White House "Hopes" Agencies Do Not Appoint Lobbyists to Advisory Committees

The White House has announced that federally registered lobbyists can not be appointed to agency advisory boards and commissions. These boards and commissions advise the federal government on policy. The White House blog post states; "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.

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Administration Discloses Ethics Waivers Granted by Federal Agencies

In a blog post, the White House announced the administration has now consolidated and released ten ethics waivers granted by federal agencies. The waivers made the appointees exempt from conflict of interest and revolving door restrictions set forth in the President's Executive Order.

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White House to Voluntarily Release Visitor Logs

Today, the Obama administration made an important advance in executive branch transparency by agreeing to publish the White House visitor logs.  Norm Eisen wrote on the White House blog that, “Each month, records of visitors from the previous 90-120 days will be made available online.”  The White House agreed to this measure as part of a settlement in a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).  As part of this settlement, the Obama administration will also turn over some visitor logs belonging to the Bush administration.

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As Predicted, Agencies Reporting Relatively Few Meetings with Lobbyists

Despite President Obama's order that officials have to disclose their contacts with registered lobbyists that try to influence Recovery Act funding, the government continues to capture very little information. The Associate Press reports that "few such communications have been reported even though lobbyists say they are busier than ever with the multibillion-dollar stimulus.

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TARP Recipients' PACs and Lobbyists Donated $6 Million and Hosted 70 Fundraisers for Members

A new report by Public Citizen says that representatives of the banks that received the most money from the federal bailout have spent millions of dollars in campaign donations to Members of Congress. The study was based on the 10 banks that received the most funds under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) and of five trade associations. Public Citizen analyzed fundraiser invitations collected by the Sunlight Foundation and campaign contribution disclosures.

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Bonner & Associates Update

A total of nine nonprofits' names have been used by the lobbying firm Bonner & Associates in letters falsely advocating opposition to climate change legislation. As an update to this controversy, investigators have recently found more letters sent to members of Congress. The Washington Post has copies of the letters.

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Sunlight Foundation & ProPublica Release Foreign Lobbying Influence Tracker

In 2008, K Street received $86 million from foreign sources to pursue their interests with representatives of the American people.  While states and populations abroad certainly have legitimate interests in U.S. domestic and foreign policy, the origins of much of that money are still largely shrouded in secrecy.  The data, until now, has been difficult for most Americans to access.  As a result, the Sunlight Foundation and ProPublica joined together to track which foreign governments and corporations are lobbying for representation in the U.S. Congress.

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Two More Ethics Waivers

Two more ethics waivers have been issued to White House associate counsels, permitting Chris Weideman and Jonathan Kravis to continue working on issues involving former President George W. Bush. A White House blog post announced that "authorization is needed because President Bush's counsel this summer joined a firm at which the two Associate Counsels formerly worked.

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Revisiting Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, who opposed the House passed climate change bill remains under attack for sending fake letters to House lawmakers. The firm sent out letters using the names of an N.A.A.C.P. chapter and a network of nonprofit organizations serving Latinos. Reportedly, more nonprofits' names were used including the American Association of University Women and the Jefferson Area Board for the Aging.

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Former Lobbyist Missed the Cutoff to need an Ethics Waiver

Controversy still surrounds the rules covering executive branch hiring and former lobbyists who now work in the Obama administration. Three new U.S. Attorney nominations have been made including former Business Software Alliance lobbyist and aide to Vice President Joe Biden, Neil MacBride, for the Eastern District of Virignia. Reportedly, a waiver is not needed in this case.

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