Trump Should Plan for Transition to Presidency – Now

(Editor’s Note: The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party or candidate on the part of Newsmax.)

Former President Donald Trump should begin planning for his transition into the presidency.

It is important that he carefully reviews his transition in January 2017 and determine what worked and what needed improvement. He should then implement any changes necessary for a smoother and more efficient transition.

He should also review what processes worked during his first term and develop a plan to replicate this structure.

It appears that President Trump's first transition had some stumbling blocks. On May 9, 2016, he named former Gov. Chris Christie as the head of his transition team.

On November 11, 2016, he replaced Christie with Vice President Mike Pence. Pence removed lobbyists who had been on the transition team.

Trump also appointed more people to staff leadership positions and the executive committee. These personnel changes likely indicate that much of the work done in the first six months of the transition team (when Christie headed it) would have to be redone. The transition team should not spend time redoing work which should have been performed correctly the first time.

It is important for President Trump to select someone to lead his transition who he trusts and knows will carry out the transition in a manner he wants.

The first area of focus for the transition team is policy. Trump will only have four years to accomplish his goals. Accordingly, he needs to maximize all of his time in office.

Instead of using the first few weeks or months of his administration to determine policy objectives and agency plans, it would be much more efficient if he entered office with these plans solidified.

When Trump enters office on January 20, 2025, he should have executive orders ready to be signed, an established plan and direction for executive agencies, legislation which he wants to support, and plans for the budget.

At that point, Trump could focus on implementation, rather than creation, of his policy goals. The beginning of a presidential term, especially the First 100 Days, is a period when administrations often have the easiest time working with Congress. Trump should maximize this window of time.

The second area of focus is staffing the executive branch. When a new president enters office, the president is responsible for appointing 4,000 individuals.

In February 2017, the Trump administration had filled only 2,000 positions. In October 2017, President Trump indicated that he did not want to fill many of these roles because the positions were unnecessary.

In his second term, President Trump should fill all 4,000 positions, and he should do so as early in his administration as possible. These appointments will help ensure that his administrative and legislative goals are accomplished.

The bureaucracy in Washington is rigid and likely unwilling to change. Trump appointees will need to oversee the bureaucracy and force progress. These extra appointees will help Trump "drain the swamp."

It may seem counterintuitive that more people are needed to the decrease the size of a bureaucracy. These individuals, however, are necessary to force the change and hold others accountable for following Trump's agenda.

The other reason to fill the appointments is that they provide protection for Trump. During his first term, agencies, such as the FBI and CIA, targeted him. After he left office, the National Archives pursued Trump regarding documents from his presidency.

It is clear that executive agencies could take aim at Trump in his second term. If Trump has more appointees in place, then it is more likely that he will be able to find out about these plots and quell them.

The transition team should work on choosing the appointments and designate as many as possible by Inauguration Day. The selection process for these appointments is time-consuming because one must select the appointees and also vet them.

Appointees cannot have inappropriate statements or actions in their past, and, if necessary, they must also be able to access classified information.

It is a daunting task for the transition team. However, it is better to have the process completed before Trump's second term. If it is not finished, the administration could face the consequences of unfilled appointments and spending valuable administration time on the appointment process.

Trump should study previous transitions to determine their successes and failures. A possible resource for the Trump transition is a book titled Romney Readiness Project: Retrospective and Lessons Learned which focuses on then-candidate Mitt Romney's transition team.

By Election Day 2012, Romney's team had selected all 4,000 appointees, and it had detailed plans for each agency. It could be helpful to implement some of the strategies from Romney's transition Team as well as those from other transitions.