During every presidential transition, flocks of people parachute into agencies across the federal government. From November to January, these agency review teams serve as the bridge between the president-elect and the mammoth organization they will soon oversee, relaying information back and forth to prepare for a smooth handoff of power. Organizing these teams is no small task, so today on “Transition Lab,” we speak with Melody Barnes, who co-led this work for former President Barack Obama’s 2008 transition, about what she learned. 

Melody Barnes is a distinguished public policy expert, attorney, and political strategist with a decades-long career that spans government service in both the legislative and executive branches, as well as leadership roles in think tanks, the private sector, and academia. Currently, Barnes serves as the executive director of the Karsh Institute of Democracy and the J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. During the Obama administration, Barnes was an assistant to the president and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, where she played a crucial role in shaping policies on health care, education, and economic mobility. She was also a co-director of the agency review working group during the 2008 Obama transition.

Read a complete transcript of the episode here.