On TAP for the Week of November 7, 2016:
The Calm Before the Storm
As part of The Administration Project (TAP), “On TAP” is our weekly roundup of all news and
announcements regarding the new presidential administration, who its leaders are, and what they’re doing.
This is the first of four free editions of The Administration Project’s “On TAP” weekly email. If you like
what you see and are interested in getting full access to exclusive pricing for on-demand research on
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Here’s a Glance at What’s Happening
Transition Team Puts Finishing Touches On Trump’s First 100 Days Plan
Donald Trump’s transition team is revving up its effort to put the finishing touches on plans for the
nominee’s first 100 days in office. Several sources have said the team is focusing on how a Trump
administration could use executive action to undo hundreds of President Obama’s regulatory measures
relating to energy, taxes, and health care. Those close to the transition team expect Trump administration’s
top policy priorities to be immigration reform and repealing Obamacare. (11/3/16)
Clinton Will Not Provide Details On Tax Reform Plan Before Election
Hillary Clinton has promised a “business tax reform” to spend $275 billion over five years on national
infrastructure but a Clinton economic adviser has said they will not provide details on the plan until after the
election day. (11/2/16)
Clinton Ramps Up Transition Efforts
Up until now the Clinton transition team has been a lean operation, with most policy coming out of the
campaign, but sources close to the transition team expect Clinton’s campaign policy advisors will shift to
the transition team. (10/21/16) Former chief of staff for the 2016 Democratic National Convention Matt
Butler has already moved over to serve as deputy appointments secretary, along with Kimberly
Trueblood as operations director, and Mae Podesta (John Podesta’s daughter) serving as deputy
executive director. (10/28/16) The transition team and policy advisers are also crafting a policy agenda for
the first months of a potential presidency. This “infrastructure package” emphasizes job creation, criminal
justice reform, and immigration. (10/31/16)
White House Begins Meeting With Transition Teams
Leaders from Trump and Clinton transition teams meet with 15 heavy-hitters from the Obama
administration to discuss details of the exchange of power after the election. White House Chief of Staff
Denis McDonough invited both teams to meet and detail the coming transition of power and review the
transition preparations in federal agencies. National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Director of National
Intelligence James Clapper, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security Lisa Monaco, White House
Counsel Neil Eggleston, and Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan also attended the
meetings with the Clinton and Trump teams. (10/28/16)
Transition Teams Look To Law Firms For Appointee Vetting
As part of the pre-election vetting process, the Clinton transition team reached out to lawyers to assist in
compiling deep dossiers on any potential Cabinet secretaries, powerful appointments, and top White House
staff. Insiders expect Jim Hamilton of the firm Morgan Lewis to play a key role in the vetting efforts. The
law firm Perkins Coie is also expected to assist the Clinton team in vetting nominees. Marc Elias, who is
the chair of Perkins Coie’s political law practice, is also the Clinton campaign's general counsel. Trump's
transition team is expected to rely on Don McGahn, a lawyer at Jones Day who is also a lawyer for the
campaign, for vetting help. Arthur Culvahouse, a lawyer at the firm O’Melveny, is also expected to assist
in the vetting process. (10/27/16)
Clinton Transition Team To Keep Obama’s Lobbying Rules
Clinton’s transition team has, thus far, put in place strict rules seeking to limit the influence lobbyists will
have in crafting administration policy. This could be an early indication the Clinton will maintain all of the
lobbying restrictions imposed by President Obama when he took office. The transition ethics pledge
mandates that transition officials “recuse themselves from working on any issues on which they have
lobbied in the past year.” (10/26/16)
The Administration Team Players
Agriculture
Three new players have joined former Democratic Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear and Secretary of the
California Department of Food and Agriculture Karen Ross on the Clinton transition team’s list for
Secretary of Agriculture. Former U.S. Senator from Arkansas Blanche Lincoln, former deputy Secretary of
Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan, and current Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper are now being
considered for the top ag job in a Clinton administration. Other names that have been brought up include,
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine, Colorado
congressman John Salazar and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
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John Boyd, the founder of the National Black Farmers Association, said he’s been in “constant contact”
with the Clinton campaign, advising them on all things agriculture. Boyd has openly expressed interest in
the position of Agriculture secretary saying, “I’d be up for the task, and I think USDA needs a breath of
fresh air.”
Economics
Michael Ettlinger, the director of the University of New Hampshire's Carsey School of Public Policy and a
former Center for American Progress official focused on economics policy, is working on a volunteer basis
with the Clinton transition team, He will be working closely with Heather Boushey, the transition team's
chief economist, on economic-related issues.
Energy and Environment
Mike Catanzaro, former Boehner energy adviser, will be leading the Trump transition team’s energy policy
team. Catanzaro is a partner at the lobby firm CGCN, but previously served as a top Republican staffer on
the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, a top EPA official during the Bush administration,
and as a policy adviser to both George W. Bush’s reelection campaign and Mitt Romney’s 2012 transition
team.
Craig Butler, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; Brian Mannix, who served as EPA's
associate administrator for policy under President George W. Bush; and Susan Dudley, who led the White
House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under Bush were all names listed in an email from the
Koch brothers’ group, Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, suggesting potential EPA administrators
in a Trump administration. The email also suggested Bud Albright, undersecretary at DOE under Bush,
Terry Anderson, a senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution, and Rep. Kevin Cramer, as
possible picks for Secretary of Energy. Governors Butch Otter and Matt Mead as well as Rep. Mike
Simpson were each referenced as possible choices for Secretary of the Interior.
Ernest Moniz, the current head of the Department of Energy, is being considered for the same role under a
Clinton presidency. Moniz is well-liked by both Republican and Democrat members and has expressed
interest in leading the department under the next administration.
Mark Jacobson, a Stanford University professor, and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, are top
candidates being pushed by environmental activists, like Greenpeace and 350.org, for the position of
energy Secretary under a potential Clinton presidency. The groups are looking to pressure a Clinton White
House to appoint senior officials who have strong anti-fossil fuel values and will ensure oil, gas, and coal
developments are reigned in to combat climate change.
Van Jones, an environmental activist who previously served as President Barack Obama's green jobs
adviser along with Lisa Jackson, Obama's first-term EPA administrator, have also been recommended by
environmental activists as potential EPA administrators in a Clinton administration. For Interior secretary
activists suggest, Rep. Raul Grijalva, the first member of Congress to endorse Bernie Sanders, or Jane
Kleeb, the leader of the grassroots anti-Keystone XL movement.
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Heather Zichal, a former Obama White House climate adviser, is seen as a leading candidate for a
position in a Clinton administration. Some suggest she is being eyed to head the White House Council on
Environmental Quality.
Executive Office of the President
Ed Meese, former U.S. Attorney General during the Reagan administration, is said to be to heading a
Trump transition group focused on the Executive offices of the President, including the Office of
Management and Budget.
John Podesta, Clinton campaign chairman, is emerging as the top choice to serve as White House Chief
of Staff, a role he previously played during Bill Clinton’s administration. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack,
former Joe Biden chief of staff Ron Klain, and policy adviser Jake Sullivan also reportedly being
considered for the top White House position.
Robert Grady, a venture capitalist and former George H. W. Bush White House official, has been
mentioned as a possible choice for a top spot in a Trump administration. While the specific position
remains unclear, the transition team has discussed everything from Energy secretary, Interior secretary and
EPA administrator to the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Financial Services
Steven Mnuchin, currently serving as Trump’s campaign finance chairman, has been eyed by the
nominee for the position of Treasury Secretary. Mnuchin worked for 17 years at Goldman Sachs and now
serves on the board for CIT Group and is chairman and chief executive of the private investment firm Dune
Capital Management. Mnuchin has previously expressed concern over the 2010 Dodd-Frank law which
Trump has openly said he wants to dismantle.
Sheryl Sandberg, currently the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook; Lael Brainard, a member of the U.S.
Federal Reserve's Board of Governors; Roger Ferguson, TIAA-CREF President and CEO; Gary Gensler,
chief financial officer of the Clinton campaign and former chairman of the CFTC; and Sheila Bair, a former
chairman of the FDIC and now president of Washington College have all been named as potentials for the
position of Treasury Secretary under a Clinton administration.
Foreign Policy/National Security
J.D. Gordon, a retired Navy commander and Trump national security adviser, is reported to have made
the shift to the transition team to focus on veterans and national security issues. Gordon previously served
for four years as a spokesman under Defense Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates.
After Vice President Joe Biden ruled out the possibility of serving as Secretary of State in a Clinton
administration, the other names being floated around the Clinton transition water cooler include: former
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undersecretary of state Wendy Sherman, the point person on the Iran deal; former Deputy Secretary of
State Bill Burns, who now heads the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Nick Burns, the
former undersecretary of state of political affairs under George W. Bush; Kurt Campbell, Clinton’s
assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs when she was in the job; Strobe Talbott, the
deputy secretary of state during Bill Clinton’s who’s now the president of the Brookings Institution; and
James Stavridis, the retired admiral who earlier this summer made it into consideration as the sleeper pick
to be her running mate.
Jake Sullivan, Clinton’s lead policy adviser at the State Department, has been reported to be a potential
candidate for the position of National Security Adviser.
Labor
Michael Linden, a former managing director of economic policy at the Center for American Progress, has
joined the Clinton transition team to focus on labor issues for the Clinton transition team. Previously Linden
served as a senior adviser on the Senate HELP and Budget Committees, as well as policy and research
director for a DC-based nonprofit called The Hub Project.
Outreach
Eric Ueland, a veteran Republican Capitol Hill aide and top staffer on the Senate Budget Committee, has
joined the Trump transition team to lead outreach to Capitol Hill and outside groups. Ueland formerly
served as vice president at the Duberstein Group.
Oversight
Michael Fitzpatrick, head of regulatory advocacy for General Electric Co. and former OIRA associate
administrator during the Obama administration; Cary Coglianese, a professor at the University of
Pennsylvania Law School; Lisa Heinzerling and David Vladeck, both Georgetown University Law
professors; and Jonathan Wiener, a Duke Law professor have all been mentioned as candidates for the
administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs position, also referred to as the "regulatory
czar," under a potential Clinton Presidency.
Transportation
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, former DOT Deputy Secretary John Porcari, former FAA
Administrator Jane Garvey and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa currently serve as
Clinton’s transportation policy advisers. Although it is not known if they will advise on the transition team,
source say Porcari and Garvey in particular have been habitual participants on transition-related
conference calls.
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