White House Holds Principal-Level Transition Exercise

The White House on Friday afternoon convened a transition exercise with members of the President-Elect's team and Cabinet designees together with current senior White House, Cabinet, and agency leaders. The exercise provided a high-level perspective on a series of challenges that the next administration may face and introduced the key authorities, policies, capabilities, and structures that are currently in place to respond to major domestic incidents. Members of President Obama's team shared experiences and lessons from incident responses they experienced, and both sides discussed a number of response scenarios together. Participants agreed that the exercise was productive and advanced the shared goal of conducting the most professional and seamless transition possible.

Obama Administration Participants Included:

Chair: Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism

Denis McDonough, Assistant to the President and White House Chief of Staff

Susan Rice, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

Neil Eggleston, Assistant to the President and White House Counsel

Cecilia Munoz, Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council

Avril Haines, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor

Dab Kern, Assistant to the President and Director, White House Military Office

Amy Pope, Deputy Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy Assistant to the President

Suzy George, Deputy Assistant to the President and NSC Chief of Staff

John Holdren, Office of Science and Technology Policy Director

Shaun Donovan, Office of Management and Budget Director

Ashton Carter, Secretary of Defense

Gen Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security

Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior

Dr. Ernest Moniz, Secretary of Energy

John King, Secretary of Education

Nicholas Rasmussen, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center

James Comey, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director

John Brennan, Central Intelligence Agency Director

Gayle Smith, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator

Sylvia Burwell, Health and Human Services Secretary

Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Ely Ratner, Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President

Thomas Shannon, UnderSecretary of State for Political Affairs

Adam Szubin, Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Department of the Treasury

Lt. Gen Todd Semonite, Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Sally Yates, Deputy Attorney General

Bruce Andrews, Deputy Secretary of Commerce

Christopher Lu, Deputy Secretary of Labor

Nicole Lurie, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Department of Health and Human Services

Nani Coloretti, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development

Victor Mendez, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transportation

Kevin Hanretta, Assistant Secretary for Operations, Security, and Preparedness, Department of Veterans Affairs

Craig Fugate, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator

ADM Paul Zukunft, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard

Stanley Meiburg, Acting Deputy Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

Maria Contreras-Sweet, Small Business Administration Administrator

Gen Lori Robinson, Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command

Gen Joseph Lengyel, Chief of the National Guard Bureau

Incoming Administration Participants Included:

Reince Priebus

Rex Tillerson

Steven Mnuchin

Gen. James Mattis

Rep. Ryan Zinke

Sen. Jeff Sessions

Rep. Mike Pompeo

Wilbur Ross

Betsy DeVos

Sen. Dan Coats

Andrew Puzder

Dr. Tom Price

Dr. Ben Carson

Elaine Chao

Gov. Rick Perry

Dr. David Shulkin

Gen. John Kelly

Rep. Mick Mulvaney

Linda McMahon

Sean Spicer

Joe Hagin

Stephen Miller

Marc Short

Joshua Pitcock

Tom Bossert

KT McFarland

Gen. Michael Flynn

Gary Cohn

Katie Walsh

Rick Dearborn 

Source: The White House, Office of the Press Secretary