PRESS RELEASE from the Partnership for Public Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2008
Contact: Sarah Howe
202-775-9111

PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE STATEMENT APPLAUDING SENATOR OBAMA FOR PLANNING AHEAD TO TRANSITION
Read Excerpts from Open Letter to the Candidates on Transition Recommendations

“The Partnership for Public Service applauds Sen. Obama for announcing that he is forming a transition team. It’s essential to shore up the vulnerabilities to our nation that inevitably occur during transitions and it is unrealistic to believe that our new President will be ready to govern on day one without aggressively preparing for that possibility today. We look forward to working with both campaigns on their transition planning and their government management reform agendas,” said Max Stier, Partnership for Public Service president and CEO.

In an open letter to Senators Obama and McCain from Stier and News Corp. Executive VP Gary Ginsberg, published in The Wall Street Journal on July 17, the candidates were pushed to start their transition plans now, instead of "treating transition planning like a championship trophy they're afraid to touch."

The letter called for the candidates to plan now for “how you will govern after the election when you have some 4,000 posts to fill.” It also noted that, “with two ongoing wars, the threat of terrorism, a flagging economy and only 77 days between the election and the inaugural – the decisions—or lack of decisions—you make today may well determine whether your presidency is successful.”

The letter called on Obama and McCain to do three things to ensure that if elected their presidencies get off to the right start, excerpted from The Wall Street Journal below:

• Start transition planning now. You should formally establish your transition team as early as possible—that means today. Start by appointing someone you know and your campaign leadership trusts to oversee your transition planning, and build a team with the resources necessary to tackle this daunting task.

• Set aggressive staffing goals. To prevent a leadership vacuum and give transition planning a sense of urgency, you should publicly pledge to work with Senate leadership to have 50 top officials confirmed on the day after the inauguration, including all key posts within the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, State and Treasury.

• Use your Senate experience to your advantage. Coming from the Senate, you will have an edge over every other president of the past 40 years when it comes to transition planning. Before the election, you should reach out jointly to your colleagues to begin consultations about how to conduct the transition as seamlessly and efficiently as possible. As a veteran of the Senate, you will also be better positioned to take on a necessary fight. One of the biggest complications of transitions is that too many presidential appointees are subject to Senate approval. Of the approximately 4,000 political positions you will fill, an astonishing 1,137 require Senate confirmation.

The Partnership for Public Service is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to revitalize the federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works.

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