Presidential transition of Barack Obama Presidential transition of Barack Obama The Presidential transition of Barack Obama began when Barack Obama won the United States presidential election on November 4, 2008, and became the President-elect. He was formally elected by the Electoral College on December 15, 2008. The results were certified by a joint session of Congress on January 8, 2009, and the transition ended when he was inaugurated at noon on January 20, 2009. The Obama transition organization was called the Obama-Biden Transition Project. The transition team was convened during the height of the campaign, well before the outcome could be known, to begin making
Robert S. Rivkin Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. He stayed in that position until 2009. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Rivkin was sworn in as the 21st General Counsel of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) on May 18, 2009, following unanimous confirmation by the United States Senate. A longtime Obama supporter and contributor, Rivkin first met Obama in 1991. While with DOT, Rivkin was counsel to Secretary Ray LaHood and served as DOT's Chief Legal Officer, with authority to resolve all legal questions concerning the Department's policies and programs and its over 55,000 employees and $78 billion budget. In 2009,