The General Services Administration has expanded its role to support presidential candidates from both parties with preparations for possible transitions to federal government leadership positions.

Casey Coleman, group vice president for civilian agencies at Unisys‘ federal business, wrote in a blog post published Tuesday for Federal Times that a new GSA program will offer both candidates’ teams with office space, computers, mobile devices and service to support planning efforts for the transition period.

“This arrangement — already in place with candidates from both parties — gives both candidates’ teams access to key government data,” said Coleman.

“This is important because new administrations tend to want to sweep away everything associated with the previous office holders upon their arrival in Washington… It also elevates the importance of IT and management issues like procurement reform.”

Coleman added that other focus areas for the incoming administration will include talent management, the federal budget process, cybersecurity approaches and innovation.

The White House has released new guidance that seeks to establish best practices to help federal agencies address challenges related to the federal recruitment process.

Beth Cobert, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, wrote in a blog post published Tuesday, the guidance sets three objectives to help agencies attract and retain employees and these include the need to promote collaboration among hiring managers, supervisors and human resource specialists, build up workforce planning and recruitment as well as introduce changes to assessment strategies for federal employees.

Cobert co-wrote the post with Andrew Mayock, senior adviser at the Office of Management and Budget.

The document also outlines seven best practices designed to help agencies meet the objectives, such as the involvement of hiring managers and supervisors in every phase of the recruitment process.

The guidance also calls for agencies to use data to facilitate workforce planning as well as develop applicant pools from various segments of society through outreach programs in diverse communities, Cobert and Mayock wrote.

Agencies should also consult with subject matter experts and adopt assessment tools to help evaluate applicants and their qualifications, according to the guidance.

The Government Accountability Office has found that civilian agencies spent $661 million to use and maintain federally-owned aircraft in the government’s 2015 fiscal year.

GAO said Monday 11 civilian agencies own 924 aircraft as of July 2016 and that figure includes 495 airplanes, 414 helicopters, 14 unmanned aircraft systems and one glider.

The State Department owns the most number of aircraft at 248 units while the National Science Foundation has the least at three, GAO added.

Auditors noted 88 of 924 aircraft were non-operational as of July and can be used for parts, displayed or destroyed.

Civilian agencies spent approximately $652 million on operational aircraft which were flown at an average of 275 flight hours in FY 2015, GAO said.

Agencies usually report costs in categories such as maintenance, overhead, fuel or oil and crew, the report stated.

GAO sought comments on its report from NSF, NASA, Tennessee Valley Authority and the departments of State, Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice and Transportation.