POLITICS : THE TRANSITION TIMETABLE

Here are the key events in the upcoming transfer of power in the White House and Congress:

Nov. 9-10: Eleven newly elected senators met each other and Senate leaders in sessions designed to acquaint them with ways of the U.S. Senate. The new senators got briefings about legislative procedures, ethics, financial reporting requirements and fair-employment practices.

Nov 10: Dianne Feinstein became the first newly elected senator to be sworn in. She will complete the unexpired term left in 1990 by then-Sen. Pete Wilson.

The Senate voted to keep its top leadership essentially intact for the 103rd Congress. Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.), Minority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kans.) and their top lieutenants all were reelected in party caucuses.

Nov 11: White House Chief of Staff James Baker met with Vernon E. Jordan Jr., co-chair of the Clinton transition team.

Nov. 14-17: The Republican Governors Assn. meets in Lake Geneva, Wis.

Nov. 16-20: The Clinton and Bush transition teams plan to hold their first meeting sometime during the week. In addition to Jordan, the Clinton transition team is headed by Los Angeles attorney Warren Christopher. The Bush transition team is headed by Secretary of Transportation Andrew H. Card Jr.

Nov. 24: Sen. Wyche Fowler Jr. (D-Ga.) faces ex-Peace Corps. director Paul Coverdell in a runoff for Fowler’s seat.

Nov. 25: The gross domestic product report for October is released.

December: Clinton has called for a two- or three-day economic summit with business leaders and economists sometime before Christmas.

Dec. 1: Approximate target date for Clinton to begin announcing Cabinet appointments. Jordan said “we may be able to make an announcement by Thanksgiving if we’re satisfied with the person.” Christopher has said that he expects the Cabinet appointments to be made in December.

Dec. 4: North Dakota holds a special election to fill the seat vacated by the death of Democratic Sen. Quentin Burdick.

State Rep. Jack Dalrymple, a Republican and Sen. Kent Conrad, a Democrat, are running. Conrad, whose own term ends this year, had opted not to run for reelection, but later decided to run for Burdick’s seat. If the Democrats hold both the Fowler and Burdick seats, their majority in the Senate will be 58 to 42 over the Republicans.

Dec. 7-10: Republican and Democratic House leadership elections.

Dec. 14: Tennessee Gov. Ned McWherter appoints a new senator to replace Vice President-elect Al Gore after Dec. 14.

Two rural Tennessee congressmen, Jim Cooper and John Tanner, are the heavy favorites. Cooper, 38, a former Rhodes scholar and son of a former Tennessee governor, was reelected to a sixth term. Tanner, 48, who won reelection to a third term, is a protege of McWherter’s and is considered to be one of the state party’s most able campaigners. Their voting records are moderate and considerably more conservative than Gore’s.

The Electoral College meets in statehouses around the country to cast ballots for President and vice president. The votes are counted on Jan. 6, 1993.

Jan. 5: 1993: 103rd Congress convenes.

Jan. 20: Clinton and Gore are inaugurated as 42nd President and 45th vice president of the United States.

Jan. 28-29: The Republican National Committee meets in St. Louis to select a new party chief to replace Chairman Richard Bond.

Feb. 1: The President’s proposed budget for the 1993-1994 fiscal year is due on Capitol Hill. Other actions, no date yet set: State of the Union speech: President Clinton will address joint session of Congress. Clinton will choose the new Chairman of Democratic Party, or reappoint Ron Brown.