Quick Off the Mark? In Favor of Empowering the President-Elect

Abstract

The United States' presidential transition period is too long. Scholarship to date has focused primarily on the difficulties raised by an outgoing president's "midnight rulemaking" and related actions during the transition period. This brief essay suggests refocusing the discussion upon the actions of the incoming president-elect during the transition period. While the president-elect is currently devoid of formal responsibility, the essay suggests that increasing the president-elect's authority would increase the legitimacy of executive branch actions by increasing both the branch's responsiveness and accountability to voters. The essay briefly lays out three potential options for empowering the president-elect. It overviews potential constitutional objections, including under the Twentieth Amendment, and concludes that for at least some of the options, objections may be surmountable. It concludes that requiring the concurrence of the president-elect or her designate in significant administrative agency decisions would be helpful and is clearly worth further investigation.

Keywords: Presidential transition, Twentieth Amendment