As President elect Donald Trump moves forward on a transition to his second term, he is affirming his oft stated objective to be a disrupter to business as usual in Washington DC.
He is doing so in several ways.
First and foremost, Trump has been moving quickly on choosing individuals for his cabinet, related cabinet level positions, and senior staff positions.
Not surprisingly, this has generated criticism from media outlets, individuals in academia and not-for-profit organizations like the Partnership for Public Service, a group that identifies itself as a nonpartisan advocate focused on building a better government and stronger democracy.
With regard to the media, the headline for a recent Associated Press (AP) article was – “Trump sets records with pace of appointments, but that doesn’t mean the transition is going smoothly.”
In the article, the reporter mixed news with opinion, when he wrote, “In the two weeks since Election Day, President-elect Donald Trump has been setting records with the pace of appointments for his incoming administration. But speed shouldn’t be confused with organization.”
With regard to academia, David Marchick, Dean of the Kogod School of Business at American University, and co-author of a book on presidential transitions has said, “Last time they were slow and disorganized, this time they’re fast and disorganized.”
With regard to the Partnership for Public Service, Max Stier, their president, and CEO has said that Trump’s team is missing a critical component of the process. Stier noted Trump is moving at least four times as quickly at rolling out his Cabinet as his modern predecessors, but added: “They’re moving with speed, but they’re making new mistakes.”
Stier identified one of the biggest mistakes is a lack of proper vetting saying, “He’s going at breakneck, reckless speed because there’s no vetting. Moving fast isn’t a very good strategy if you don’t move well — And they’re not moving well,” Stier also has said, “It’s being done quickly, but it’s being done without the kind of due diligence that ordinarily takes place and ensures that mistakes are not made.”
With regard to Steir’s observation on due diligence, I suggest that recruiting individuals for serving at high levels in government is a most challenging process. As a result, there are never foolproof ways to ensure that mistakes are not made.
Stier’s criticism on vetting and due diligence is a moot issue now as Trump’s transition team recently signed an agreement with the Justice Department to conduct FBI background checks despite them not being required by law.
A quick review of the Trump transition efforts to date reflects that he has announced choices for thirty-nine cabinet secretaries and cabinet-level positions that require Senate approval and twenty-eight senior staff positions that do not require Senate approval.
To date, only two announced choices are no longer under consideration: former Congressman Matt Gaetz for Attorney General and Hillsborough County Florida Sherriff Chad Chronister to head the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. Gaetz has said his withdrawal from further consideration was voluntary, Trump has said the Chronister withdrawal from further consideration was not voluntary, despite earlier comments from Chronister that it was.
Trump is not the first President-elect to experience challenges with candidate vetting.
Previous president-elects whose announced choices withdrew from consideration before Senate consideration include Clinton (four times), George W. Bush (three times), Obama (two times), and Biden (one time). The Senate also rejected George W. Bush’s Secretary of Defense choice, which was unexpected since his nominee was a former three-term U.S. Senator.
Donald Trump is proceeding with an acute awareness (reinforced in last month’s congressional election results) that control in Congress is subject to change at any time. This is the case especially after midterm elections, but also by members leaving Congress due to a debilitating illness, death, early retirement, and resignations to accept other opportunities.
Trump also knows that despite their current minority status in Congress, Democratic members of Congress are preparing strategies and tactics to aggressively challenge, modify or stop the plans of the Trump administration over the next four years. These strategies and tactics are more likely to succeed if members of the Democratic party flip control of one or both houses of Congress anytime during Trump’s four-year term.
Accordingly, Donald Trump and his advisors are proceeding on a transition and a governing philosophy in a manner consistent with an observation of Harvard Professor John Kotter in his book “A Sense of Urgency.”
Kotter writes:
“The single most crucial factor in achieving permanent and meaningful change is a continuous sense of urgency. A true sense of urgency occurs when you acknowledge action on critical issues is needed now, not eventually, not when it fits easily into your schedule. Now means making real progress every single day. Urgent behavior is not driven by a belief that all is well or that everything is a mess but, instead, that the world contains great opportunities and great hazards.”
David Reel is a public Affairs and public relations consultant in Easton.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am thankful for a lot of things. I will get up early, send Thanksgiving Day greetings to several family members and good friends and get ready to celebrate this very special American holiday with family and with a 13-year-old Goldendoodle named Lucca.