[8] The transition Bush team also announced policy coordination groups on December 15, which included such members Joshua Bolten, Gary Edson, John Bridgeland.

[11] Per the later recounting of Clay Johnson III, Bush had asked him in June 1999 to help prepare a plan for a potential presidential transition.

[14] While Johnson would continue to head pre-election planning, shortly after the Republican National Convention, it was decided that Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney would be the post-election transition chairman if the ticket were elected.

Contrarily, Bush would largely remain personally removed from his team's operations in Florida, and would instead busy himself with both transition planning tasks and actions related to his job as governor of Texas.

[19][23] Bush hoped to establish a perception that his victory was imminent, and would leak word of his national security team, and allow news cameras access to some of his transition meetings.

[19] The choice to have the vice presidential running mate head the transition team, an unusual move, ultimately foreshadowed the central role Cheney would make in policy decisions during Bush's presidency.

[20][19] In addition to this, Cheney named Clay Johnson III (Bush's gubernatorial chief of staff) as the executive director of the transition.

[27] On November 29, it was announced that Michael E. Toner would be joining the transition team as legal counsel, and that David Gribben would serve as director of congressional relations.

[29] However, the choice to raise private funds attracted some criticism, with the group Common Cause urging the Bush team not to continue with their plans to do so.

[29] On November 29, Cheney publicly announced the transition team's acquisition of office space near Washington, D.C. in suburban McLean, Virginia.

[21] Incumbent president Bill Clinton denied any involvement in the GSA's decision to withhold funding from the Bush transition effort.

[33] The White House also announced on November 28 that they had requested for the Department of Justice to investigate whether the FBI could begin conducting background checks for each team's prospective nominees.

[20][33] John Podesta, Clinton's White House Chief of Staff, ordered each executive branch department to create briefing books for the incoming cabinet secretaries, and to set-aside workspaces for the president-elect, once determined, to have their team utilize during their official transition.

[30] Others announced in this period included the selection of Colin Powell as Secretary of State and Condoleezza Rice as National Security Advisor.

[13] In late November, Bush and his top associates began making phone calls to Republican congressional leaders, and indirect communication with Democratic leadership, in hopes of laying the ground for bipartisan cooperation on legislation if he became president.

[23] By early December, a number of congressional Republicans, such as Fred Thompson, Steve Horn, and Jim Kolbe, had written to GSA head Barram to urge him to release funding and grant access to office space to the Bush transition team.

[5] Bush had announced all of his Cabinet picks over a three-week period, compared to the eight to ten weeks over which these had been rolled out during the previous four presidential transitions.

[45] On December 18, incoming First Lady Laura Bush met with Clinton's wife Hillary in the White House for tea and a tour of the residence.

[43][47] Bush pledged that he would establish an "office of faith-based action" in his administration to search for ways that religious groups would be able to give such services as drug treatment and welfare-to-work programs that had been traditionally provided by the federal government.

[43] On December 20, Bush held a meeting in Austin, Texas with roughly 20 religious leaders from around the country, to discuss his plan for "faith-based" solutions to social issues.

[44] Bush felt so comfortable with the progress made by his transition effort, that he took a several-day "non-working" Christmas vacation, traveling both to his Texas ranch and to Florida.

[44] The transition experienced some controversy when Bush's selection for Secretary of Labor, Linda Chavez, withdrew her nomination on January 9 after the media reported that she had previously employed an undocumented immigrant.

[50] However, after pressure from Republican congressman Bob Barr, the GAO launched a deeper investigation, producing a 2002 report which estimated that there had been between $13,000 to $14,000 worth of damage.

[50][51] This included graffiti in the men's bathroom at the White House, glue smeared on desk drawers, and missing doorknobs, medallions, and office signs.

[51] Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer followed up the GAO report with a White House-produced list of alleged vandalism including removal of the 'W' key from keyboards.

He cited the extended uncertainty of the election outcome, withholding of GSA funding, and allegations of vandalism and pranks by outgoing staff.