As Romney's problems on the stump have increased, so has his transition work. Mitt transition efforts intensifying

Mitt Romney’s campaign may be struggling, but his transition operation is moving full steam ahead.

The GOP presidential candidate’s Washington team is intensifying its efforts, moving into official office space and holding meetings on Capitol Hill. The team has also begun reaching out to K Streeters and former Republican administration officials to get guidance on the Senate confirmation process and recommendations for jobs in a possible Romney White House.


Dubbed “The Readiness Project” inside Romneyworld, the effort began in earnest after the Republican National Convention and is not only focused on compiling a list of job candidates, but also designed to create a 200-day roadmap for congressional relations during the post-election lame duck session and beyond.

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The transition is being led by former Bush Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, a former Utah governor and fellow Mormon who is expected to play a senior role in any Romney White House.

The transition effort — while necessary and appropriate for a GOP nominee so close to the election — is a jarring contrast to a campaign that appears on the ropes to many Republican strategists. Receiving no bump from the Tampa convention, Romney is plowing ahead with a methodical approach to staffing his would-be administration, despite the fact that his campaign is said by some to need a radical makeover.

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Romney has had a tough couple of weeks following criticism of President Barack Obama on foreign policy and the revelation on a secretly-recorded fundraising tape that he believes 47 percent of Americans are dependent on the government.

“Their task is doing their job no matter what,” said a source close to the campaign. “Just because the guy had a crap week last week, doesn’t mean they stop. This is a very volatile presidential race. They have to prepare as if he wins.”

The campaign is not eager to discuss its transition efforts. A Romney spokeswoman declined to comment for this article. Those close to the official transition acknowledged that there is a desire to keep the effort quiet because they don’t want to appear overconfident and as though Romney is already measuring the drapes, a criticism that President Barack Obama faced in 2008.

But as his problems on the stump have increased, so have Romney’s transition efforts.

Leavitt and Drew Maloney have held at least two meetings with House Republicans in as many weeks. The pair held a meeting with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and committee chairmen and have also met with House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and his deputy whips.

Leavitt and Maloney broadly addressed the groups. Sources familiar said the meetings were an invitation to work together as the campaign moves forward and into the congressional lame duck session.

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Two sources familiar with the whip’s meeting said that it was a first step for the Romney campaign, which wants to hit the ground running by front-loading the legislative agenda if the Massachusetts Republican wins in November.

Leavitt and Maloney also told top Republican vote counters to “tell us if we’re doing something stupid” and recognized that they can’t dump legislation on the floor and think it will pass because it comes from the president.

The transition operation has begun creating small agency groups staffed by a mix of former Bush administration aides, previous Republican administrations and subject matter experts. Although federal lobbyists have been contacted informally to get recommendations for jobs at cabinet departments, they are not allowed to head specific agency efforts.

Operating out of a large C Street office on Capitol Hill, the transition is divided into two parallel operations.

There’s an implementation group, which is headed by former World Bank chief Robert Zoellick on the national security side and Bush National Economic Council director Al Hubbard on domestic affairs.

And there’s a group of individuals tasked with focusing on appointments in a potential Romney administration. Former Massachusetts Lt. Gov Kerry Healey is leading the search for appointees to domestic posts, longtime Romney adviser Kent Lucken is handling national security appointments and former Bush HHS official Suzy DeFrancis and Bush Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston are focused on White House appointments.

Several former Republican administration officials said that they’ve received calls asking for recommendations on the Senate nomination process and potential staff at departments, including senior-level slots that don’t require confirmation.

“It’s a typical Mitt Romney operation, there’s a lot of forethought, good planning, well-organized and well-led by Mike Leavitt,” former Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said of the effort.

Leavitt is well-known for employing long-term planning during his time in the Bush administration and for putting together 500-day plans with a 5,000-day horizon.

Nicholson, who has not yet met with the transition operation, said when he does he will try and “share with them my thoughts and be as helpful as I can.”

As a co-chair of the Romney campaign’s veterans outreach efforts, Nicholson said that one area he’ll be focused on is getting veterans’ disability claims settled more quickly.

The process — which used to begin officially following Election Day — has started in earnest in part because of a change in the law that sets aside government money in order to ensure an incoming administration is prepared as soon as it takes over the keys to the West Wing. The Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010 formalized a process for campaigns to begin planning before the election, with the General Services Administration providing office space and other resources for the campaign.

Republicans involved in President George W. Bush’s transition operation said that the separation of the campaign and transition efforts is important. “One of my frustrations when were in Florida for the recount was a handful of people were trying to set themselves up for an administration job,” a Republican involved with that transition effort said. “It’s not over until it’s over. Here there’s a clear line of who is doing what.”

Matt Schlapp, who advised Bush on the personnel process, said that the process should start earlier because a president’s policies only take flight when the right people are on board.

“Staffing an administration is time consuming and troublesome as each error is exploited by your enemies,” Schlapp said. “It is an historic achievement to acknowledge how complicated getting an administration started is, so it only makes sense to give an incoming president a fighting chance to put his government together in a pace that allows them to be ready for their first 100 days.”

Jonathan Martin and Jake Sherman contributed to this report.