Trump, Harris Are On The Way But Reform Groups Are Working Hard

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(Bloomberg) — Both the teams of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are quietly preparing their governments-in-waiting, as the two nominees remain focused on winning the presidency in the final days of Tuesday’s very close election.

No wonder their methods are as different as their campaigns.

Already Harris’ lean transition team has set up shop in federal government offices, partnered with the US General Services Administration, and built its infrastructure on a taxpayer-funded budget, meaning the team has agreed to $5,000 limits on private funding. It is led by the same official, former Ambassador Yohannes Abraham, who managed Joe Biden’s transition after the 2020 election.

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Trump has stayed out of any government funding or office space so far, so he doesn’t trust his fellow civil servants and the Biden administration. That frees him to accept unlimited private donations. Cantor Fitzgerald’s CEO, Howard Lutnick, heads the staff and Linda McMahon, Trump’s former head of the Small Business Administration, directs policy implementation.

Trump’s Team Aims for No Chaos

Trump’s transition team is more organized than it was in 2016, according to three people familiar with it. One Trump adviser says the party is trying to prepare because no one wants to repeat the first, tumultuous days of the 2017 White House.

McMahon and his staff are drafting a series of executive orders Trump could issue on immigration, trade, energy and other areas, as well as strategizing how to pass another sweeping tax bill next year, according to three people briefed on the efforts. Lutnick has been meeting with members of Congress, donors, business executives, conservative leaders and former Trump administration officials to put together job titles he has begun to explore.

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The America First Policy Institute, led by former top Trump aide Brooke Rollins, has been working for four years to draft policy proposals that Trump could implement immediately if elected, including plans for agencies to implement in the first 100 days, according to a person involved. effort.

Former US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and his allies are also making plans for tariffs involving China and the European Union and other trade issues.

To be clear, Trump and Harris’ attention is elsewhere. The former president told his allies and advisers that he considers it bad luck to talk about what might happen if he wins. At the same time, the Harris team has been ramping up the presidential campaign since he officially replaced Biden on the ticket in August.

Transition teams typically have to fill about 4,000 jobs across the White House and federal agencies.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hiring Jobs

Former Trump administration officials have been chasing jobs since the Republican National Convention, where Trump allies set up shop in Milwaukee bars near the convention center, divvying up jobs around Trump 2.0.

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Lutnick’s list now includes thousands of names, with notes on who recommended them. Members of Trump’s family, including his sons Don Jr. and Eric, offered names as did running mate JD Vance. Those associated with the Heritage Foundation or anyone involved in the organization’s sprawling 2025 project should not apply, people familiar with the effort said.

Even well-laid plans don’t always work in Trump’s world. In 2016, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his closest friends spent months carefully putting together a list of people and policy to see Steve Bannon throw the binders in the trash shortly after Trump won.

The group actually started from scratch, honest interviewing people out of the blue, handing out jobs based on perceived honesty, or if someone is looking for a part. Secretly, the Trump 2024 transition task knows that the same pattern can happen again.

Trump’s allies say they are trying to fill the government with as many private-sector people as possible, but they are surrounding themselves with business executives and White House aides, who can teach them about government, according to two people briefed on the change.

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The plum jobs are Treasury and Government secretaries and are often the first choice, giving markets and foreign partners a sense of stability. The Treasury list includes Lutnick himself, donor and hedge fund billionaire John Paulson, Lighthizer, former Soros money manager Scott Besent and Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, a former Carlyle Group Inc. executive.

The Harris Team Begins to Explore

Harris’ transition team is focused on stalling the vetting process so it can quickly put together cabinet names and make plans to deliver on his policy promises.

All policy proposals are still being finalized in this campaign by a handful of old aides like Ike Irby who has worked for Harris since he was in the Senate. Aiding the transition effort are Josh Hsu, a former adviser to the vice president, and Dana Remus, a former White House adviser to Biden.

“There is no change without a successful campaign and that is the priority right now,” said Adam Hodge, a Harris spokesman. “The transition is focused on setting up the necessary infrastructure to be ready for the post-election period.”

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