After bashing rival John McCain for surrounding himself with lobbyists, Barack Obama announced today what his transition team calls the strictest lobbying rules ever during a presidential transfer of power.
But it could also be viewed as backtracking from Obama's campaign vow that lobbyists would not work in his White House.
Under the rules, federally registered lobbyists cannot contribute to the transition, are banned from any lobbying while working for the transition, and are prohibited from working in the fields in which they lobbied if they have done so in the past year. If a transition staffer becomes a lobbyist after the inauguration, they are banned from lobbying the administration for one year.
"President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to change the way Washington works and curb the influence of lobbyists," transition co-chairman John Podesta said in a statement. "During the campaign, federal lobbyists could not contribute to or raise money for the campaign. 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."
Podesta said the lobbyist rules for the administration will be announced later.
Lobbyists have become almost a fourth branch of government, and analysts have said that despite Obama's protestations, it would be difficult to dramatically lessen their influence in Washington.
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