SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
President of the United States Donald Trump speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
'Swamp Is Anything But Drained': Report Details 281 Lobbyists in Trump Administration Over First Two Years
"The swamp is Trump hiring 281 lobbyists in just a couple years of his administration."
Oct 15, 2019
A new report from ProPublica and Columbia Journalism Investigations, published Tuesday, found that President Donald Trump's campaign vow to "drain the swamp" of Washington corruption is not being backed up in practice as his administration counts one lobbyists for every 14 appointees.
"Swamp things," tweeted Hollywood Reporter editor-at-large Kim Masters.
The report relied on names and information in ProPublica's "Trump Town" database, and added hundreds more for the Tuesday report:
We tracked the lobbyists as part of an update to Trump Town, our database of political appointees. We've added the names of 639 new staffers with the administration and the financial disclosures of 351 political appointees who have filled different positions over the past year, and we tracked the careers of 338 who departed government during the same period.
Despite that plethora of information, however, the administration's recalcitrance in providing information on recusals and influence makes it difficult to ascertain the full scope of influence lobbyists have on the industries they once worked for in the private sector. Nonetheless, Tuesday's reporting indicates the Trump administration has quadrupled the President Barack Obama administration's number of lobbyists in government in half the time.
With a combination of weakened rules and loose enforcement easing the transition to government and back to K Street, Trump's swamp is anything but drained. The number of lobbyists who have served in government jobs is four times more than the Obama administration had six years into office. And former lobbyists serving Trump are often involved in regulating the industries they worked for.
Some lobbyists use their time in the Trump administration to get access; others, like Health and Human Services deputy secretary for legislation for mandatory health Colin Roskey, were briefly in charge of departments that can hand out fat contracts to former clients.
\u201cI appreciate the honesty of this lobbyist who took a tour through the administration before returning to his old firm. How much of a raise did his short time in government buy him? https://t.co/5RmPBlS08o\u201d— Adam Smith (@Adam Smith) 1571150949
The reporting "suggests that lobbyists see themselves as more effective in furthering their clients' special interests from inside the government rather than from outside," Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ethics chief counsel Virginia Canter told ProPublica. Canter described the number of lobbyists in the administration as "staggering."
"With the new data just released, Trump Town grew to include 3,859 names, 2,319 financial disclosures and hundreds of other records for Trump's staffers," ProPublica reported.
Young Turks host John Iadarola put Tuesday's report in context of the president's promises.
"The swamp is Trump hiring 281 lobbyists in just a couple years of his administration," said Iadarola.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A new report from ProPublica and Columbia Journalism Investigations, published Tuesday, found that President Donald Trump's campaign vow to "drain the swamp" of Washington corruption is not being backed up in practice as his administration counts one lobbyists for every 14 appointees.
"Swamp things," tweeted Hollywood Reporter editor-at-large Kim Masters.
The report relied on names and information in ProPublica's "Trump Town" database, and added hundreds more for the Tuesday report:
We tracked the lobbyists as part of an update to Trump Town, our database of political appointees. We've added the names of 639 new staffers with the administration and the financial disclosures of 351 political appointees who have filled different positions over the past year, and we tracked the careers of 338 who departed government during the same period.
Despite that plethora of information, however, the administration's recalcitrance in providing information on recusals and influence makes it difficult to ascertain the full scope of influence lobbyists have on the industries they once worked for in the private sector. Nonetheless, Tuesday's reporting indicates the Trump administration has quadrupled the President Barack Obama administration's number of lobbyists in government in half the time.
With a combination of weakened rules and loose enforcement easing the transition to government and back to K Street, Trump's swamp is anything but drained. The number of lobbyists who have served in government jobs is four times more than the Obama administration had six years into office. And former lobbyists serving Trump are often involved in regulating the industries they worked for.
Some lobbyists use their time in the Trump administration to get access; others, like Health and Human Services deputy secretary for legislation for mandatory health Colin Roskey, were briefly in charge of departments that can hand out fat contracts to former clients.
\u201cI appreciate the honesty of this lobbyist who took a tour through the administration before returning to his old firm. How much of a raise did his short time in government buy him? https://t.co/5RmPBlS08o\u201d— Adam Smith (@Adam Smith) 1571150949
The reporting "suggests that lobbyists see themselves as more effective in furthering their clients' special interests from inside the government rather than from outside," Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ethics chief counsel Virginia Canter told ProPublica. Canter described the number of lobbyists in the administration as "staggering."
"With the new data just released, Trump Town grew to include 3,859 names, 2,319 financial disclosures and hundreds of other records for Trump's staffers," ProPublica reported.
Young Turks host John Iadarola put Tuesday's report in context of the president's promises.
"The swamp is Trump hiring 281 lobbyists in just a couple years of his administration," said Iadarola.
A new report from ProPublica and Columbia Journalism Investigations, published Tuesday, found that President Donald Trump's campaign vow to "drain the swamp" of Washington corruption is not being backed up in practice as his administration counts one lobbyists for every 14 appointees.
"Swamp things," tweeted Hollywood Reporter editor-at-large Kim Masters.
The report relied on names and information in ProPublica's "Trump Town" database, and added hundreds more for the Tuesday report:
We tracked the lobbyists as part of an update to Trump Town, our database of political appointees. We've added the names of 639 new staffers with the administration and the financial disclosures of 351 political appointees who have filled different positions over the past year, and we tracked the careers of 338 who departed government during the same period.
Despite that plethora of information, however, the administration's recalcitrance in providing information on recusals and influence makes it difficult to ascertain the full scope of influence lobbyists have on the industries they once worked for in the private sector. Nonetheless, Tuesday's reporting indicates the Trump administration has quadrupled the President Barack Obama administration's number of lobbyists in government in half the time.
With a combination of weakened rules and loose enforcement easing the transition to government and back to K Street, Trump's swamp is anything but drained. The number of lobbyists who have served in government jobs is four times more than the Obama administration had six years into office. And former lobbyists serving Trump are often involved in regulating the industries they worked for.
Some lobbyists use their time in the Trump administration to get access; others, like Health and Human Services deputy secretary for legislation for mandatory health Colin Roskey, were briefly in charge of departments that can hand out fat contracts to former clients.
\u201cI appreciate the honesty of this lobbyist who took a tour through the administration before returning to his old firm. How much of a raise did his short time in government buy him? https://t.co/5RmPBlS08o\u201d— Adam Smith (@Adam Smith) 1571150949
The reporting "suggests that lobbyists see themselves as more effective in furthering their clients' special interests from inside the government rather than from outside," Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ethics chief counsel Virginia Canter told ProPublica. Canter described the number of lobbyists in the administration as "staggering."
"With the new data just released, Trump Town grew to include 3,859 names, 2,319 financial disclosures and hundreds of other records for Trump's staffers," ProPublica reported.
Young Turks host John Iadarola put Tuesday's report in context of the president's promises.
"The swamp is Trump hiring 281 lobbyists in just a couple years of his administration," said Iadarola.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.