[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 40 (Monday, October 13, 2008)]
[Pages 1323-1325]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13476--Facilitation of a Presidential Transition

October 9, 2008

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of 
title 5, United States Code, and the

[[Page 1324]]

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 
108-458) (IRTPA), and in order to further the purposes of the 
Presidential Transition Act of 1963, as amended, and to assist the 
presidential transition, it is hereby ordered as follows:
    Section 1. Presidential Transition Coordination. (a) To assist and 
support the transition efforts of the transition teams for the ``major 
party'' ``candidates,'' as those terms are used in the IRTPA and defined 
in section 9002(2) and (6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 
U.S.C. 9002(2), (6)), and the President-elect, there is established a 
Presidential Transition Coordinating Council (Council).
    (b) The Council shall be composed of the following officials or 
their designees:
    (i) Chief of Staff to the President, who shall serve as Chair;
    (ii) Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for 
      Operations, who shall serve as Vice Chair;
    (iii) Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for 
      Policy;
    (iv) Counsel to the President;
    (v) Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel;
    (vi) Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs;
    (vii) Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and 
      Counterterrorism;
    (viii) Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director, 
      National Economic Council;
    (ix) Attorney General;
    (x) Director of National Intelligence;
    (xi) Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
    (xii) Director of the Office of Personnel Management;
    (xiii) Administrator of General Services;
    (xiv) Archivist of the United States;
    (xv) Director of the Office of Government Ethics; and
    (xvi) Such others as the President or the Chair of the Council may 
      select.
    (c) The Council shall assist the major party candidates and the 
President-elect by making every reasonable effort to facilitate the 
transition between administrations. This assistance may include, among 
other things, providing information relevant to facilitating the 
personnel aspects of a presidential transition and such other 
information that, in the Council's judgment, is useful and appropriate, 
as long as providing such information is not otherwise prohibited by 
law.
    (d) In order to obtain a wide range of facts and information on 
prior transitions and best practices, the Council, its members, or their 
designees may, from time to time, seek information from private 
individuals, including individuals within outside organizations, who 
have significant experience or expertise in presidential transitions. 
The Council, its members, or their designees shall endeavor to obtain 
such facts and information from individuals representing a range of 
bipartisan or nonpartisan viewpoints. If the Council, its members, or 
their designees find it necessary to seek advice from private 
individuals or outside organizations, such counsel should be sought in a 
manner that seeks individual advice and does not involve collective 
judgment or deliberation.
    (e) It shall be the policy of the Council to provide appropriate 
information and assistance to the major party candidates on an equal 
basis and without regard for party affiliation.
    Sec. 2. Transition Activities and Materials. (a) At the direction of 
the Council or its designee(s), the Administrator of General Services 
shall coordinate orientation activities with the appropriate agencies, 
including the Office of Government Ethics and the Office of Personnel 
Management, for key prospective presidential appointees.
    (b) At the direction of the Council or its designee(s), the White 
House Office of Presidential Personnel shall supplement as appropriate 
and necessary the electronic record of all title 5 presidentially 
appointed positions provided by the Office of Personnel Management to 
the major party candidates pursuant to section 8403(b) of IRTPA.
    (c) The Suitability and Security Clearance Performance 
Accountability Council shall coordinate with the Council when performing 
those functions authorized by Executive Order 13467 of June 30, 2008, 
that are necessary to assist in transition-related activities.
    (d) At the direction of the Council or its designee(s), executive 
departments and

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agencies shall prepare a set of briefing materials for new political 
appointees before the inauguration of the President-elect. The current 
Administration shall work with the incoming transition team to provide 
copies of all such materials.
    (e) At the direction of the Council or its designee(s) and 
consistent with the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, as amended, the 
Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the Archivist of 
the United States and other appropriate agencies, shall develop a 
Transition Directory. This directory shall include Federal publications 
and other materials that provide information on each executive 
department and agency.
    Sec. 3. Transition Agreements. To assist and support the transition, 
transition agreements between the White House or appropriate executive 
branch departments and agencies and the transition teams for the major 
party candidates and the President-elect will be entered into, as 
necessary, regarding transition procedures and identification of 
transition contacts.
    Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) In order to take appropriate account 
of the transition reforms made by IRTPA and to further update and 
clarify the presidential transition process, this order supersedes 
Executive Order 13176 of November 27, 2000.
    (b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise 
affect:
    (i) authority granted by law to a department or agency, or the head 
      thereof; or
    (ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and 
      Budget relating to budget, administrative, or legislative 
      proposals.
    (c) 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.
    (d) Unless extended by the President, this order shall expire on 
February 20, 2009.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 October 9, 2008.

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., October 10, 
2008]

Note: This Executive order will be published in the Federal Register on 
October 14.