美国总统候选人准备就职演说

AS IT IS 2016-09-12 US Presidential Candidates Prepare to Take Office 美国总统候选人准备就职演说

Aides for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump¹ are hard at work in the same building in Washington, D.C.

The election is not until November. But each team is preparing for their candidate to become president in January.

The news website FederalTimes.com reported that the aides moved into a building near the White House in early August. Congress has approved a budget of more than $13 million for the transition planning.

President Barack Obama will leave office and the new president will take office on January 20th, 2017. That is less than three months after the election on November 8th, 2016.

Recently, top transition officials from both campaigns met with Obama’s top aides.

Obama’s spokesman told reporters that the administration will be helpful to both candidates as they take part in transition planning.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said everyone who took part in the meeting “understands the serious responsibility that they have to ensure a smooth and effective transition.”

Experts say a strong and well-organized transition effort can help the new president be successful early in the first term. The transition team is to work to create plans to govern. It also is expected to help the new president honor campaign promises.

Hillary Clinton has already taken part in two presidential transitions.

In 1992, her husband Bill Clinton was elected president. She experienced the transition from the administration of President George H.W. Bush, the 41st president. She dealt with the transition from the other side as well, when her husband left office and George W. Bush became president.

The transition efforts are technically² separate from the campaigns of the nominees³. However, most of the transition officials for Trump and Clinton are, or were, top aides to the candidates.

The “Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010” gives money and offices to the major party nominees to help prepare them to govern the nation.

The law was strengthened by the “Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015.” It requires the outgoing president to begin planning the change of power at least six months ahead.

Until recently, new presidents did not begin officially preparing for office until after the election in November. It leaves little time to do a lot. Thousands of workers are needed to run the White House. The president must also choose senior officials to lead agencies throughout the government.

The transition is a costly⁴ effort. Time magazine reported that in 2012, between 300 and 500 people worked on Republican Mitt⁵ Romney’s pre-election transition effort. It cost almost $9 million.

Romney did not win the election. Because President Obama was already in office, he did not take part in transition planning.

The Partnership⁶ for Public Service is a non-profit organization that works to improve the effectiveness of the federal government. It has created The Center for Presidential Transition. The center helps to make the next president ready to govern on the first day in office. Researchers at the center have interviewed former leaders of presidential transitions, read academic reports and collected documents from previous transitions.

Max Stier is one of the leaders of the center. He told ABC News that “winning and not being ready to govern is a big problem.” He notes that the new president and aides will be leading an organization with four million employees and an almost $4 trillion budget.

Stier told an interviewer that the transition “is a moment of both incredible power and vulnerability. It is powerful in the sense that it’s a representation of our democratic practice. But the transition is also a time in which we present to the world an opportunity for mischief⁷.”

The center says transitions can be too hurried, resulting in a new administration being unprepared to deal with an emergency. The center provides plans to help the candidates as they create a protected computer network, get needed security clearances⁸ and organize offices, among other duties.

Stier said the new president must name 4,000 new leaders of government agencies. He says about 25 percent of them require Senate approval.

This is the first presidential transition in which aides for both candidates are working in the same office building.

The team whose candidate wins the election will quickly speed their plans to take control of the federal government. The team whose candidate loses, however, must leave the offices provided by the federal government within a few days.

Words in This Story

transition – n. a change from one state or condition to another

interview – v. to question or talk with (someone) in order to get information or learn about that person

academic – adj. of or relating to schools and education

vulnerable – adj. open to attack, harm or damage

opportunity – n. chance; an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

mischief – n. a playful desire to cause trouble; behavior or activity that is annoying but that is not meant to cause serious harm or damage

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

3 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

8 clearances   

清除( clearance的名词复数 )； 许可； （录用或准许接触机密以前的）审查许可； 净空

参考例句：

• But I can't get to him without clearances. 但是没有证明我就没法见到他。
• The bridge and the top of the bus was only ten clearances. 桥与公共汽车车顶之间的间隙只有十厘米。