UPDATE @ 2:28 PM to make clear that the Open Society Policy Center hired Bill Wasserman, not the Institute.
As the Obama administration's complicated tug of war with lobbyists continues, Washington's professional persuaders are fighting back the best way they know how: with a lobbying campaign, Eliza Newlin Carney reports in "Rules of the Game."
The leaders of more than a dozen advocacy groups, frustrated with the administration's multi-pronged restrictions on lobbyists, are meeting regularly at the Open Society Policy Center's Washington office to plot strategy. Possible actions include a push for congressional hearings, or even a demonstration on the Capitol steps.
The center, the advocacy arm of the George Soros-funded Open Society Institute, has underwritten the hiring of consultant Bill Wasserman, president of M+R Strategic Services, to help it respond to the administration's lobbying rules. Leaders of the groups spearheading the effort, which also include the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest and OMB Watch, will reach out to trade associations and unions to fortify their ranks.
Constraints on lobbyists actually reduce transparency, some argue, by encouraging lobbyists to "deregister."
"What we want to do is try and shift the focus from federally registered lobbyists to money and influence in the administration," said Lee Mason, director of nonprofit speech rights for OMB Watch. "That's where the focus ought to be."
Continue reading Lobbyists: Obama's Rules Bring Pain, No Gain.
The Washington Times has weighed in on President Obama's policies to limit lobbyists' influence in Washington.
Here's an excerpt from the editorial:
Like his campaign promise to change the political tone in Washington, President Obama's stance against lobbying and corporate influence has proved to be a mirage. Instead of actually blocking lobbyists from serving in his administration, his "reform" has simply encouraged lobbyists to stop admitting they are lobbyists.
If lobbyists set up a meeting to talk with Norm Eisen, White House special counsel on ethics and government reform, there should be no doubt that Eisen will then blog about it.
That's what happened Monday, when a group of lobbyists and others who chair Industry Trade Advisory Committees, met with Eisen and other administration officials to discuss the Obama administration's decision to ban federally registered lobbyists from serving on government advisory boards and committees like the ITACs.
Eisen blogged about it here.
The September decision was the latest administration move to restrict lobbyist activities which has caused an outcry in the K Street community who feel they are being unfairly targeted for following the law and registering as lobbyists.
Eisen explained the ban is part of an effort to reform the political system and ensure "a Washington that is more reflective of all of America." He added: "we do not intend to rescind the decision."
The White House on Friday released information from its visitor logs for the first six months of the administration.
Among those that visited the White House were Andy Stern, head of the Service Employees International Union, which had been a key group in helping get out the vote for President Obama last November, and lobbyist duo Tony and Heather Podesta. John Podesta, head of the Center for American Progress, who also led Obama's transition team was a multiple vistor as well. (Tony and John are brothers.)
In a web posting late Friday afternoon titled "Transparency like you've never seen before," Norm Eisen, White House special counsel for ethics and government reform, announced the release of the information.
Other registered lobbyists listed include Steve Elmendorf, of Elmendorf Strategies, Linda Lipsen, with the American Association for Justice, Daniel Mica, head of the Credit Union National Association, Robert Nichols, head of the Financial Services Forum, Timothy Ryan, head of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, and Ed Yingling, head of the American Bankers Association
Norman Eisen, White House special counsel on ethics and government reform, again defended tightening restrictions on federally registered lobbyists to limit the influence of special interests.
In a post on the White House blog Wednesday evening, Eisen responded to a letter sent by the American League of Lobbyists protesting the administration's decision to ban lobbyists from serving on government advisory boards.
"We are concerned that your administration will deprive career public officials of knowledge, perspective and insight offered voluntarily and free of charge from many of the industry experts who will be precluded from serving as formal advisors under this policy," the League wrote in an Oct. 28 letter sent to President Obama.
To which Eisen said: "The letter makes a number of arguments with which we disagree, and to which we will respond, but our simple point is this: the system of lobbyists holding privileged government positions needs to be changed."
Stay tuned for more Obama versus the lobbyists...
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs Wednesday danced around accusations that Democratic donors have had special access to White House officials, saying those that did have meetings at the White House will be made public by the end of the year.
Gibbs comments follow a Washington Times story suggesting that Democratic bundlers and big money donors have gotten special access to White House officials and other perks.
"Hundreds of thousands of people have visited this White House since the president came in," said Gibbs. "Every name of every person that comes to this White House will be released."
He added: "Contributing doesn't guarantee a visit to the White House, nor does it preclude it."
When pressed about a reported Democratic National Committee program for big midterm- election donors to meet with Obama administration officials, Gibbs suggested reporters contact the Democratic National Committee for answers.
In early September, the White House announced it would be making its visitor logs public, ending two lawsuits seeking the names in those logs under the Freedom of Information Act. Under the new policy, enacted Sept. 15, the White House will make public the names of individuals visiting the White House, the names of those they were meeting and how long the meetings lasted. (Meetings that were held for national security reasons won't be released.) The first report is scheduled to be released at year's end. Meetings in the Oval Office will also be made public, Gibbs said.
Gibbs added that as far as he was "aware of," no campaign donor received a night in the Lincoln bedroom, as had been a practice during the Clinton administration.
Click here to see an excerpt of the White House briefing today and Gibbs' back and forth with reporters on the issue of donors and White House special access. I called Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president on ethics and government reform, today to ask him about the Washington Times story, but he referred me to Gibbs comments today on the matter.
Given the number of times President Obama has talked about leveling the playing field between monied interests and public interests in Washington, this story in the Washington Times today raises some big questions.
Matthew Mosk, a well-known investigative reporter who recently joined the Washington Times, reports:
During his first nine months in office, President Obama has quietly rewarded scores of top Democratic donors with VIP access to the White House, private briefings with administration advisers and invitations to important speeches and town-hall meetings.High-dollar fundraisers have been promised access to senior White House officials in exchange for pledges to donate $30,400 personally or to bundle $300,000 in contributions ahead of the 2010 midterm elections, according to internal Democratic National Committee documents obtained by The Washington Times.
If this story is correct, it doesn't sound much like a level playing field to me. I plan to ask Norm Eisen, Obama's special adviser on ethics and government reform, about it.
Stay tuned.
Norman Eisen, White House special adviser on ethics and government reform, said it wasn't a scandal that drove the Obama administration to issue its latest restrictions on lobbyists -- they're trying to prevent one.In September, the administration asked all federal agencies to replace lobbyists serving on federal boards and advisory panels with non-lobbyists as part of the president's ongoing efforts to reduce the influence of special interests in Washington.
"While we recognize the contributions some of those who will be affected have made to these committees, it is an indisputable fact that in recent years, lobbyists for major special interests have wielded extraordinary power in Washington DC, resulting in a national agenda too often skewed in favor of the interests that can afford their services," Eisen wrote on the White House blog on Oct. 21. "It is that problem that the President has promised to change, and this is a major step in implementing that change."
When National Journal asked Eisen if there as a particular situation where a scandal or problem of undue influence by lobbyists occurred at these federal boards and advisory panels, he said no and "we wanted to keep it that way."
It's not often that a plum ambassadorship goes to someone who isn't a career foreign service officer or a big bucks campaign contributor, but President Obama has nominated Anne Slaughter Andrew to be the ambassador to the Republic of Costa Rica.
Hmmm.
The prospective diplomat is an Indiana University trained attorney who currently is Principal of New Energy Nexus, LLC, and, according to the White House release on her nomination, "advises companies and entrepreneurs on investments and strategies to capitalize on the New Energy Economy."
But Andrew is also wife of Joe Andrew, former Indiana Democratic Party chairman who was tapped by Bill Clinton to be Democratic National Committee chairman from 1999 to 2001 who also was a big backer of then Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in her 2008 presidential bid--until five days before the must-win Indiana Democratic Presidential primary last year, when Andrew with great fan-fare threw Clinton under the bus, endorsed Obama, urged all his fellow Hoosiers to vote for Obama and called up party leaders and fellow superdelegates (Andrew had that status to the Democratic convention because he was a former DNC chairman) to basically shut the nominating contest down after the Indiana primary and get behind Obama.
In a public letter that at times was melodramatic and angst-ridden, Andrew wrote: "Why call for superdelegates to come together now to constructively pick a president? The simple answer is that while the timing is hard for me personally, it is best for America. We simply cannot wait any longer, nor can we let this race fall any lower and still hope to win in November. June or July may be too late."
Well, the contest did run until June and Obama still somehow made it to the White House. But for Joe, this was a selfless act: "My endorsement of Senator Obama will not be welcome news to my friends and family at the Clinton campaign," he wrote. "If the campaign's surrogates called Governor Bill Richardson, a respected former member of President Clinton's cabinet, a 'Judas' for endorsing Senator Obama, we can all imagine how they will treat somebody like me."
Geee, somehow he managed to survive and somehow the current Secretary of State must have an amazing amount of equanimity and grace not to have choked on this administration nomination.
The Sunlight Foundation's Daniel Schuman analyzes the Treasury department's new lobbying rules on communications with department employees regarding matters related to the Troubled Asset Relief Program and its implications for transparency.
He writes:
The rules promulgated by the Treasury Department attempt to meet the great challenge of improved transparency, but fall short of their potential. They are hard to understand, difficult to apply, and full of contradictions and omissions that undermine stated policy objectives. The rules should be clarified, rewritten, simplified, and broadened.
Hours after short remarks accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama sent a special email to his supporters via Organizing for America, the grassroots arm of the Democratic National Committee.
Saying the Nobel award was "a call to action," Obama wrote that the prize "belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a better place ... I'm grateful that you'd stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come."
Text of his email below:
This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.
But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.
That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.
This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.
So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.
Thank you,
President Barack Obama
It's President Obama versus the lobbyists again.
Obama on Friday afternoon criticized the U.S.Chamber of Commerce for running advertisements opposing his administration's plan to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency for investors. He called the ads "false."
"Predictably, a lot of the banks and big financial firms don't like the idea of a consumer agency very much," Obama said in remarks in the White House to talk about the new agency. "In fact, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending millions on an ad campaign to kill it. You might have seen some of these ads -- the ones that claim that local butchers and other small businesses somehow will be harmed by this agency. This is, of course, completely false -- and we've made clear that only businesses that offer financial services would be affected by this agency."
He then went on blast lobbyists in the financial services sector in general.
"All this hasn't stopped the big financial firms and their lobbyists from mobilizing against change. They're doing what they always do -- descending on Congress, using every bit of influence they have to maintain the status quo that has maximized their profits at the expense of American consumers, despite the fact that recently a whole bunch of those same American consumers bailed them out as a consequence of the bad decisions that they made. And since they're worried they may not be able to kill this agency, they're trying their hardest to weaken it -- by asking for exemptions from this agency's rules and enforcement; by fighting to keep every gap and loophole they can find."
Government agencies began the process this week of asking companies and organizations to find replacements for federal lobbyists currently serving on federal advisory committees, following a Sept. 23 White House request asking agencies not to appoint lobbyists to such panels.
The Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative on Wednesday sent letters to companies and organizations with representatives serving on Industry Trade Advisory Committees asking them to certify the person isn't a lobbyist, and if they are, to find a replacement who isn't. There are a total of 335 people who serve on the ITACs which advise the two agencies on export, manufacturing and travel and tourism policies. The terms of those serving on the boards all end in 2010. About 132 of those individuals are registered lobbyists.
"Like all ITAC advisors, I have undergone security clearances and served at my own expense -- except for the occasional cup of coffee and donut that the Commerce department provided," he wrote. "Like my ITAC colleagues, I have attempted to give the Secretary of Commerce and USTR advice that was designed to open foreign markets, promote US competitiveness and encourage economic growth."
He added "with that in mind, I would like to appeal the decision from the White House to exclude registered lobbyists from the ITACs and ask you reconsider my application to be an ITAC advisor."
Casting the Obama administration's call to phase out federally registered lobbyists from federal advisory boards and committees as a move against transparency, the American League of Lobbyists (ALL) is gathering feedback on how to respond.
In an email sent out today, ALL president Dave Wenhold called on members to share their candid thoughts, strategies and input regarding the White House's new directive on federally registered lobbyists.
Yesterday we reported on the administration's blog post, written by Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, describing the president's request to weaken the influence of special interests in Washington.
"It is uncertain at this time how many registered lobbyists will be affected," said Wenhold in the email, "but the trend is obvious, and every federally-registered lobbyist needs to pay attention to the overall anti-lobbying mindset."
Wenhold added that the organization's attempts to open a dialogue with the administration have fallen on deaf ears.
(UPDATE @ 4:52 pm to add reaction from Doug Pinkham, president of the Public Affairs Council)
President Obama has asked government agencies not to fill positions on federal advisory boards and committees with federally registered lobbyists, Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, wrote on the White House blog Wednesday afternoon.
Eisen wrote:
"The White House has informed executive agencies and departments that it is our aspiration that federally-registered lobbyists not be appointed to agency advisory boards and commissions. These appointees to boards and commissions, which are made by agencies and not the President, advise the federal government on a variety of policy areas. Keeping these advisory boards free of individuals who currently are registered federal lobbyists represents a dramatic change in the way business is done in Washington."
Eisen said federally registered lobbyists that currently serve on these agency boards and committees, may continue, but "when these appointments expire, it is our hope that agencies not reappoint anyone who is currently registered as a federal lobbyist at the time of their potential reappointment."
Click here to read Eisen's whole post.
"It makes no sense to stifle discussion about important issues like trade by keeping experts out of the conversation," said Pinkham. "Eisen's statement shows no respect for professionals who work for companies, unions and nonprofits and happen to devote part of their time to advocacy."
Another lobbyist asked why Obama's campaign bundlers and big donors weren't also included in this latest effort to reduce special interest influence on government agency decisions.
We'll update as we have more commentary.
Ongoing criticism and media attention surrounding the Obama administration's ethics and lobbying rules this year have served to remind executive branch officials that they are working for the "public interest" and not the "special interests," Norm Eisen, White House special counsel for ethics and government reform, told a standing-room-only crowd gathered at the Center for American Progress on Monday.(Photo by Rick Bloom)
On Friday, Norm Eisen, the White House special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, wrote a blog post announcing the creation of a central repository for the public to track presidential appointees that received limited waivers from ethics rules.
Wrote Eisen:
"We have previously reported six limited waivers that have been granted by the White House pursuant to the President's Executive Order on Ethics for Executive Branch personnel - the strongest ethics standards in U.S. government history. Three of these waivers involved lobbying-related issues and three did not. We blogged about them here, here, and here.
Several months ago, the public-interest community suggested that we also make available in a central place limited waivers granted by other federal agencies besides the White House. Today, we are releasing all ten such agency-granted waivers (none of which involve lobbying). The President's Executive Order calls for an annual report to be completed in early 2010 that will include all waivers granted pursuant to the Order. We are, however, pleased to make all of the pledge waivers granted to date by this Administration available now--more than four months early."
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag posted a statement on OMB's blog about the administration's official revisions to rules governing lobbyist communications with executive branch officials with regard to the stimulus package.
"We continue to demand unprecedented transparency for lobbyist contacts and, for the first time in history, we now are bringing transparency to the world of unregistered lobbyists - CEOs and others with special access who would contact an agency or department about their interest in Recovery funding," wrote Orzag. "By expanding the restrictions on oral communications to apply to everybody who tries to exert influence on Recovery Act competitive funding decisions, we reinforce merit-based decision-making and transparency."
To read further, click here.
UPDATE @ 11:38 AM to add comment from Dave Wenhold, president of the American League of Lobbyists
In May, Norm Eisen, White House special counsel to the President for ethics and government reform, wrote on the White House blog that the administration would be revising its rules on lobbyist communications with executive branch officials with regard to the stimulus package.
K Street has been waiting ever since for written confirmation of those changes. Now the White House Office of Management and Budget has released the written guidance on what the revised rules now say.
The key graph from the OMB memo is here:
"The prohibition on oral communications between Federal agency officials and federally registered lobbyists regarding specific Recovery Act projects that was contained in the President's Memorandum has been clarified. That restriction applies in the context and at the stage where concerns about merit-based decision-making are greatest - the period beginning after the submission of formal applications for, and up through awards of, competitive grants or other competitive forms of Federal financial assistance under the Recovery Act. The restriction also has been expanded to cover, generally, all persons outside the Federal Government (not just federally registered lobbyists) who initiate oral communications concerning pending competitive applications under the Recovery Act."
At least one person on K Street is pleased with the final guidance: David Wenhold, president of the American League of Lobbyists:
"We appreciate the formalization of the revised policy on interactions with registered, compliant and law abiding lobbyists and feel that these changes will allow for a more constructive dialogue which in turn will provide administration personnel with information that will allow them to make the best merit based decisions possible."
He add: "We look forward to the full implementation of the revised policy and ensuring that the departments and personnel are able to meet with lobbyists as specified in the revised guidance and gather the information from the lobbyists and their clients needed to make good government decisions on stimulus funding projects."
This week's issue of National Journal profiles 366 Obama administration officials in our quadrennial "Decision Makers" special report. (subscription)
I thought readers might be interested in my profile of Norm Eisen, White House special counsel on ethics and government. Eisen wrote the ethics rules restricting federally registered lobbyists from working in the administration on policies they lobbied on in the past two years. He also wrote the March memo restricting lobbyist communications with executive branch officials with regard to the economic recovery package passed in February.
The Office of Management and Budget is expected to soon release detailed guidance on communication with executive branch officials on the stimulus projects.
President Obama is making a "sea change" on the issue of lobbying, Spencer A. Overton, principal deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, told attendees June 19 at the American Constitution Society's annual conference.
Overton's comment was given in response to a question, posed in writing to a panel of Obama officials, about the administration's policies with regard to federally registered lobbyists.
Any lobbyist hired by the administration is prohibited from working on a policy area on which they lobbied for the past two years, unless they receive a waiver. The aim was to reduce the influence of special interests on adminsitration decisions. The policy has had the effect of barring most lobbyists, including those who work for non-profit advocacy groups, from getting jobs in the administration, which has upset a large swath of Obama's progressive supporters. Obama administration officials also must comply with new restrictions designed to make communications with lobbyists more transparent.
Overton, a George Washington University legal professor currently on leave, was asked why Obama is treating lobbyists who work for nonprofits the same as lobbyists who work for corporate entities.
He said Obama understood the complaints, but wanted to establish that with his restrictions, he was "making a sea change with regard to those issues."
Overton said he had worked on the rules during the transition, and he said "it really was difficult." He said, "It is difficult to say these are the good lobbyists, and these are the bad lobbyists -- get them out of here."
The Office of Management and Budget is expected to issue guidance on its policies regarding lobbyist communication with executive branch offices within the next few weeks.
President Obama attempted to sell the American Medical Association today on the idea of a public insurance option, a central component of his healthcare overhaul plan. "The public option is not your enemy; it is your friend, I believe," he told members gathered at their conference in Chicago, CongressDailyPM reported. (subscription)
See the transcript of Obama's speech here.
Obama tried to address concerns that a public option would pay Medicare rates considered too low by most healthcare providers and would result in a single-payer system in which health care is a function solely of the federal government.
AMA began debating its official position on a public option Sunday and plans to vote on a resolution that will express its position in a few days.
Read the rest of the story here. (subscription)
CongressDaily also has an excellent page on the web devoted to health care reform coverage.
Not wanting the Obama administration to have the last word on its new campaign, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce penned a response -- by Senior Vice President Tom Collamore -- to Jared Bernstein, Vice President Biden's economic advisor. Earlier today on C-SPAN Berstein said the chamber was "missing the point" in launching its campaign to trumpet the merits of free markets. (Click here to see that post)
"I believe that it is Mr. Bernstein who is both missing the point and forgetting (perhaps willfully) recent history," writes Collamore.
Jared Bernstein, economic policy adviser to Vice President Biden, said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is "missing the point" with its new $100 million "Campaign for Free Enterprise" announced yesterday. (see our blog postings yesterday here and here).
The campaign is aimed as a counter-offensive to the Obama administration's increasing involvement in the private sector.
Bernstein made his comments on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" this morning, when he was asked to comment on the chamber's new campaign. Jared said President Obama's involvement is aimed at addressing deep problems with the economy and to ignore them "because of ideology would have been a tremendous mistake."
See clip provided to us by C-SPAN below:
The Obama administration has deftly defused a nasty argument with some of its allies over restrictions on lobbyists seeking economic stimulus money, but the war over how to regulate lobbyists is far from over, writes Eliza Newlin Carney in this week's "Rules of the Game" column.
The recent dispute over lobbying curbs tied to the $787 billion recovery package points up the need to revisit lobbying restrictions across the board, say reform advocates, who predict more rules changes ahead.
"Lobbying disclosure is certainly something that's moving back on the table," said John Wonderlich, policy director of the Sunlight Foundation. Discussions are under way in the administration and on Capitol Hill about reopening the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, Wonderlich added, with an eye toward broadening the definition of who qualifies as a lobbyist and requiring more real-time reporting.
Given the recent uproar over lobbyists' contact with the administration, however, any further changes are sure to kick up a fight. The administration generated enough of a stir when it issued a directive in March that barred executive branch officials from speaking with lobbyists seeking stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Continue reading War To Regulate Lobbyists Is Far From Over.
Here's something of note from earlier in the week since it involves President Obama's ethics rules. TechDailyDose reports:
A pair of watchdogs on Wednesday urged the White House to halt the pending appointment of Google's top global public policy executive, Andrew McLaughlin, to the position of deputy chief technology officer under CTO Aneesh Chopra, saying it would violate the intent of Obama's ethics rules.
At first glance it looks totally off base. But Gary Andres, vice chairman of research at Dutko Worldwide, has written an excellent piece in The Weekly Standard arguing that Barack Obama's Washington -- marked by the huge and rapid expansion of government -- is a gift to the lobbying and advocacy professions.
Among other things, Andres points out that the White House's rhetoric demonizing lobbying is causing an important behavioral change on K Street. Andres writes: "...some government relations executives who previously registered as lobbyists are now 'delisting' -- causing a growing number of former interest group advocates to move out of the federal disclosure regime entirely."
The article includes this quote from an executive at a major company: "Why should I take all the cheap shot criticism for being a 'lobbyist' when I spend most of my time doing other things, like managing my staff and giving advice to senior management about public policy?"
Ring true, readers?
Given the outcry on K Street caused by President Obama's restrictions on lobbyist communications with executive branch officials on stimulus projects, I thought it worth a post on lobbyist support of the administration's decision to expand the restrictions to everyone.
From David Wenhold, president of the American League of Lobbyists:
"The American League of Lobbyists applaud the revisions to the White House's previous policy that limited lobbyists' communications on stimulus projects. In working with the WH, ALL, Citizens for Responsiblity and Ethics and the American Civil Liberties Union made suggestions about increasing transparency for all parties petitioning the government and not limiting access to one group of law abiding, compliant citizens who happen to have the job title of lobbyists. Increasing accountability for all parties is important and so is removing the restricting on lobbyists meetings because oftentimes the lobbyists are the subject matter experts and merit based decision making often relies on this expertise. ALL is proud to have represented and ensured that lobbyists voices have and will remain to be heard in these important discussions."
UPDATED @ 6 PM:
Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, posted a comment on the White House blog explaining the amendments to the president's directive on communications with executive branch officials regarding stimulus package grants. See post here.
Eisen said that once the "merit-based" decision on a grant has been made, a lobbyist can communicate orally with government officials regarding the project.
Meanwhile, Public Citizen applauds the White House's move. See statement here.
Earlier:
The Obama administration expanded the ban on oral communication between lobbyists and executive branch officials with regard to stimulus projects to include anyone who has submitted an application for a grant, according to advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Those applying for grants will still be able to communicate with officials in writing.
"The White House announced updates to President Obama's March 20, 2009 Memorandum on Ensuring Responsible Spending of Recovery Act Funds. That policy barred lobbyists from engaging in oral conversations with agency officials regarding specific requests for Recovery Act funds. The new policy will bar not just lobbyists, but everyone from speaking with agency officials about competitive grants once grant applications have been submitted. Written communications will be permitted." according a CREW release.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW applauded the move as a way "to level the playing field to ensure that corporate bigwigs and major donors who do not register as lobbyists do not benefit from an inside track unavailable to those less politically influential."
Sloan had joined with the American Civil Liberties Union and the American League of Lobbyists to protest the March 20 directive which initially only applied to federally registered lobbyists.
A White House official couldn't be reached for comment.
UPDATE: May 29 10:30 a.m.
We received the following e-mail response from Ryan Rudominer, national press secretary for the DCCC: "You don't need to contribute to win the contest. We are not accepting money from lobbyists for this fundraiser."
(Click on the invitation below to see the contest he refers to.)
The Democratic lobbyist who received the invitation/solicitation and told us about it had this to say: "They know damn well that this is Hillary's old mailing list, which includes every DEM lobbyist in the entire freakin' world who gave her money."
________________________________________________
Here is the original post:
Oops! Someone at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee forgot to scrub a very important, and sensitive, e-mail/donor list.
You see, at least one lobbyist (who contacted us) -- and no doubt many others -- received an invitation from the DCCC and James Carville to make a contribution to the committee for a June 18 fundraising dinner in Washington that will include President Obama.
See invitation here:
Dinner with President Obama.pdfThe president has instructed the DCCC (and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee) they are not to solicit contributions from lobbyists and political action committees for these types of events.
But the Carville-DCCC invitation was sent to members of HillaryClinton.com's online community. Hillary Clinton had no prohibition on taking K Street-connected money when she was running against Obama for the Democratic nomination.
The Judicial Confirmation Network pushed back today after White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, downplayed Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's comments in 2005 at Duke University about courts of appeal judges making policy from the bench. Gibbs said critics were taking Sotomayor's words "out of context."
At Duke, Sotomayor said: "...Court of Appeals is where policy is made. And I know ... I know this is on tape and I should never say that, because we don't make law, I know.... I'm not promoting it, and I'm not advocating it.... Having said that, the Court of Appeals is where, before the Supreme Court makes the final decision, the law is percolating."
See the videos of Sotomayor and Gibbs here.
Wendy Long, the network's legal counsel responded:
"An important controversy and debate continues to brew over Judge Sotomayor's comments at Duke University in which she said that appellate courts "make policy," and in her published words tucked away in law review articles. The White House continues to say that her words caught on tape were taken out of context. It appears that whenever the press or other critics point out troubling or radical statements made by Judge Sotomayor that clearly reveal her approach to judging, the White House spin machine is dizzying itself trying to figure out how best to communicate what it is that Judge Sotomayor really meant when she uttered the appellate "courts make policy" comment or her published writings saying a "Latina woman would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who has not lived that life."
"President Obama promised the American people a transparent presidency. Indeed, this White House's communications machine has been vigilant in posting the President's policy agenda online and keeping folks up to speed saying they want to create dialogue and discussion. In that spirit, we are calling on White House Press Secretary Gibbs to post the Duke University video on The White House web site and let the American people judge her comments... If Mr. Gibbs does not have time to post this video, he is welcome to link to it and other Sotomayor comments at www.aboutsoniasotomayor.com"
-- Robert Gettlin
The Judicial Confirmation Network launched a new ad on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. The 70-second ad, titled "Equal Justice Under The Law?" includes a voice over of Sotomayor's statements on gender and race, including:
"Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences... our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging."
The network is a conservative organization run by Executive Director Gary Marx, an organizer for the Bush-Cheney '04 national campaign and before that a lobbyist for The Family Foundation of Virginia. He is also president of the public policy and public affairs consulting firm of Principium Consulting. Wendy Long, the network's legal counsel, was a litigation partner at Kirkland & Ellis in New York and was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
-- Robert Gettlin
In This Week's National Journal (subscription)
The Poker Players Alliance is flush with confidence after learning that their primary legislative agenda, legalizing online poker, ranked first as a priority among technology items in a citizens briefing book given to President Obama.
The briefing book, a project of the transition team, gathered policy ideas from Americans and submitted the most popular ones to Obama. Change.gov received more than 44,000 ideas and people cast more than 1.4 million votes on them. Policy ideas received 10 points for each positive vote and were ranked accordingly.
Boosting America's economy with legal online poker rung in with nearly 47,000 points, beating out 'restoring net neutrality protections' at 46,000 points. John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance (and their principle lobbyist), is not surprised his issue came in at No. 1. "There is a very vocal community out there...through our website last year, over 80,000 letters were sent to Congress in support of licensing and regulating internet poker," he said.
PPA has more than one million members; in the first quarter of 2009 the organization spent $430,000 on lobbying, up $80,000 from the same period in 2008.
The debate over whether to regulate online gambling is gaining momentumm the Los Angeles Times reports on the industry's efforts.
But the most popular issue overall in the briefing book, with 92,970 points, is ending the prohibition on marijuana.
Here are the Top Ten issues overall:
-- Eliza Krigman
"The fact is, there is no proof whatsoever that federally registered lobbyists deserve a higher level of scrutiny than any other group," says Doug Pinkham, president of the Public Affairs Council, in a letter to the White House urging the administration to track all conversations about specific Recovery Act projects, not just those of federally registered lobbyists.
Read Pinkham's letter here: Pinkham Letter to White House on Lobbying Restrictions.pdf
The Public Affairs Councils is a nonpartisan organization that provides public affairs training and best-practice information to its member companies and nonprofit organizations.
Pinkham's chief complaint is that the lobbying restrictions regarding stimulus funds are not the best way to increase accountability to taxpayers. Members of Congress may be the most important group to track, Pinkham maintains. Lawmakers could be asking for recovery funds from agencies whose finances they have control over.
Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics agrees. "There is no reason to limit it to registered lobbyists," she reported after a meeting at the White House with Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, and several other White House staffers.
In his letter, Pinkham suggests the government create a searchable database that tracks all conversations of those seeking stimulus funds.
-- Eliza Krigman
The campaign days of 'My Barack Obama' may be over but the new administration is determined to maintain the community organizing spirit of the successful presidential bid. To that end, the White House announced today that the Office of Public Liaison will now be known as the Office of Public Engagement. Accompanying the new name is a new mission to help build relationships with Americans through which they can participate in and help inform the work of the president.
The initiative speaks to the president's desire to maintain grassroots outreach to Americans. Gathering information from outside the capital city and creating a strong online presence will be a focus of the office.
Despite the new name, the leadership will remain the same as it was under the Office of Public Liaison. Carrying out the new mission is Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to the president; Christina Tchen, director of the Office of Public Engagement; and Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff to the assistant to the president for intergovernmental relations and public engagement.
Read the full release here: WH Office of Public Engagement.pdf
-- Eliza Krigman
John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation writes about a May 6 meeting he and his colleagues and others in the nonprofit community had with White House officials on President Obama's rules for lobbyists.
Many in the nonprofit world have been highly critical of the revolving-door rules, which have eliminated many lobbyists for nonprofits from being considered for administration posts. And many on K Street have been critical of the administration's rules restricting lobbyists' communications to writing when it comes to discussing specific stimulus requests with executive branch officials.
Wonderlich provides both an interesting defense and a criticism of the rules. He writes:
"To me, this looks like an imperfect law (the Lobbying Disclosure Act)
being used as a foundation for imperfect lobbying restrictions, in the
face of enormous and unprecedented stimulus spending. Whether the
restrictions are proportional to the sudden need for competent spending
is certainly up for debate. There seems to be little debate, however
over whether the LDA is a sufficient vehicle for lobbying regulation.
It isn't. The LDA requirements are easily skirted, enforcement is lax,
and many terms are insufficiently defined. (It's probably fair to say
that position was the consensus of the groups present, but certainly
not presented as administration policy.)"
Read more at Sunlight Foundation.
The George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management hosted a forum Tuesday looking at the Obama administration's lobbying rules. White House ethics adviser Norman Eisen defended the restrictions. And one panel discussed crafting appropriate government policies for lobbying. Panelists, from left to right, were: Melanie Sloan, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; Leo Wise, Office of Congressional Ethics; Moderator Steven Roberts, GW's SMPA; Ron Christie, Christie Strategies; and Ellen Miller, Sunlight Foundation. Video highlights and a write-up of the event follows.
At a forum at George Washington University Tuesday, White House ethics adviser Norman Eisen touted the "open-door" policies of the White House and said that restrictions the administration has placed on lobbyists have been created in the interest of striving for merit-based decision-making.
"What we have attempted to do in defining the public interest is to embark on a ... compact with the American people that we will not be subjected to the influences ... that have waylaid good policy, but really will attempt to be guided by that point on the horizon that represents the best thing for the country," said Eisen, who was a partner at law firm Zuckerman Spaeder and co-founded watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington before joining the administration.
Eisen said that the administration recognizes that there are challenges in figuring out how to create a transparent and effective policy-making environment, but is gathering "evidence" on the impact of ethics rules by meeting with lobbyists to hear their opinions.
"One of the striking things that does not come across [in the media] is the level of agreement that lobbyists and others have with us with respect to the stimulus lobbying rules," Eisen said.
Continue reading White House's Eisen: K Street Rules Evolving.
Pity the poor lobbyist.
First, President Obama imposed strict revolving-door rules on lobbyists seeking jobs in his administration. More recently, the White House has banned executive branch officials from even talking to lobbyists eager to steer economic stimulus money to their clients. (Lobbyists must instead communicate in writing.)
Both moves have prompted heated protests on K Street, and not just from predictable players such as the American League of Lobbyists. Some public-sector activists now argue that the administration's revolving-door rules are "causing serious, unintended harms to nonprofit organizations," as they put it in a recent memo to the White House. A coalition that includes civil rights and good-government organizations also has attacked the stimulus lobbying rules as "an ill-advised restriction on speech."
It's easy to see why lobbyists are upset. After all, the president's new lobbying and ethics regime has caused a lot of pain without getting at the root cause of undue influence in Washington -- namely, the political money system that makes lawmakers depend on lobbyists for campaign cash. Obama has said he wants to fix the public financing system and strengthen enforcement, but has yet to follow through. (He's had a few other things on his plate.)
Still, it's hard to feel too sorry for the lobbyists who argue that Obama's ethics rules are either unconstitutionally stringent or should apply to everyone but them. Organizers for nonprofits object that the revolving-door rules, for example, lump public-sector lobbyists together with those representing "pecuniary" interests. They've asked the White House to essentially carve out a blanket exemption for all job seekers who lobby for 501(c)3 nonprofit or 501(c)4 social welfare groups.
To read more of Eliza Newlin Carney's column, "Rules of The Game," click here.
Representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union, American League of Lobbyists and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington met on Friday afternoon with White House Special Counsel for Ethics and Government Reform Norm Eisen to discuss President Obama's restrictions on lobbyist communication with executive branch officials related to the stimulus pacakge.
The administration issued the restrictions in a March 20 executive branch memo. The president's memo prohibits administration officials from talking to registered lobbyists in person or on the phone about specific stimulus projects. Instead, lobbyists must put their requests in writing to be posted online. Lobbyists may talk directly to administration officials only about "general policy" related to the stimulus.
The ACLU, ALL and CREW have formed a loose coalition to urge the administration to reverse the March 20 memo. They also have suggested the rules may be a violation of the first amendment. See my story in National Journal. (subscription)
In a press release, Dave Wenhold, president of the American League of Lobbyists said the meeting with Eisen was "a frank and open discussion."
"We were happy to meet with Norm Eisen and his great team," Wenhold said. "We look forward to working with the Administration to create a policy which truly increases transparency for all, as opposed to the current guidelines which singles out some."
--Bara Vaida
UPDATE @ 5:15 PM: An Obama administration source said a waiver won't be required for Kimmelman. He will be recusing himself from working on any policy that involves the Consumers Union.
Gene Kimmelman, one of the best known consumer advocates in Washington, is expected to join the Justice department this week as chief counsel for competition policy and intergovernmental relations, according to sources familiar with his plans.
Kimmelman is currently vice president of federal and international affairs at the Consumers Union. The news of his move was first reported in The Deal. (subscription) The appointment is likely to cause a stir in the business world because Kimmelman has long been known for fighting against mergers and monopolies.
For more on Kimmelman, see this 2002 story in Cable World.
There's also a question about whether or not Kimmelman received a waiver from the Obama administration's tough lobbyist and revolving door rules. A White House spokesman couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Kimmelman was a registered lobbyist up until the third quarter of 2008, working on two mergers in the telecom and broadcast industries. In the fourth quarter of 2008, Consumers Union filed documentation with the Senate stating that Kimmelman was no longer a lobbyist for the organization.
Under the administration's lobbying rules, no lobbyist is permitted to work in an area on which he or she lobbied for two years when they join the administration. We will update this story when we hear back from the White House.
--Bara Vaida
Per President Obama's March 20 directive, executive branch agencies working on stimulus- related projects have started posting their communications with lobbyists online.
The Sunlight Foundation has more on the disclosures. Not all agencies have started posting the communications and for those that are, there doesn't seem to be a uniform way of labeling the documents, which obviously will make it harder for the public to actually find them.
Go check out the Sunlight Foundation and click on some of their links to agencies. I'd be interested to see what you think about these disclosures and whether they are providing meaningful information to the public. Feel free to Email me.
--Bara Vaida
Last week, I wrote about a growing number of non-profit lobbyists who were frustrated that the Obama administration's broad ethics rules have excluded them from positions in the executive branch.
I noted that Larry Ottinger, president of the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest and Stephen Rickard, Washington director of the Open Society Institute, have formed a loose coalition to push the White House to amend its ethics rules to delineate between lobbyists who are public interest advocates and those who pursue private monetary gain.
Here's the letter sent to the White House on April 9.
Non-profit lobbyists' memo to Eisen.pdfA spokesman from the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest says his group has yet to receive an answer from the administration. We'll update the story as we learn more. I'm sure this won't be the end of the debate about whether Obama's ethics rules are too broad.
--Bara Vaida
National Journal.com's Amy Harder wrote an interesting profile of Joe Rospars who created the new media operation for President Obama's presidential campaign.
For all those on K Street looking for insight on how Obama created his grassroots network, the piece is worth reading.
Rospars meanwhile has returned to his old job at Blue State Digital, a firm he helped co-found before joining the Obama campaign.
As the Sunlight Foundation noted this morning, the Office of Management and Budget has published a memo clarifying rules for lobbyist communication with executive branch officials regarding the stimulus package.
The Obama administration's March 20 announcement on the lobbyist restrictions has caused lots of consternation on K Street, including questions about whether the rules are a violation of lobbyists' first amendment rights.
Take a look at the memo here
OMB memo.pdf--Bara Vaida
Lobbyists for public interest groups are feeling increasingly frustrated that President Obama's broad ethics rules are preventing them from getting jobs in his administration.
So they're fighting back. Larry Ottinger, president of the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest and Stephen Rickard, Washington director of the Open Society Institute, have formed a loose coalition to push the White House to amend its ethics rules to delineate between lobbyists who are public interest advocates and lobbyists who pursue private monetary gain.
Under Obama's ethics guidelines, executive branch officials may hire a lobbyist, but that person cannot work in an area of policy for which they lobbied on for two years. That rule has been waived for three former lobbyists that now have jobs in the administration, but for no one else.
Ottinger and Rickard think the administration should consider several options for changing the policy. Amend the rule so it doesn't apply to public interest lobbyists; or issue a statement saying the rules don't apply to public interest lobbyists; or expand the number of waivers being offered to public interest lobbyists. The suggestions will be made in a letter being sent to the White House. Other organizations signing onto the letter are Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, OMB Watch, and the Project on Government Oversight.
Obama's executive order is "causing serious, unintended harm to nonprofit organizations who want and need to participate in our democracy," the letter is expected to say.
Public interest lobbyists are defined as those working for 501 (c) 3 and 501 (c) 4 organizations (advocacy and educational groups), but not unions or 501 (c) 6 groups (Usually trade associations). See our definitions of these groups on the right hand side of the blog under "Lobbying and Campaign Finance 101."
Readers, we'd be interested in your thoughts on this topic, should public interest lobbyists be exempt from the administration rules? Email me.
In National Journal last week, White House Special Counsel for Ethics and Government Reform Norm Eisen said his door "is always open" and he's willing to talk to those protesting President Obama's restrictions on lobbyist communications related to the stimulus package.
So American League of Lobbyists President David Wenhold decided to take Eisen up on that offer and gave his office a call. And indeed, Eisen was willing to meet with him to talk about the restrictions and other matters related to lobbyists. Eisen's office is currently working to find a date and time for the meeting.
Last week, Wenhold's group joined with the American Civil Liberties Union and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in writing a letter to the administration asking Obama to rescind his March 20 directive on lobbying. The president's memo prohibits administration officials from talking to registered lobbyists in person or on the phone about specific stimulus projects. Instead, lobbyists must put their requests in writing to be posted online. Lobbyists may talk directly to administration officials only about "general policy" related to the stimulus.
"Their willingness [to meet] is a sign that this is a serious issue and they are willing to listen and hopefully work with the American League of Lobbyists, the ACLU and CREW on good-government policies," said Wenhold. "The breadth of the coalition demonstrates to the White House that this issue is about the ability for everyone having the same right to petition the government, regardless of job title."
--Bara Vaida
On the campaign trail, President Obama promised to increase the transparency of government. Among the pledges he made was to create a centralized database on lobbying.
The Sunlight Foundation has proposed something similar, saying the executive branch should create and administer a website aggregating disclosures of meetings between government officials and lobbyists.
Under the Sunlight vision, meetings between executive branch political appointees and lobbyists would be posted on the site after each meeting is held. In the filings would be the names of the agency, the employees that attended the meeting, the lobbyist whom the government official met with and any clients the lobbyist represents. The site would also allow the public to track the meetings by lobbyist, subject matter, agency and official.
"We think the president is headed in the right direction: more real time, online disclosure of lobbying activity," said Sunlight Foundation Policy Director John Wonderlich in a statement. "Imagine having this sort of information from across the federal government right now -- being able to track who lobbying, and what each of those discussions is about."
Sunlight is also urging both Congress and the administration to expand the legal definition of a lobbyist to include anyone paid to engage in direct issue advocacy with lawmakers, staff and executive branch officials. Currently, the law only requires individuals who spend more than 20 percent of their time lobbying for a client, and who also make more than two contacts with executive branch or congressional officials to register to lobby. Anyone who is below that threshold, doesn't have to register.
James Thurber, a professor of government at American University, called the Sunlight proposal a "terrific idea." Thurber has long argued that there are thousands of people in Washington connected to advocacy who operate under the radar because they aren't required to register to lobby.
Last week a coalition of lobbyist, advocacy, and watchdog groups wrote a letter to White House officials, challenging Obama's new order which restricts the way in which registered lobbyists may communicate with administration officials regarding the stimulus.
The directive prohibits administration officials from talking to registered lobbyists in person or on the phone about specific stimulus projects. Lobbyists may put their requests in writing and those comments then are to be posted online. They may also talk directly to administration officials, but only about "general policy."
-- Winter Casey and Bara Vaida
Given the White House's efforts to reduce the influence of lobbyists, I thought it interesting to pay attention to the ethics commitments of its staff.
ProPublica, an independent, non-profit investigative news organization, has copies of the ethics commitment letters written by some of President Obama's prominent political appointees. In the letters, officials promise to comply with government ethics rules and list their conflicts of interest, past and present. Take a look here.
They include letters by the Pentagon's number two, William Lynn, Attorney General Eric Holder and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
ProPublica also analyzed the financial disclosure filings of 179 appointees.
--Bara Vaida
Norman Eisen, President Obama's special counsel for ethics and government reform, was paid $1.3 million by the law firm Zuckerman Spaeder in 2008, where he was a partner until he resigned in January to join the White House.
Eisen's salary was disclosed by the White House in a public financial report on April 3, along with financial data on other top advisers. The report also shows Eisen owns shares in three American Funds that were each valued at between $100,001 and $250,000. He also owns a stake in an Ohio manufacturing company called Vernay Laboratories, which he valued at between $250,001 and $500,000. Eisen's wife is a professor at Georgetown University. Her salary was not disclosed.
Eisen also reported two checking accounts valued at $15,000 to $50,000, and another valued at $100,001 and $250,000. He reported two savings accounts, each of which were valued at $100,001 and $250,000.
The report says that Eisen will receive payment of undistributed 2008 Zuckerman Spaeder earnings and a capital account, in eight quarterly payments, over the next two years.
See the report here:
--Bara Vaida
UPDATE (March 31 4:17 pm) In response to the letter, White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said:
"The
goal is full transparency. That's entirely consistent with the First
Amendment. Lobbyists can communicate about specific projects in writing and
about policy issues orally. That fully respects freedom of speech - while at
the same time ending closed-door lobbyist dealmaking in favor of sunlight. We
welcome everyone's comments and will consider them."
President Obama's March 20 directive limiting lobbyists' communication with executive branch officials "won't get rid of undue influence" and will result in less disclosure and transparancy, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in a Tuesday press briefing.
Sloan has joined with Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union and Dave Wenhold, president of the American League of Lobbyists, in writing a letter requesting the administration rescind a portion of the directive aimed at reducing lobbyists' influence on how the $787 billion stimulus package is spent.
"CREW whole-heartedly supports Obama's goals, but demonizing lobbyists isn't the solution," said Sloan, whose group has been one of the loudest voices against the influence of "special interests" in Washington.
Continue reading Critics Challenge White House Lobbyist Rules.
Here's the letter that the American Civil Liberties Union, the American League of Lobbyists and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sent to White House Counsel Greg Craig, challenging the administration's memo limiting lobbyists' communication with executive branch officials on the stimulus package.
ACLU et al Letter to White House.pdf
The three groups are holding a press briefing at 1 pm to discuss the letter.
--Bara Vaida
Two more groups, the American Society for Association Executives and the Center for Competitive Politics, have penned letters to President Obama in opposition of the administration's memo on lobbyist communication with the executive branch regarding the stimulus package.
See here:
UPDATE (March 30, 4:15 p.m.) -- Here is the news release issued by CREW, ACLU, and the American League of Lobbyists about tomorrow's briefing.
CREW, ACLU, ALL.pdf_______________________________________________
The American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and the American League of Lobbyists will challenge President Obama on his new policy severely limiting lobbyists' communication with all executive branch departments and agencies.
The three groups are drafting a letter that is to be delivered to the White House on Tuesday raising First Amendment questions about Obama's March 20 memo directing the entire executive branch not to talk with lobbyists about specific projects in the economic stimulus package. A lobbyist may send a letter explaining their client's viewpoint on a specific project, but they may not have a conversation about it with administration officials. They can, however, discuss "general policy" related to the stimulus with administration staff.
Lobbyists have a good chance if they do legally challenge the memo, says Ken Gross, who leads the politics practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
"If a lobbyist is excluded from a meeting as a result of a presidential directive or agency policy or ruling, the lobbyist would likely have a cause of action under the First Amendment and possibly equal protection," Gross says. "The chances of succeeding of winning such a challenge are reasonably good."
A White House spokesman wasn't available for comment. What is interesting about these three groups working together is that CREW was co-founded by Norm Eisen, Obama's ethics advisor. We'll have more on this story as it unfolds online and in this week's magazine.
News of the three groups working together on the letter was first reported by the Associated Press.
--Bara Vaida
Obama's ongoing battle with K Street continued today. In a speech to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Obama said any lobbyist who wants to talk to a member of his administration must put their viewpoints in writing, to be posted on the Internet. He said these restrictions on lobbyists will help ensure that "lobbyists don't stand in the way of our recovery."
Here's the relevant graph:
