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The transition team for President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday
announced rules for lobbyists wanting to contribute to or join the effort
preparing for the next administration. Lobbyists cannot make donations to the transition project and are
prohibited from any lobbying work while part of the transition team. In
addition, no one can work in a policy area they have lobbied on in the past 12
months, and no transition team member can lobby the future Obama administration
for 12 months in the policy areas they worked on during the transition.
“President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to change the way
Washington works and curb the influence of lobbyists. During the campaign,
federal lobbyists could not contribute to or raise money for the campaign,”
said John Podesta, a former Clinton White House chief of staff and head of
Obama’s transition team, in a statement. “Today, the President-elect is taking
those commitments even further by announcing the strictest and most
far-reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history.”
Obama’s transition team has begun working in an office space in
downtown Washington provided by the General Services Administration. In
addition, a nonprofit group has been established to accept private
contributions to help with the transition along with the federal funds already
provided. Lobbyists cannot contribute to that group.
The transition team also released statements from two
congressional experts praising the new rules as a clear signal that Obama plans
to maintain his presidential campaign’s tough stance against lobbyists.
“The ethical guidelines released today for the Obama transition
are tough and unequivocal,” said Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution. “He
aspires to attract to government able individuals whose highest priority is to
serve the public interest. This is a very constructive step in that direction.”
“Restoring trust in government is a prerequisite to enacting good
policy and the tough choices the country needs. This ethics policy for the
transition is a far-reaching, bold and constructive step to do just that,” said
Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute. “As much as anything, this
ethics policy is a statement about the tone and tenor of the Obama
administration. It is a good sign.”
During Obama’s run for the presidency, lobbyists could neither
donate to his campaign nor act as fundraisers for it. In addition, lobbyists
were not hired as campaign staff. Those moves helped establish the Illinois
Democrat’s reform credentials.
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