Bush Transition Moves Into High Gear

Bush will have 12 Cabinet positions to fill: Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs. The department secretaries and the federal agencies they oversee administer federal programs and policies.

At a ceremony outside Washington, Vice President-elect Dick Cheney received the keys to the official transition offices in Washington, but he would not name who was being considered for the Cabinet posts.

"I think it's unwise to say we're considering this person or that person," Cheney said as General Services Administration personnel handed over a so-called smart card, which accesses official transition offices in downtown Washington.

But, Cheney added, Bush would be meeting with prospective Cabinet members over the next few weeks. Bush and Cheney officially will be elected after the Electoral College votes Monday and the votes are counted by Congress Jan. 6. They are to be inaugurated Jan. 20.

The Bush team raised $3 million in private money to begin the transition process, of which it has spent $500,000. Now granted $5.3 million in official transition resources, Cheney and Bush's top aides plan to split time between the temporary offices in a Washington suburb and the downtown space, which is just blocks from the White House. A Bush aide said Cheney would work out of the suburbs while the new staff moves into the Washington offices.

The transition team has received nearly 19,000 resumes for positions in the administration.

A source close to the Bush campaign said announcements about senior White House staff could come as early as Friday, with other transition leaders for various agencies announced soon afterward.

"Well, there will be sensitivity to what the legislative priorities are, but I'm also advised that the most important first few sub-Cabinet members that a Cabinet secretary can have on his or her team are the general counsels, the legislative affairs, and the public affairs people. So those will be priorities for us with each of the Cabinet secretaries," said Clay Johnson, executive director of the Bush-Cheney transition team.

A number of faces from the Cabinet of Bush's father, President George Bush, in office from 1989 to 1993, have emerged in the younger Bush's close circle of advisers: former Secretary of Defense Cheney, his running mate and chief of his transition team; W.'s Florida point man, former Secretary of State James A. Baker; and former Secretary of Transportation Andrew Card, who has been tapped to serve as the younger Bush's White House chief of staff.

G. Calvin Mackenzie, author of "The In and Outers: Presidential Appointees and Transient Government in Washington" and "The Presidential Appointee's Handbook," said Bush is most likely besieged with resumes from campaign workers and political allies seeking a position in his administration.

"He was in a comfort cocoon in Texas, and now I'm sure resumes are falling out of the sky. Some who are seeking jobs should never be anywhere near a presidential administration," Mackenzie said. "The intensity and pressure is high."

And with all the bluster in recent weeks about bipartisanship and unity, Mackenzie said no one should expect any Democrats to be named as Bush aides. In order to establish a bipartisan Cabinet, first Bush would have to define what that means, Mackenzie said. As for having Democrats in the mix, Mackenzie predicted, "It won't really happen."

No precedent exists for a Republican or Democratic president having a truly bipartisan Cabinet, Mackenzie said.

In the outgoing Democrat Clinton administration, there is one Republican: Defense Secretary William Cohen.

For Bush to appoint Democrats to his Cabinet would mean he would undercut any advantage with the opposing party, and the repercussions would resonate to the state level, Mackenzie said.

When asked Thursday at the ceremony if a Democrat would serve on the Bush Cabinet, Cheney declined to answer.

The formula for putting a Cabinet together has become more complicated with elected officials who want the composition of staffs to reflect the constituents they serve.

"You have women. You have minorities. That's makes it all the harder to make choices," Mackenzie said. "I think we live in a time where no president can have an all-white Cabinet or an all-male Cabinet."

The Brookings Institute's Presidential Appointee Initiative provides information and a survival guide for appointees. It also maintains a database of names that have been bandied about for posts in the Bush administration. Among them, a former staffer for President George Bush, Timothy Adams, reportedly is being considered for a "technology czar" post, and recently defeated Rep. Rick Lazio of New York has been floated as a possible candidate for secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Bush himself is expected to be in Washington early next week.