Vice President-elect Mike Pence touted the progress of transition efforts Thursday during a surprise appearance at the first Washington, D.C., press conference for President-elect Trump's team, highlighting the fact that the transition had been completed "on schedule and under budget."

"When we took over, I was impressed, frankly, with the work Gov. [Chris] Christie and the transition team had done prior to the election," Pence said. Trump put Pence in charge of the transition team shortly after his victory in November after allowing Christie to guide the process during the campaign months.

Pence said the transition had conducted more than 170 interviews under Christie's leadership, before Trump won the election. The team had interviewed more than 200 people in the days since, Pence said.

The vice president-elect also praised the pace of Trump's policy shop, noting its officials had put together an "action plan" for Day One, Day 100 and Day 200.

Rick Dearborn, executive director of the transition team, and incoming White House counsel Don McGahn were among the officials who received specific shout-outs from the vice president-elect.

Several soon-to-be Cabinet members attended the press conference at Trump's Washington transition headquarters, including Ben Carson and Sen. Jeff Sessions.

Pence said the team planned to return roughly 20 percent of transition funding to the Treasury Department.