Six experienced political hands have volunteered to be on the transition team for the General Services Administration.  Although there is no guarantee that any will stay on with the agency, some previous transition team members have taken GSA appointments. Aside from Administrator, industry will have to wait to see whether the Biden Administration opts to keep the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) Commissioner job as a political slot, or revert it back to a career position.  The Public Building Service Commissioner (PBS), in contrast, is always an appointee position.  As such, it’s good to know who’s on the transition team and what it might mean for acquisition. 

Katy Kale, President and COO of Elevate, LLC is the transition team lead.  She previously served as Chief of Staff at GSA during the Obama Administration and now runs a large grant and institutional fund-raising company.  Her background is neither specifically on the FAS or PBS side of the GSA house, but as a management and operations executive. 

Nate Denny of the North Carolina Department of IT is another prominent member.  Denny served as deputy chief of staff under Kale at GSA.  His work in North Carolina is as a legislative liaison, not a technologist. He would bring a skill set similar to Kale’s if he stays at GSA. 

Zoe Garmendia comes from the Democratic National Committee.  She has served at the DNC for over 12 years and it is uncertain whether she would stay at GSA. 

Michael Hornsby is a Customer Success Director at Salesforce.com.  He served 8 years in the Obama Administration, including a stint as acting White House CIO. 

Gianelle Rivera, currently a senior staffer to Washington, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser, is also an Obama-era GSA veteran, having served as a policy advisor in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. 

Josh Sawislak, of Clio Strategies, LLC, rounds out the transition team.  He is an Obama veteran who served mostly on climate change and energy-related initiatives.  Still, he has worked with GSA before and could become an advocate for reducing the federal real estate footprint.  Curiously, other than Sawislak’s tangential relationship, none of the transition team members have obvious ties to the PBS side of GSA’s business.  That is GSA’s largest operation.  Given their backgrounds, the team’s emphasis may be more on ensuring good overall management and administration policies than changing acquisition policies. Stay tuned. 

Given their backgrounds, the team’s emphasis may be more on ensuring good overall management and administration policies than changing acquisition policies.  Stay tuned.