A coalition of nonprofit groups has urged President Obama to revise the executive order he signed just over a year ago that limits the ability of lobbyists to get administration jobs, saying it had led to “unintended consequences” that undermine his goal of open government.
The rules should be changed to “welcome charitable lobbyists that represent large swaths of ordinary Americans to the table with business and government,” says a letter that is signed by 13 groups, including the Alliance for Children and Families, the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest, Common Cause, Human Rights Watch, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Those groups have been unhappy with the executive order from the start, arguing the White House should distinguish between lobbyists that work for the public interest and those who aim to increase private profits.
The letter, sent on Thursday, says the rules are flawed because they apply only to registered lobbyists, and not the vast majority of “‘special interest’ insiders like corporate executives and their public relations and legal advisers.” Furthermore, it says, because they apply only to people who have disclosed their lobbying activities, they drive “real influence peddlers into the shadows.”
The groups asks the White House to follow the same principles it used when it revised rules governing contacts between registered lobbyists and federal officials about economic-stimulus projects. That is, it should focus more on financial conflicts of interest than on whether someone is a registered lobbyist.
The stimulus rules originally barred lobbyists from having any oral communication with officials about specific projects, but they were later amended to apply to anyone seeking information between the time competitive grant applications had been submitted and the awards had been made.
In September, the White House issued new rules barring registered lobbyists from serving on federal advisory boards and commissions.
President Obama argues that such limits are needed to stem the influence of special interests on government business. “The purpose of the President’s agenda to change the way business is done in Washington is to level the playing field to make sure that all Americans and not just those with access to money or power are able to have their voices heard and their concerns addressed by Washington,” his ethics adviser, Norm Eisen, wrote in a blog post.
The nonprofit groups urged him to focus more on tightening campaign-finance laws and restricting the influence of large financial interests, saying those efforts had become even more urgent following a Supreme Court ruling this week that removed limits on corporate campaign spending.
