Trump Transition Team: Who Will Oversee the Shift of Power?

President-elect Donald Trump is going full steam ahead with setting up his transition team after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. election.

All eyes are on Trump's transition process following months of speculation about whether he would rely on Project 2025 in setting up the team, as well as Trump's subsequent efforts to distance himself from the group.

Project 2025, a presidential transition project from the Heritage Foundation, became a problem for Trump after its wish list for another Trump presidency went viral. Among the items on the list are expanding control of the presidency and withdrawing the abortion pill mifepristone from the market.

Trump has publicly denounced the project and sent a warning to people using his name to promote their own agenda. But critics are skeptical of Trump's claims and have kept a close eye on his personnel decisions, especially in the run-up to Election Day and after.

Who Is on Donald Trump's Transition Team?

Trump first announced that he was launching the Trump-Vance 2025 transition team in August.

The team is co-chaired by Linda McMahon, who served as head of the Small Business Administration under Trump's first term, and Howard Lutnick, the billionaire CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald.

The vice president elect, U.S. Senator JD Vance of Ohio, and Trump's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, all serve as honorary chairs. PBS News reported that former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and ex-Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard are also advising Trump during the transition period.

"The 2024 GOP Platform to Make America Great Again is a forward-looking agenda that will deliver safety, prosperity and freedom for the American people. My administration will deliver on these bold promises," Trump said in an August statement obtained by Newsweek. "We will restore strength, competence and common sense to the Oval Office. I have absolute confidence the Trump-Vance Administration will be ready to govern effectively on Day One."

Notably, neither McMahon nor Lutnick have a connection to Project 2025. Trump's announcement also came one day after a report was published about Project 2025's alleged influence on Trump's potential second administration. The British nonprofit, the Centre for Climate Reporting, published a video of a meeting between two undercover journalists and Russell Vought, an author of Project 2025.

Vought said the group was secretly creating hundreds of documents for Trump, including executive orders, regulations and memos. The goal was to lay the groundwork for how Trump would govern if he won the election. Vought claimed Trump was "very supportive" of Project 2025, and Vought could be in a key policymaking position if Trump does decide to embrace Project 2025.

It might seem strange for a campaign to set up a transition team before they've won the election, but the Trump camp came into the process late in the game. Historically, presidential campaigns start working on plans for their administration in the spring of an election year because of how much work goes into taking over the office.

Max Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, told The New York Times that Trump was about four months behind schedule and the "consequences are significant."

"You're taking over the largest, most complex and important organization in our country, probably our planet, and probably in history," Stier said.

When Does Donald Trump Take Office?

Trump will take office on January 20. Harris called Trump after he won to congratulate him, and both she and President Joe Biden pledged to work with Trump's transition team to ensure a smooth transfer of power.

Trump thanked Harris, and a campaign spokesperson for Trump said the president-elect acknowledged Harris' "strength, professionalism, and tenacity throughout the campaign," and that the two candidates agreed on "the importance of unifying the country."