New Obama/Biden Transition Ethics Rules
John Podesta, Barack Obama's transition co-chair, said today that the Democrat's office is instituting the "strictest, most far reaching rules of any transition team in history" prohibiting individuals who have lobbied over the last year from influencing related policy. The rules, which Podesta outlined during a 50-minute press conference with reporters, aim to end the revolving door of lobbyist influence on White House policy.
Other guidelines:
-- Federal lobbyists cannot contribute financially to the transition.
-- Federal lobbyists are prohibited from any lobbying during their work with the transition.
-- If someone has lobbied in the last 12 months, they are prohibited from working in the fields of policy on which they lobbied.
-- If someone becomes a lobbyist after working on the transition, they are prohibited from lobbying the Administration for 12 months on matters on which they worked.
-- A gift ban that is aggressive in reducing the influence of special interests.
No personnel announcements today. Podesta noted, not surprisingly that, "Our first priority will be laying the groundwork to stabilize the economy and put America back to work."
Podesta said that 450 people are employed by the transition and that the effort has a $12M budget. Meanwhile, 100 interim security clearances have been granted to members of the team.
Podesta emphasized that Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden aim to "maintain an appropriate and cooperative relationship" with President Bush and his administration. The peaceful transition of power already well underway is evidence of that politicians can compete vigorously in an election and challenge each other's ideas but can ultimately come together with a common purpose.
"I think we should all take pride in the fact that we once again displayed for the world the power of our democracy and reaffirmed that in America anything is possible when we come together as one nation," he said.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
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