Kamala Harris starts planning for potential presidential transition
Corrections and Clarifications: This story has been updated to reflect that Yohannes Abraham is expected to leave his current role before joining the transition team.
WASHINGTON – Kamala Harris has begun preliminary planning for a potential presidential transition, a move expected of any presidential candidate, according to a source familiar with the efforts.
The transition team will be led by Yohannes Abraham, U.S. Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Abraham served as executive director of the Biden-Harris transition in 2020 and worked in various roles in the Obama administration. Abraham is expected to leave his position at the State Department prior to beginning his work on the transition team.
The law firm Covington & Burling, which conducted Harris’ VP vetting and counts former Attorney General Eric Holder among its partners, will advise how best to set up the transition team.
The transition efforts will focus on building operational capacity before the election, including ensuring a team is in place to vet potential cabinet and administrative appointees.
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Federal law requires major presidential candidates to create transition teams before the election so that they have time to prepare for assuming the presidency. The teams are designed to ease the transition of power from one leader to the next.
Donald Trump announced his official transition team on Friday. WWE co-founder and former chief executive officer Linda McMahon and businessman Howard Lutnick will co-chair the effort.
Contributing: David Jackson, Paste BN