Why does the transfer of power between American presidents take so long?

« NWe’ll do everything we can to make sure you have everything you need. » It was with these few words, a thousand miles from the tone of the presidential campaign that has just ended, that Joe Biden welcomed his former opponent Donald Trump to the White House on November 13, a week after the victory. of the billionaire. The meeting is a form of tradition in the United States. It represents the peaceful transfer of power between an outgoing president and an elected president, the cornerstone of American democracy. A ritual to which the Republican had not complied four years ago.

This meeting marks the visible face of what is called across the Atlantic the “transition”, a process by which the new and old governments jointly prepare the change at the head of the State to ensure the continuity of business. In the United States, this phase takes longer than in France or other European countries. Indeed, there are 75 days between “Election Day” (November 5 in 2024) and the inauguration of the president (January 20, 2025, at noon Washington time).

Gathering of 538 electors

Initially, the transition periods between the two administrations were even longer: they spanned four months. While the election of the president took place in November, his inauguration took place in March. It even took place in April for the first leader, George Washington, due to delays caused by inclement weather.

Why such a duration? The answer lies in part in the indirect ballot used to elect the president. When Americans go to the polls, they actually vote for “electors” who form the electoral college, the body responsible for formally choosing the tenant of the White House based on the popular vote in each state. These 538 « electors » do not gather before mid-December, time to let the counting take place. At the time of writing these lines, the 2024 ballot is still in progress!

ALSO READ American presidential election: what is the “winner takes all” rule? The result is then to be read and declared at a joint session of Congress in Washington on January 6. It was this step in the process that Donald Trump’s supporters disrupted in 2021 when they stormed the Capitol. In short, the procedure for designating the « commander-in-chief » takes time, so does the transfer of power.

It should also be borne in mind that communication and transport delays in the 18th century^e and XIX^e centuries were longer than today. It took time for the results in the different states to be compiled and transmitted, and for the winners to arrange their move to Washington – no small feat at the time!

A complex American federal system

The entry into force, in 1933, of the 20^e amendment to the Constitution shortens the transition period by setting the inauguration of the president on January 20. This was to give the new Congress (House of Representatives and Senate), which takes office on January 3, enough time to resolve a possible tie between two candidates in the electoral college, a scenario which occurred only once time in the country’s history – during the standoff between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr in 1800.

All the same, isn’t this wait of more than two months too long? Indeed, this can sometimes create problematic situations, as we saw in 2020 with the attempt to reverse the results carried out by the Trumpist camp. It also has the disadvantage of weakening the outgoing party, who inevitably shows a loss of influence at a time when his successor prepares his government team and makes contact with foreign leaders, as Donald Trump did with Presidents Putin and Zelensky. . It is no coincidence that the future ex-president is nicknamed « lame duck » or “lame duck” during this period.

ALSO READ American presidential election: what is “Super Tuesday”? For Heath Brown, professor at New York John Jay University and author of a book on the 2020 transition, this duration is not too long “given the size and complexity of the American federal system” , a liner with more than 2 million civilian employees spread across the entire territory with which the new captain and his teams must familiarize themselves before setting sail.

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Kangaroo of the day

Answer

The president must notably appoint more than 4,000 personalities to various positions in the administration. “A portion of them – more than a thousand – require Senate validation and the others must be evaluated, their backgrounds checked,” explains Heath Brown. We must assign them to the right functions… Even a small fraction of these appointments require time-consuming work. »

Heath Brown also specifies that, if the bulk of the transition work takes place after the election, the wheels start moving “six months before” with the creation of councils within the White House and in the various ministries to prepare the transfer of power. These “begin to collect various data and information with a view to being shared with the next government in the event of a change of power. They work in particular on reports concerning the work in progress, the challenges encountered… While electoral campaigns are defined by competition, transitions are moments of cooperation between the two camps. » Except when the incumbent does not recognize his defeat.