Subject: draft briefing memo for your review
From: "Chris Lu" <[email-masked]>
To: "John Podesta" <[email-masked]>
Cc: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:46:56 -0500

Weekly Transition Memo for Senators Obama and Biden

From:    Transition Advisory Board and Staff

Date:     October 11, 2008

This week, the transition board, staff, and working group chairs met again in D.C. for five hours.  We will continue weekly calls and meetings until Election Day.

I.          Structure of Transition

Working with consultants at McKinsey, we have mapped out a draft organizational structure of the transition, as well as a process for moving information from the pre-Election Day transition team to the incoming Administration nominees.  The organizational structure is a dynamic one that meshes the existing resources of the campaign (e.g., communications, congressional liaison, policy) with the expertise that has been developed on the transition team.  The goal is to come up with a structure that initially gives authority over more functions to the transition advisory board and transition director, then gradually shifts this authority to the White House chief of staff and other nominees as they are named.  

II.         Policy Groups

At our transition meeting, each of the policy working groups was asked to provide a list of possible action items (e.g., meetings, press events, speeches) that might be taken in November after Election Day.  Obviously, the most notable actions in each of these groups will be the announcement of nominations.  Here is a summary of some of the other items discussed:

National Security - The national security group has laid out a detailed, week-by-week plan of action items, such as intelligence and military briefings, contacts with foreign leaders, outreach to congressional leaders, and discussions of possible early executive orders that should be signed after the inauguration.

Economy - Given the rapidly evolving economic crisis in this country, post-Election Day planning is perhaps the most difficult in this issue area.  Instead, the goal will be to put in place very quickly a team of staffers who can assist with crisis management and determine how and when to engage the Bush Administration on economic policy.  One early decision will be whether to hold an economic summit.

Energy - Some of the early questions that will confront us are:  does energy get wrapped into the broader discussion of the economy and a stimulus package; do energy nominations get rolled out with economic nominations; how do we want to participate in the next round of climate change negotiations scheduled for December in Poland; how do we want to use EPA's authority to address climate change; what executive orders do we want to sign in January; and what meetings do we want to schedule to demonstrate an inclusive, bipartisan approach to addressing climate change.

Health - In November, we will need to engage congressional leadership on how to approach health care reform legislation.  Some other key items that could be taken early are:  discussing health care reform in the acceptance speech; convening a town hall meeting on the subject; and hosting an economic summit that ties health reform to economic reform.

Education -  Some of the possible education action items include:  giving a major education speech during the transition; announcing the formation of the President's Early Learning Council; including education funding in a stimulus package; and making decisions about upcoming legislation like the reauthorization of NCLB and the proposed college tax credit.

Immigration - Perhaps, the most important early action is to get a sense from congressional leadership as to how hard to push immigration reform in the first year.  Even in the absence of legislation, there are important signals that can be sent in other ways, including during an early meeting with the president of Mexico.

Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform - The transition website is set to go live on the morning of November 5 and will be the first opportunity to highlight the President-elect's commitment to run an open and transparent government.  The website eventually will allow the public to submit resumes, tell their stories, offer policy suggestions, and participate in electronic townhalls with nominees.  We will also need to develop a "new media" approach for every major transition event and may want to give a speech on open government.

III.       Communications Strategy

Our communications team is headed by Laura Nichols (former Gephardt communications director and now at CAP) and Sarah Feinberg (communications director for the House Democratic Caucus).  They are working to coordinate the action plans of each of the policy groups and devise a communications strategy for the transition and the first 100 days in office that also reflects the change from campaign mode to governing mode.

III.       Press Stories on the Transition

This week, Huffington Post posted a blog that gave some details about our transition planning efforts including the fact that we have working groups split up by agencies and that we have asked transition participants to sign a code of conduct.  We have advised our team once again to take steps to protect the confidentiality of our planning process.  

Also this week, there have been press accounts of an executive order that President Bush signed to establish a transition coordinating council for the Administration.  This is similar to executive orders that have been signed by other presidents.

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Chris Lu
[email-masked]
312-505-4864 (cell)