Lake County Councilman and county Republican Party Chairman Randy Niemeyer has been tapped to be a part of president-elect Donald Trump’s transition team participating in conference calls with Department of Transportation officials.
Niemeyer, who lost in his race against U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, in November, said he will likely serve on the transition team through the confirmation hearings for former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for transportation secretary.
“I ran for Congress because I want to serve my country. If I can serve my country this way, I am happy to do it,” Niemeyer said.
As Trump’s incoming second administration takes shape, former federal officials are noting the differences in approach as nominees and appointees get up to speed.
Leslie Lenkowsky, professor emeritus in public affairs and philanthropic studies at Indiana University Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, said presidential transition teams strategy differ based on the incoming administration’s goals.
Trump’s transition team has been unique in that it’s his second non-consecutive term, which means “there’s not a lot of mystery there at the top executives,” Lenkowsky said. His transition team also has had the unique quality of being headquartered at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort Trump owns, instead of Washington D.C., Lenkowsky said.
In selecting transition team members, Lenkowsky said Trump has been picking people who have been active in Republican Party politics, who have demonstrated some degree of loyalty to Trump and some expertise in the area they are working.
A member of the incoming administration reached out to him to help with the Department of Transportation transition, Niemeyer said. The position is volunteer, Niemeyer said.
Niemeyer, who is also a small business owner and truck driver, said he couldn’t disclose many details about the work he’s doing as he signed a non-disclosure agreement, but that he’s participated on a few conference calls with stakeholders in the Department of Transportation.
During the calls, the team has discussed reports, analysis and legislation recommendations ahead of Duffy’s confirmation, he said.
“This is about getting the foundational pieces done for them,” Niemeyer said. “I’ve enjoyed the calls we’ve been on.”
Transition team members do not get paid for their work, said Lenkowsky. Typically, they have to cover the cost of any travel and lodging expenses as part of their work for the team, he said.
Sometimes, transition team members sign formal agreements to not share their reports or information with the public, Lenkowsky said. For example, when he served on the Reagan transition team, Lenkowsky said he signed documents that were similar to a consultant agreement, he said.
Duffy served in the U.S. House for nearly nine years, from 2011 to 2019. He was a member of the Financial Services Committee and chairman of the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019, and is co-host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Duffy is a former lumberjack athlete and he was featured on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston” in 1997. He met his wife, former “The Real World: San Francisco” cast member Rachel Campos-Duffy, on the set of MTV’s “Road Rules: All Stars” in 1998.
In his announcement for transportation secretary, Trump said Duffy would use his experience and relationships built over the years in Congress “to maintain and rebuild our nation’s infrastructure, and fulfill our mission of ushering in the golden age of travel, focusing on safety, efficiency, and innovation. Importantly, he will greatly elevate the travel experience for all Americans.”
Trump wanted Duffy to run for Wisconsin governor in 2022, but Duffy declined saying he needed to take care of his nine children, including his youngest child who had a heart condition.
Niemeyer said Duffy would bring his experience working in Congress into the role of transportation secretary.
“I think he’s going to be fantastic at the job,” Niemeyer said.
The work a transition team does could be impacted by whether or not the incoming department secretaries have a lot of experience in the field, Lenkowsky said. The less experience an incoming department secretary has, the more work the transition team has to do, he said.
Niemeyer said he hasn’t had direct contact with Trump while a member of the transition team.
“I’m a small player on the team. But it’s fine, I’m happy to contribute to the team,” Niemeyer said.
Lenkowsky served on the presidential transition teams of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
Reagan’s transition team was highly organized, Lenkowsky said, which included the creation of smaller teams that reported to a lead person, who reported to a steering group, which reported to the president.
While on Reagan’s transition team, Lenkowsky said he was on a team addressing international broadcasting efforts like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Lenkowsky said he and one other person met with agency officials, studied records, and wrote up a 10-page report.
“We reported up to one person, who reported to others,” Lenkowsky said. “It was very hierarchical.”
In the Bush transition team, Lenkowsky said he played a smaller role. Bush’s transition period was shorter because the 2000 election results were delayed until December when the Supreme Court ruled in Bush’s favor in a Florida recount case, he said.
While the Bush transition didn’t include the creation of subset teams, Lenkowsky said members of Bush’s staff reached out to various professionals to get their insight on what issues the president should address.
Lenkowsky, who worked at AmeriCorps at the time, said he talked with a person who would become a White House policy staff member about what Bush could do to keep his campaign promise to mobilize “armies of compassion,” which meant the nation’s volunteer groups.
“I explained to him how they could use AmeriCorps to do this,” Lenkowsky said. “It was very informal. I had no sense of hierarchy.”
Since Trump has been elected, Marjorie Hershey, professor emeritus of political science at Indiana University Bloomington, said the decisions he’s made have been based on emotions rather than policy.
“He’s not really accustomed to paying attention to what other people have to say, because he’s never had to,” Hershey said. “So much that he’s doing is emotional rather than policy.”
akukulka@post-trib.com
