Presidential Transition and Inauguration

The peaceful transfer of power is mostly a matter of custom, backed by a few laws. The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 provides office space, funding, and staff support for the President-elect, and later amendments require agencies to prepare briefing materials, the outgoing White House to set up transition councils, and both sides to sign agreements governing access to agencies and FBI background checks. Major candidates now begin transition planning months before the election, with government support starting after the party conventions.

After the election, the General Services Administration formally recognizes the apparent winner, which releases transition resources. A delay in that step in 2020 prompted Congress, in the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, to allow support for multiple candidates when results are contested. During the transition the President-elect chooses a White House staff, announces cabinet nominees for Senate hearings, sends review teams into agencies, receives intelligence briefings, and prepares executive orders for the first days in office. The outgoing President's records pass to the National Archives under the Presidential Records Act of 1978.

The new term begins at noon on January 20, a date set by the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, which moved inauguration from March 4 to shorten the lame-duck period. The President-elect takes the constitutional oath, usually administered by the Chief Justice, on the West Front of the Capitol, followed by an inaugural address and a parade. The 2025 inauguration was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda because of extreme cold, the first time since 1985.