UNITED STATES president-elect Barack Obama is to send over 100 senior staff - who had been given security clearance by the Secret Service in advance of election day - into federal agencies this week as preparations for his move to the White House intensify.
The decision to have staff vetted in advance, under legislation brought into force in 2004, is an illustration of the preparations taken by the Obama campaign not to repeat mistakes made during transitions in the past by winners of White House races.
A core team of up to 50 advisers has been working for months in considerable secrecy in planning for the first months of the Obama presidency, including actions necessary to reverse a series of actions taken by President George W Bush.
In particular, Mr Obama has closely studied the transition arrangements made by President Bill Clinton in late 1992 and early 1993, which are generally accepted to have been disastrous and which hampered his first 18 months in office.
Mr Obama has already appointed Representative Rahm Emanuel as chief-of-staff and other announcements about senior appointments are expected to follow in an orderly fashion over coming weeks.
In a radio broadcast on Saturday, president-elect Obama signalled that he intends to move quickly on a range of fronts immediately after his inauguration: "I want to ensure that we hit the ground running on January 20th because we don't have a moment to lose."
Mr Obama and his wife, Michelle, will travel from Chicago, where they have spent the days since the election, to Washington today to meet President Bush and his wife, Laura, for talks on the handover. Under Mr Bush's orders, his senior officials have already handed over voluminous files that have been in preparation for the last year on key policies to ensure that his successor "can get off to a quick start".
Given the size of the electoral mandate he enjoys, the new president has freedom to act on many fronts, but he will have to ensure that he does not act on too many at one time lest he suffer embarrassing defeats.
However, Mr Obama is still planning an ambitious agenda: "We can't afford to wait on moving forward on the key priorities that I identified during the campaign, including clean energy, health care, education and tax relief for middle-class families," he said on Saturday.
Senior Obama aides have already taken offices in the treasury department, where they are working alongside treasury secretary Henry Paulson as efforts continue to kick-start the US economy back into life.
John Podesta, who is co-chairing the Obama transition team, said the incoming administration was reviewing President Bush's orders on stem cell research, oil and gas drilling, and others matters that could be immediately reversed by decree.
Praising President Bush, Mr Podesta, who previously served as President Clinton's chief of staff, said the co-operation from the White House had "been excellent. We have had a collegial and co-operative relationship."
The director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, has already briefed the incoming president, while national security agency staff are to hold meetings this week with Mr Obama's team.