The advisory board consisted of Carol Browner, William M. Daley, Christopher Edley, Michael Froman, Julius Genachowski, Donald Gips, Janet Napolitano, Federico Peña, Susan Rice, Sonal Shah, Mark Gitenstein and Ted Kaufman.

[5] The New York Times reported that White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten then planned to recruit his predecessor, Andrew Card, to oversee the activity.

[14][15] Obama was expected to address a United Nations global warming summit in Poland in December or allow a representative such as Al Gore to present his policies.

NBC News reported that Obama advanced his economic agenda with Bush, asking him to attempt to pass a stimulus package in a lame duck session of Congress before the inauguration.

He also urged Bush to accelerate the disbursement of $25 billion in funds to bail out the automobile industry and expressed concern about additional Americans losing their homes as mortgage rates increase again.

[23] However, on December 9, 2008, the status of Obama's succession in the Senate was cast in doubt after Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges, which included allegedly attempting to sell the appointment.

[34] In addition, the Illinois Secretary of State, Jesse White, reiterated that he would not certify any appointment made by Blagojevich, although at the time it was not clear whether this could prevent Burris from taking office.

[35] Furthermore, the Senate might not actually have been able to refuse to seat Burris, as he met all constitutional requirements for the office and was not involved in the Blagojevich corruption scandal (per the U.S. Supreme Court decision Powell v.

[37][38] The Court further remarked that "no explanation has been given as to how any rule of the Senate, whether it be formal or merely a matter of tradition, could supersede the authority to fill vacancies conferred on the states by the federal constitution".

During his abbreviated final term in the Senate, Biden went on a diplomatic fact-finding trip to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, becoming the first vice-president-elect to undertake such a mission before entering office.

Individuals applying for work within the Obama administration via this site were required to go through intensive consumer and criminal background checks performed by the ChoicePoint Corporation.

[53] As part of their efforts towards transparency, on December 5 the transition team announced that "all policy documents from official meetings with outside organizations will be publicly available for review and discussion on Change.gov."

[57] The appointments of Lawrence Summers and Timothy F. Geithner to key economic positions were criticized, on grounds that they had been prominently involved in creating many of the conditions that led to the financial crisis of 2007–2008, so "failure is being rewarded.

[61] The appointment of Eric Holder for attorney general raised concerns, due to his role in the last-minute pardon issued by Bill Clinton for fugitive financier Marc Rich.

[62] During his first press conference as president-elect, on November 7, Obama remarked about former first lady Nancy Reagan holding seances in the White House, which gained widespread attention.

[110] Some of his advisors suggested moving quickly, as Franklin D. Roosevelt did in 1933, under the belief that a more moderate approach would waste valuable time early in his presidency, when his political capital will be strongest.

Others suggested moving more slowly, as Bill Clinton did before his attempt to enact a national healthcare program, based on the notion that rapid change could quickly wear down any bipartisan consensus.

[111] According to Podesta, the transition team planned to conduct an exhaustive review of Bush's executive orders in an effort to find quick changes that could be implemented on the first day in office.

Podesta also says that there is a great deal that can be accomplished without waiting for Congress to act and that Obama wanted to move quickly once in office to restore "a sense that the country is working on behalf of the common good.

However, Mother Jones reported that the Windfall Profits Tax on oil companies, which he frequently cited during the campaign, had been dropped from the agenda early in the transition.

Although Democratic leaders had met in private for several months to prepare a legislative package for unveiling in January, Daschle was anxious to avoid the appearance that the transition was working behind closed doors to create a sweeping agenda for change.

This technique, developed by grass roots organizations like MoveOn.org, was designed to reinforce the notion that Obama intended to aggressively pursue his health care reform agenda despite the worsening economy.

"President-elect Obama has made health reform one of his top priorities, and I'm here to tell you that his commitment to changing the healthcare system remains strong and focused", said Daschle.

[120] During a news conference on December 11, 2008, Obama linked health care reform to the upcoming economic stimulus package, noting that "It's not something that we can sort of put off because we're in an emergency."

[121] One of the principal foreign policy issues that Obama ran on during the presidential campaign was his promise to withdraw most American troops from the Iraq War within sixteen months of his inauguration.

Although both sides cited some success in these discussions, critics believed the talks unduly ignored Hamas, which has been labeled by the United States as a terrorist organization, despite the fact that it had held an enormous amount of political power in the region.

[122] Hamas expressed a willingness to talk to Obama, who has said that he would reciprocate only if it renounced terrorism, recognized Israel's right to exist, and agreed to abide by past agreements.

[125] Obama also planned to revoke a series of executive orders enacted by Bush that authorized enhanced interrogation techniques which many critics have labeled as torture against "detainees.

Obama also hoped to close the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, although issues were expected to arise because many of the detainees had been held without evidence or had been coerced in their confessions, which would not be admissible in a federal court.

[142] In the current real estate market, the Obamas did not intend to sell their South Side Chicago home that sits on the border between the Hyde Park and Kenwood community areas.