Trump’s Appointees Pledged Not to Lobby After They Leave. Now They’re Lobbying.

Despite agreeing to five-year bans, at least six former administration officials are registered lobbyists and others are doing similar work without registering.

by Derek Kravitz and Alex Mierjeski

Lobbyists who joined the Trump administration and now want to return to their old trade have a problem: President Trump said they can’t.

Days after taking office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring every political appointee to sign a pledge as a condition of taking office. The appointees agreed not to lobby the agencies they had worked in for five years after they left government service. Nor would they lobby anyone in the White House or political appointees across federal agencies for the duration of the Trump administration.

But never doubt the ingenuity of the Washington swamp class. At least eight former Trump officials have found ways around the so-called ethics pledge.

Using staffing lists compiled for ProPublica’s Trump Town, the first exhaustive database of current political appointees, we found at least 184 people who have left the Trump administration. Of those, at least six former officials are now registered lobbyists and several others work at firms in roles that resemble lobbying in all but name. 

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Source: ProPublica