Bush signs order to start transition today (USA Today)

[The Hope Mobile]

Bush starts process of handing over White House

President Bush today signed the executive order that puts into motion the steps that will be taken to hand over power to his successor.

As the Associated Press writes:

The directive he put his name on Thursday was one that few talk very much about. Basically, it's the executive order that turns the keys to the White House over to whomever is elected president on Nov. 4.

A little publicized truth is that Washington can't wait until Inauguration Day next Jan. 20 to figure out the details of a transition to a new presidency. Both Barack Obama and John McCain already have designated officials to oversee such a transition once the outcome of the election is known. The transition team of the winning candidate will set up procedures for selecting key personnel and making policy decisions in the 11 weeks between the new president takes office.

Congress has appropriated $8 million to finance transition operations.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush's order was designed to help coordinate efforts already under way to ensure a seamless transition. She said Bush wants to make sure the next president's team has everything it needs to hit the ground running.

"This is especially important as our nation is fighting a war, dealing with a financial crisis and working to protect ourselves from future terrorist attacks," Perino said.

Bush's order established a presidential transitional coordinating council whose members include top officials from the intelligence and national security community, as well as the White House budget office, the Justice Department, Homeland Security and other agencies. Even before the election, they will work with the Obama and McCain campaigns "on an equal basis and without regard for party affiliation," the order directs.

"The council shall assist the major party candidates the the president-elect by making every reasonable effort to facilitate the transition between administrations," Bush's order said.

There is a copy of the executive order posted here. As you'll see, it also says that "this order is intended only to facilitate the transition and is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, by any party against the United States, its agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person."

[aquamarina]

1. Thank. God.

[ronnykmarshall]

2. It's, it's ..... IT'S A TRAP!!

[KansDem]

9. Yes!!! It has "Rove" written all over it!

:crazy:

[torbird]

21. I fuckin' love you guys

[Happyhippychick]

3. Maybe he would be willing to leave early.

Edited to add:

Don't forget to give the keys to President Obama and don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out.

[Phred42]

4. I'll beleive it's over - WHEN IT'S OVER

I'm not holding my breath

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. Did the AP say anything about the accompanying signing statement?

The one in which he reserves the right to NOT give up the White House because he is the president and damn it all, he's lived there for seven years and is not about to give up what is his!

[The Hope Mobile]

6. Step One - YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited!!! How many days left till he's gone?

[EmeraldCityGrl]

7. Is it standard to execute an executive order for the transition

of one president to the next?

I don't trust anything he does.

[The Hope Mobile]

13. Yes, it is standard. If they wait until after the election,

they don't have enough time. I definitely understand your misgivings tho.

[hamsterjill]

14. That's my question

What's the normal procedure?

[The Hope Mobile]

20. This is it. Really. Whether he'll really follow through is another question.

Why would he raise any flags now by not following through with standard procedure? Lets wait until he gets the final results . . . though, in a way, I think he is more than ready to step off his thrown and try to scrounge up some clothes. Its a long time to be emperor without them.

[hamsterjill]

26. Yeah, he wants out

I totally agree that Little Georgie is ready to run away and hide.

Unca Dick!!! Unca Dick!!! You never said it was gonna be THIS hard!!!

[melody]

8. Like that ass has ever done anything for his country n/t

[readmoreoften]

10. Why would he do that? How does this benefit GWB?

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. What will he steal on his way out that he hasn't already? And will the corpoRAT media

report nonstop like they did with the Clintons who didn't take anything?

[The Hope Mobile]

16. There's still the china and silverware . . .

maybe Cheney can steal the last crumb like the Grinch . . .

[SammyWinstonJack]

19. the Grinch!

:spray: Judging by Pickles' wardrobe, I'd say they've taken most of the WH drapes, already. :evilgrin:

[The Hope Mobile]

23. Good point!

And McCain can be the Who Ham (with lipstick). LOL

[SammyWinstonJack]

24. ...

:spray:

[ColbertWatcher]

12. Na, na, na, na! Na, na, na, na! Hey, hey hey ... (n/t)

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Ordering extra shredding machines, burning the backup tapes of their email server,

that kind of thing?

[The Hope Mobile]

25. Yes, congress apparently set aside $8M -just for that.

[Cleita]

17. I wonder if in the event of an Obama/Biden win and

Congress increasing Democratic seats in both the House and Senate in November, if that means we might wake up some morning before January 20th and find the Bush administration and it's sycophants had sneaked out of the country in the middle of the night? That would be a :wtf: moment

[AlinPA]

18. Why would Bush**-Rove help Obama?

[katty]

22. it can't happen too soon