Too many cooks in the kitchen? With Lanhee Chen

Transition Lab

Assigning one job to two people can be a recipe for disaster. Yet, presidential candidates typically have two policy teams—one for the campaign operation and one for the transition operation. Campaigns already do policy work, so why does a transition need a policy team, too?

Today on “Transition Lab,” we’re joined by Lanhee Chen, the policy director for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, to talk about the differences between these teams, why they’re both essential to a successful transition and how they should work together.

Chen previously served as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board during the Obama and Trump administrations and in the Department of Health and Human Services during the George W. Bush presidency. He is a public policy fellow at the Hoover Institution, a director and lecturer at Stanford University's public policy program, and a partner and co-lead of the Brunswick Group’s US public affairs, policy and regulatory practice. He is also an on-air contributor for NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

Find a complete transcript of this episode here.