特朗普过渡团队需要加快速度

On my first day as head of presidential personnel for Barack Obama, I woke to the surprising headline that Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota had withdrawn his nomination to be health secretary.

在我担任巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)总统的人事负责人的第一天，我注意到一条令人意外的头条消息：南达科他州参议员汤姆•达施勒(Tom Daschle)退出了卫生部部长的提名。

What seemed like a relatively small tax issue was attracting too much media and he decided to bow out. Each day thereafter was filled with additional shocks and a schedule of back-to-back interviews, 400,000 CVs to review and background checks — all amid constant media predictions, which usually had no connection to reality.

看上去相对较小的税务问题却引起了媒体的太多关注，因此他决定退出。后来的每一天都充满更多的震惊和一个接一个的面试，需要评估40万份简历，并展开背景调查。同时媒体一直在预测，而这些预测通常都与现实毫无关系。

For a new US administration to begin work straight after inauguration day, a daunting number of decisions have to be made within the weeks following the election. This is particularly true in 2016, where policy differences with the outgoing administration are stark. Had Hillary Clinton won, it would have been a friendly process, with less pressure to replace people or policy. Yet even the most professionally managed transitions are chaotic. If Donald Trump hopes to avoid disruption to the work of government, he needs to organise quickly, starting with personnel.

新一届美国政府要在总统就职后马上开展工作的话，必须在选举后的几周之内做出数量惊人的决定。2016年尤其如此，因为新政府与即将卸任的政府之间的政策分歧明显。如果是希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)获胜，这会是一个友好的过程，替换人员或政策的压力较小。然而，即便是管理最专业的过渡也会是混乱的。如果唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)希望避免他的政府工作中断，他需要迅速组织，从人事开始。

More than 4,000 White House and executive branch positions need to be filled, including more than 1,000 that require Senate confirmation. Picking the appointee is merely the first stage and triggers Federal Bureau of Investigation security clearance, political vetting and a review by the Office of Government Ethics to avoid financial conflicts. For some individuals, it comes as a surprise that they must lay bare all of the activities from their adult lives and unwind financial holdings to remove conflicts. This takes weeks, where seemingly minor queries cripple the wider appointments process.

有超过4000个白宫和行政部门职位需要填补，其中1000多个需要参议院确认。物色人选只是第一步，接下来是联邦调查局(FBI)的安全检查、政治审查和政府道德办公室(Office of Government Ethics)为避免财务利益冲突所做的评估。一些个人会吃惊地发现，他们必须报告他们成年后的所有活动，并卖掉金融资产，以消除利益冲突。这需要数周时间，在这个过程中，看似微不足道的调查会拖慢整个任命程序。

President-elect Trump’s transition team has to take some key decisions right now. First, they must be clear with nominees about their redlines on lobbying, representing foreign governments, employing illegal immigrants, infidelity or whether they have used marijuana (even in a state where it is legal). They will also need to consider the different standards of Senate committees; the banking committee has higher standards on tax issues for example. Being upfront will avoid future embarrassment, as the FBI uncovers everything.

当选总统特朗普的过渡团队需要马上做出一些重要决定。首先，他们必须让被提名者清楚他们在游说、代表外国政府、聘用非法移民、不忠或者他们是否吸食大麻(即使是在吸大麻合法的州)等方面的红线。他们还需要考虑各参议院委员会的不同标准;例如，银行业委员会在税务问题上的标准较高。开诚布公将避免未来的尴尬，因为联邦调查局会揭露一切。

Second, the transition team needs to decide the importance of diversity in its administration. Once one position is decided, it will dictate the make-up of other appointments. And third, they will need to decide the balance of power in picking appointees in the cabinet agencies: does the cabinet secretary or White House make the final call?

第二，过渡团队需要确定新政府多样性的重要性。一旦确定某个职务，它将影响其他任命。第三，他们需要决定内阁部门人员遴选中的权力平衡：做出最终决定的是内阁秘书长还是白宫?

Concerns have been expressed that the Trump transition is behind schedule and is struggling to get organised.

有人担心，特朗普政府的过渡工作已落后，而且忙乱没有条理。

During the Obama transition, by this stage we had detailed policy plans and agency review teams in place, as well as lists of pre-vetted appointees for the positions requiring Senate confirmation ready on election day. We still entered a world of organised chaos. Our best-laid plans did not survive very long.

在奥巴马政府过渡期间，到现在这个阶段，我们已经有了详细政策计划和部门评估团队，经过预审的需要参议院确认的岗位人选名单在选举日就准备好了。即便这样我们还是进入了一个有序混乱的世界。我们设计最完美的计划也没有坚持很长时间。

Given the apparent lack of planning, Mr Trump’s transition will encounter an exacerbated version of these challenges. The appointments and confirmation process may be messier, particularly at levels below the cabinet where it seems even fewer preparations have been made. This will have a knock-on effect: without these appointees in place, the administration will not be able to implement its policy and budget priorities.

鉴于明显缺乏计划，特朗普的过渡团队将遭遇更严峻的挑战。任命和确认程序可能会更加混乱，尤其是内阁以下职务，特朗普在这方面的准备似乎做得更少。这将产生连锁效应：如果这些被提名人选没有到位，特朗普政府将无法实施其政策和预算优先任务。

Perhaps in the coming weeks, we will see a more organised personnel process from Mr Trump. Failure to do so will mean a less capable leadership and further confusion in Washington. Suspicion will increase in foreign capitals too about Mr Trump’s ability to lead the US.

或许未来几周，我们将看到特朗普制定出一个更有条理的人事任命程序。否则这将意味着领导能力不足，美国政府将更加混乱。外国政府也将更加质疑特朗普领导美国的能力。