Usually during the summer of an election year, presidential candidates slowly announce the appointment of leadership and staff for their presidential transition teams. These transition teams are provided office space and funding by the federal government and are responsible for identifying and vetting candidates for approximately 4,000 non-civil service positions in the U.S. government. Who candidates select to become part of their transition team says a lot about the forthcoming presidential appointments, as well as the potential policy priorities that may be advanced during the next administration.

In January 2016, Congress passed a law modifying the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 instructing the outgoing administration to establish a White House Transition Coordinating Council (WHTCC) and an Agency Transition Directors Council (ATDC) not later than six months before the date of a presidential election. The goal of these councils is to facilitate the presidential transition, including assisting and supporting transition efforts of the transition teams of eligible candidates. A representative from each eligible candidate will serve on the ATDC in an advisory role, but neither candidate has announced its representative to the ATDC. At a WHTCC meeting on Thursday, August 25, Secretary Clinton was represented by transition chairman former Secretary Ken Salazar and co-executive directors Ann O'Leary and Ed Meier. Mr. Trump was represented by transition chairman Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ), executive director Richard Bagger and William Hagerty, Director for Presidential Appointments.

Transition Team – Clinton

• Secretary Ken Salazar, Chair
• Tom Donilon, Co-chair
• Governor Jennifer Granholm, Co-chair
• Neera Tanden, Co-chair
• Maggie Williams, Co-chair
• Ed Meier, Co-executive Director and Campaign Director of Policy Outreach
• Ann O'Leary, Co-executive Director and Campaign Senior Advisor
• John Podesta, Advisor and Campaign Chairman
• Minyon Moore, Advisor and Campaign Senior Advisor
• Heather Boushey, Chief Economist
• Rohit Chopra, Advisor (According to press reports)

Headed by President Obama's Secretary of the Interior and former Democratic Senator from Colorado, Ken Salazar, Secretary Clinton's transition team displays her deep connections with the Washington, D.C. Democratic establishment and striking continuity with the Obama and Clinton Administrations. It includes Tom Donilon (senior staffer in President Clinton's State Department and President Obama's National Security Advisor), Neera Tanden (President of the Center for American Progress, a major left-of-center not-for-profit, and senior advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services during the Obama Administration), John Podesta (President Clinton's Chief of Staff and Counselor to President Obama), Minyon Moore (President Clinton's Director of Political Affairs and Director of the Office of Public Liaison), and Ed Meier (former senior advisor in the Obama State Department), among others.

The team has experience in areas from national security to the environment. But the team's deepest expertise is around early childhood and labor market conditions for parents – indicating that Secretary Clinton might be planning to focus as president on questions of children and family. Secretary Clinton's reported inclusion of Rohit Chopra, an accolade of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and higher education policy advisor at the Department of Education, may also indicate Clinton plans an aggressive approach to for-profit colleges and student loan companies if she is elected.

The transition team announcement has not been without controversy as progressive Democrats expressed significant umbrage to the appointment of Secretary Salazar to lead the group. Secretary Salazar was considered a moderate Senator from Colorado and has been a supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and hydraulic fracturing, two issues on which he differs from Secretary Clinton.

Transition Team – Trump

• Governor Chris Christie, Chair
• Richard Bagger, Executive Director
• Bill Palatucci, General Counsel
• William Hagerty, Director of Appointments
• John Rader, Transition Director of Appointments
• Jared Kushner, Advisor (According to press reports)
• Jamie Burke, Advisor (According to press reports)
• The Honorable Mike Rogers (R-MI), Advisor (According to press reports)

Donald Trump's transition team is still in the formation stage as only five official members – Governor Christie, Richard Bagger, Bill Palatucci, William Hagerty and John Rader – have been formally announced. Only William Hagerty and John Rader have experience in Washington. William Hagerty served as a White House Fellow and a Domestic Policy Advisor in the President George H.W. Bush White House before beginning a career in private equity. He served as Finance Chair for Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign and as Director of Presidential Appointments on the 2012 Presidential Transition Team. Mr. Hagerty also served as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. Before joining the Trump campaign's transition team, John Rader served for one year as counsel for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN). Prior to his move to Washington, Mr. Rader spent four years working in the Governor's office in Tennessee. Bill Palatucci, the transition team's general counsel, is known for his close relationship with Gov. Christie. Mr. Palatucci also served as the New Jersey Executive Director for Bush-Quale 1992 and was elected to the Republican National Committee (RNC) in 2010. Jared Kushner (Trump's son-in-law), Jamie Burke (former RNC, George W. Bush Administration and Romney transition staffer) and Mike Rogers (former Republican Member of Congress from Michigan) are reported to be involved in the process, but have not been formally announced by the campaign as members of the transition team. We understand there is an increasing number of people involved in the transition planning process in a non-public manner.

Takeaway: Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump's transition teams mirror their broader relationship to Washington and to their respective political parties. Secretary Clinton's transition team is full of veteran Washington political advisors and incorporates voices from both the moderate and progressive wings of the Democratic Party. The composition of the team indicates that, if elected, Secretary Clinton will likely represent significant continuity with the Obama Administration with perhaps a stronger focus on issues related to children and family and a slightly more left-leaning approach to trade and investment.

With the exception of William Hagerty, Mr. Trump's announced transition team is significantly less connected to official Washington Republican circles than Secretary Clinton's is to Democratic circles and does not provide significant guidance as to the policies that may be advanced under a possible Trump Administration. One might imagine the inclusion of Gov. Christie, Mr. Hagarty, and Mr. Rader reflects an interest in state-based solutions to problems.