THE U.S. IN TRANSITION AS PRESIDENT TRUMP DRAWS UP THE NAUGHTY-NICE LIST

President Trump and his team are approaching this phase in ways no one has seen before. Meanwhile, entrenched, competing power bases are fighting back.

- CLEO PASKAL

In the United States, the period after a Presidential election and before the new administration takes office is like a once every four years political Christmas season, with the incoming President and his team making up lists of who was naughty and who was nice.

And, given the experience President Trump had the last time he was in this position, he and his team are approaching this phase in ways no one has seen before.

Meanwhile, entrenched, competing power bases are fighting back, and some are trying to take advantage of the distractions to slip through policies that would never fly after inauguration.

Here is a brief taste of some of what's going on.

'WHAT JOB DO YOU WANT?'

After each Presidential election in the United States, there is a large-scale turnover in personnel as thousands of political appointees leave and new ones replace them. This period of "transition" exists even if the incumbent President is re-elected. Barack Obama's Secretary of State, for example, was Hillary Clinton in his first term, and John Kerry in his second term. If there is a change in party, even more changes in personnel are made.

As a result, the most popular book in Washington right now is the Plum Book. This U.S.government publication lists over 9,000 federal civil service jobs that "may be subject to noncompetitive appointments"-in other words, that an incoming Presidential administration can potentially fill with people of their choice.

The big division is the top jobs-like Secretary of Defense and State-that will need confirmation by the Senate, and the thousands of lower-level jobs that can be straight-up appointments. The top jobs include the people who will work most closely with President Trump and he is reportedly very involved in the selection of his team.