Ken Salazar, the former secretary of the interior and senator from Colorado, will lead Hillary Clinton’s transition team, campaign chairman John Podesta announced Tuesday.
The team — called the Clinton-Kaine Transition Project — will be based in Washington and will be also be led by longtime Clinton confidants and supporters.
Neera Tanden, a Clinton policy advisor who has been with Clinton since her time as first lady, and Maggie Williams, Clinton’s chief of staff in the first lady’s office, will be co-chairs of the transition team.
Former National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who also leads a pro-Clinton super PAC, will also serve as co-chairs.
Ed Meier and Ann O’Leary, two aides who served on Clinton’s 2016 campaign, will serve as co-chairs to the transition team.
Podesta said that “once Hillary Clinton makes history by being elected as the nation’s first woman President” her campaign wants a “turnkey” operation waiting so that she can get to work in the White House.
“We are extremely pleased that such an accomplished group of public servants has agreed to lead the transition planning for a potential Clinton-Kaine administration,” Podesta said in a statement. “While our campaign remains focused on the task at hand of winning in November, Hillary Clinton wants to be able to get to work right away as President-elect on building an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.”
Transition teams are the bridge between presidential campaigns and the White House, a time where thousands of jobs need to be filled and decisions will be made that will impact the first four years of an administration.
Donald Trump’s campaign announced in May that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will serve as the chairman for Trump’s transition team.
The Pre-Election Transition Act, a 2010 law, urges major party nominees to start planning for their presidencies long before Election Day.
According to the White House, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough called representatives from both campaigns to inform them of what the law offers their campaigns, including workspace organized by the General Services Administration.