[Opinion] Why the Transition Committee's Activities Are Important

Kim Dong-seok, Representative of the Korean American Voters Alliance in the U.S.

It takes at least 60 days for a U.S. president-elect to take over the White House. Any delay, even by a single day, in the activities of the transition team is a national emergency. The 2000 presidential election is an example. At that time, George Bush won Florida over Al Gore by 537 votes. After many twists and turns, Bush's victory was officially announced only on December 13, 36 days after the voting ended.

Bush had to take over the government within 35 days. Even then, conflicts between President-elect Bush, who aimed to streamline the bloated structure of the Bill Clinton administration, and the White House were highlighted. This led to a precarious outcome. The 9/11 Commission Report analyzed that the failure of the transition team delayed the reinforcement of national security sectors, making it difficult to anticipate the threat, which left the country powerless against the terrorist attacks.

The power transfer between Bush and Barack Obama is recorded as the most exemplary transition team activity in U.S. history. When Obama was elected as the first Black president of the U.S. on November 4, 2008, President Bush congratulated him by phone and requested a visit to the White House. The two met a week after Obama's election and discussed the transfer of power during the national disaster caused by the financial crisis for three hours. Many companies were on the brink of bankruptcy. It was necessary to prevent corporate failures through government-led bailouts and restructuring. This made the meeting between the president and the president-elect even more important.

President Bush issued a special presidential order to ensure a smooth transition to the Obama administration. Despite fierce opposition from Republicans, Bush approved $17.4 billion in bailout funds for the Obama administration, saving General Motors (GM) and Chrysler. In his memoir, Bush recalled, "During my first meeting with President-elect Obama, I promised that I would not let the automakers fail." Both the incumbent and the president-elect had the people as their goal. The determination between the president and the president-elect to save the U.S. economy in crisis also changed the partisan atmosphere in civil society.

In November 2016, when President-elect Donald Trump visited the White House, President Obama advised him not to appoint Michael Flynn, who had served as a Trump campaign advisor. Trump paid no attention to Obama's advice and appointed Flynn as National Security Advisor. The result? Flynn was revealed to be at the center of the Russia scandal and was dismissed just 20 days after his appointment. This case illustrates how crucial the function of the transition team is.

The worst U.S. presidential transition was the “Trump-Biden” case. Trump refused to accept the election results, making transition activities difficult. On the morning of his last day in office, Trump simply left the White House. There was an incident where the nuclear football was taken to Florida with Trump and then brought back. It was a national security vacuum.

All confusion caused by transition activities results in harm to the safety and welfare of the people. In the U.S., the Presidential Transition Act was enacted in 1963 to ensure a smooth transfer of power. The legislation explains its purpose as preventing national damage.

With just over a month left until the inauguration of South Korea’s new president, public interest in the activities of the presidential transition committee is high. Smooth operation of the transition committee is more important for the incoming government than for the outgoing president. The more they listen and the more they inherit, the better policies can be made.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.