inauguration, the transition teams of the executive branch and the incoming Administration will have much work to do to ensure that the incoming Administration can begin its work immediately.  “With the financial services sector in crisis, the presidential candidates must get to work right now evaluating their choices for Treasury Secretary and monitoring the current Administration’s efforts in order to be ready to lead on January 20,” said Rep. Towns.

The Department of Homeland Security, now the third-largest Cabinet department in the federal government, has never gone through a presidential transition before, and the incoming and outgoing administrations must be committed to making sure it has a successful transition.  Additionally, the hearing will review the steps that General Services Administration, GSA, is taking to fulfill its responsibility to assist members of the incoming and outgoing administrations. 

The hearing will also review expert research on federal executive management challenges surrounding the transition.  Panelists will include Gene Dodaro, the acting Comptroller General of the United States, Clay Johnson, Deputy Director for Management with the Office of Management and Budget, Gail Lovelace, Chief Human Capital Officer with the General Services Administration, and academic experts in federal executive management.

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