vailsymposium

Nancy & Stephen Dowdle, Carole & Pete Feistmann, Laine & Merv Lapin, Cathy Pollard & Dr. Alan Markowitz, Jeanne & Dale Mosier, Mary Pat & Keith Rapp, and Sandy & Fred Pack underwrite the Conversations on Controversial Issues series.

With the elections behind us and largely settled, the real impact of “elections matter” is unfolding. Many people now have questions about the transition from the Biden administration to the second Trump Administration, especially as he feels he has a popular mandate from the country to implement significant change.

The news is filled with promised changes, proposed changes and the staffing changes required to implement those changes.  The new administration has 4000 political appointees in all departments and cabinets, not including the White House staff positions.  Many policies and organizational structures are being proposed and considered.  How much power is realistically in the hands of the President and his appointees? What power is in the hands of the newly elected Congress, legal system, non-political agencies, the press and voters?  How much can non-political appointees in the government push back?  What are the guardrails, besides the next election in 2026?

Clay Jenkinson moderates the discussion as part of our Conversations on Controversial Issues series. Clay is joined by Dr. Douglas Spencer, the Ira C. Rothgerber, Jr. Chair in Constitutional Law at the University of Colorado, along with Valerie Smith Boyd, the Director for the Center for Presidential Transition at the Partnership for Public Service.  They will provide some context and history of previous transitions–both good and bad–and give us an outlook of the process yet to come.

Recommended reading available at The Bookworm in Edwards:
“The Peaceful Transfer of Power: An Oral History of America’s Presidential Transitions” by David Marchick, Alexander Tippett and A.J. Wilson