NiLP Commentary

Latinos and the Presidential Transition Process

By Angelo Falcón

The NiLP Report (October 30, 2016)

As this year's Presidential election comes to a close, discussion is beginning to turn to what follows. While most of this focuses on is what the next President would be doing once he or she takes office, as well as the challenges facing the major political parties, the Latino community needs to pay more attention immediately to the intermediate issues of the Presidential transition process. This is mostly paid attention to immediately following the election results but is a process that has already been in play for some time now. Reviewing what had been done and being planned for this transition reveals that the Latino role in this process is almost nonexistent.

An important aspect of the Presidential transition process is the identification of key political appointments for Cabinet and other positions in the new administration. One think tank recommends that the new President needs to have at least 100 appointments confirmed by Inauguration Day, and another 400 confirmed before the Congress takes its summer recess in August. This will present a major challenge for the Latino community given our poor representation in federal government positions, regardless of which political party controls the White House.

Despite the strong support President Obama receiving in 2008 and 2012 from Latino voters and the appointment of a number of high-profile Latinos such as Associate Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and others, President Obama's overall record of Latino political appointments to his administration was, it runs out, extremely poor. An analysis by the National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP) found that Latinos only made up 7.1 percent of his total appointments despite representing 18 percent of the U.S. population. This analysis found that in his first year in office, Obama's Latino appointments represented only 5.5 percent of the total he made that year.

This means that, even with a Democratic President, the Latino community cannot assume that it will be fairly represented in federal political appointments. Under a Trump Administration, Latino appointment prospects would appear more bleak, since it appears that even moderate Latino Republicans, many of whom repudiated a Trump candidacy, would encounter major ideological vetting obstacles to appointments. Beyond political appointments, Latinos remain the most underrepresented group in federal government employment overall: in fiscal year 2015, Latinos made up only 8.5 percent of federal government employees. In either case, the Latino community will continue to face major challenges to achieving a fair level of representation in the federal government.

The Presidential transition process officially began on May 6th with an Executive Order by President Obama that established the White House Transition Coordinating Council (WHTCC), the Agency Transition Directors Council (ATDC) and directed the ATDC to consult on transition-related issues with the existing President's Management Council (PMC). As described by the White House:

Working in close coordination, these three councils provide guidance to agencies in gathering briefing materials and other information relating to the Presidential transition. The councils also oversee the preparation of career employees who are designated to fill noncareer positions on an interim basis during a Presidential transition, and assist in the offboarding of political appointees concluding their service and the on-boarding of political appointees joining service to work for the President-elect. In addition to these three councils, OMB and GSA are convening regular calls and meetings with other Federal agencies, boards, and commissions throughout the government so that they receive guidance for their respective transition preparations.

This transition process is comprised of three phases:

Phase I: Pre-Election, during which the White House transition groups meet and prepare materials for the transition.

Phase II: Post-Election, which focuses by November 9th on the following:

A. President-elect and Vice-President-elect Offered Support

B. Agency Review Teams Begin Arriving at Agencies

C. Selection of Incoming Presidential Appointees Begins

Phase III: Post-Inauguration. On January 20, 2017, the Inauguration and the on-boarding of new political appointees begins.

A review of the 23 Agency Transition Directors Council Members, which includes its co-chairs, and of its four staff members, reveals that there are no Latinos involved in this transition process at the policymaking level.

Besides the transition team of the next President, a number of other government and non-government bodies play an important role in assisting in this transition process. This includes:

• The National Academy of Public Administration and its Transition 2016 Initiative and Political Appointee Project
• The Partnership for Public Service's Center for Presidential Transition
• The White House Transition Project

A review of the board members, staff and experts associated with these NGOs assisting the Presidential transition process reveals that lack of any Latino representation at any level.

The Presidential candidates have begun organizing their own transition teams. In May, Donald J. Trump announced that his transition team would be chaired by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. It also includes Bill Palatucci as General Counsel, Richard Baggar as Senior Leader, William F. Haggerty as Director of Appointments.

In August, Hillary Clinton announced her appointment of former Interior Secretary and former US Senator Ken Salazar as chairman of her transition (also see here for an overview). In September, Clinton added Obama staffer Stephanie Valencia Ramirez as a co-director of oureach for the transition. Salazar will be leading four team members: Tom Donilon, who served as national security adviser under President Obama; Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of Michigan; Neera Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress; and Maggie Williams, the director of Harvard's Institute of Politics and a longtime Clinton confidante. Also, two top campaign policy advisers for the Democratic nominee, Ed Meier, and Ann O'Leary, shifted full-time to the transition efforts. Heather Boushey, the executive director of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, will be the team's chief economist. The Clinton campaign has begun to set up its vetting process of its Cabinet and other political appointments, a process expected to be led by Jim Hamilton of the firm Morgan Lewis.

What role will the Latino community be playing in the Presidential transition process? Will the presence of Ken Salazar as chair of the Clinton transition make a difference for Latinos? What role will national DC-based Latino organizations like the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, the National Council of La Raza, LULAC and others be playing in this process? Beyond just submitting resumes, do our national Latino organizations have plans to assure that Latino concerns are addressed during this transition and that Latinos are real players in this process? Or, will this be another instance in which Latinos will continue to be political outsiders despite the supposed importance of our vote?

Angelo Falcón is President of the National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP), for which he edits the online information service, The NiLP Report. He can be contacted at editor@latinopolicy.org.