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Why is there such a long delay between Election Day and the day the new president is inaugurated, which takes place in mid-January? I understand that the day of the election of the electors is held on December 17, but how can this six-week delay be explained, since the number of electors for each state is already established and the results of the election are known a few hours after polling stations close? And is it the outgoing president who continues to exercise power and lead the country until inauguration day?
Nearly 75 days will pass between the election of Donald Trump on November 5 and his official entry into the White House on January 20. Why does the transfer of power take so long in the United States, while elsewhere, like in our parliamentary system, it can happen in just 24 hours?
If it seems long for fans of the British parliamentary system, the American presidential transition is rather short compared to the list of tasks to accomplish, underlines Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, fellow at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, which has studied presidential transitions for about fifty years.
“What is unique with our government and our political system is that every four years, or every eight years, we cut the top of the civil service pyramid,” illustrates the political science researcher. The designated executive must replace him by making thousands of hires across all sectors of the federal government. »
In the American political system, the president is the head of both the state and federal government. He must first choose the team that will surround him at the White House and the members of his cabinet, but also the senior officials of federal departments and agencies.
It is estimated that a president-elect must fill approximately 4,000 high-level administrative positions. All this while taking the reins of a gigantic state employing more than 2 million civil servants and with a budget of around 6 billion dollars. Several of these appointments must also be approved by the Senate, including those of secretaries (the equivalent of ministers here), ambassadors and federal judges.
“The proportion of political appointments in the civil service is much higher [aux États-Unis] than in Canada,” explains Kathryn Dunn Tenpas.
A “rather short” period
“The 70-day transition period is actually quite short, because we have to fill a lot of vacant positions before January 20. By the time the president-elect takes office, all appointees of the previous executive must have been replaced. »
The transition period is also a pivotal moment during which the future government will be able to familiarize itself with the hot (and often secret) issues of the American state apparatus, particularly with regard to international policy and defense.
“The more orderly and efficient the transition period, the more organized and efficient the presidency itself will be,” said Ms. Dunn Tenpas, citing a Miller Center study. And the best way to get organized is to have advance access to all government departments and agencies so that, on January 20, we know what to expect. »
In 2004, the Commission of Inquiry into the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks concluded that the shortened transition between the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush (due to Supreme Court proceedings aimed at determining the winner of the election of 2000) had “weakened the United States’ ability to detect and deter the plotters of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.”
The transition period was even longer before the 1933 adoption of the 20th Amendment: it lasted from November until March 4.
On foot or on horseback?
Folklore has it that it was for logistical reasons that the American Founding Fathers planned such a long interval between Election Day and the president’s inauguration.
At a time when travel was primarily by horseback, cart, or on foot, the president-elect sometimes needed several weeks before reaching Washington to be sworn in. Same thing for the electors of each state, who officially elect the president during a vote held in December, and the members of the future government.
The provision quickly proved obsolete in the face of the development of means of communication, but especially in the face of the emergence of crises requiring the rapid intervention of the future president, such as the secession of the Southern States in 1861 for Abraham Lincoln and the Great Depression for Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933.
End of reign
As there cannot be two heads of state at the same time, the outgoing president remains master of the country’s current affairs until his successor officially takes office on January 20 at noon sharp. The scope of his actions is, however, generally limited, given the imminent end of his mandate.
“All the constitutional powers of the outgoing president remain intact” until the end of his mandate, specifies Kathryn Dunn Tenpas. “Obviously, it’s difficult to pass new laws through Congress during the transition, but the outgoing president is still responsible for leading the executive branch of government. »
Presidents at the end of their mandate generally take the opportunity to consolidate their political legacy by passing projects, such as the protection of certain public lands, for example, through presidential decrees.
Tradition also dictates that the outgoing president distributes pardons to people (political allies, family members, parties in famous causes) convicted of criminal offenses. President Obama notably ended the conviction of whistleblower Chelsea Manning a few days before giving way to Donald Trump in January 2017.
Recently, Joe Biden created some controversy by pardoning his son, Hunter, who was awaiting sentencing in cases of illegal possession of a firearm and tax evasion.
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