Schneider Introduces First Bill in New Congress to Close Revolving Door Loopholes in Trump Administration Ethics Guidelines
Bill would restore rules that require two-year “cooling-off” period and prohibiting former lobbyists from working at the agencies they lobbied
Today, on the opening day of the 116th Congress, Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) introduced as his first piece of legislation, a bill aimed at strengthening ethics rules to help close the revolving door between corporate lobbyists and the agencies that oversee their industries.
The Ethics in Public Service Act, would reverse changes made by the Trump Administration in their Ethics Pledge that now allow former appointees to communicate with the agency where they worked, and that permit former lobbyists to join an executive agency that they lobbied within the previous two years. Schneider's legislation would prohibit both of these practices by reverting to the previous more stringent standards of the Obama-era Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees.
"Democrats took the House campaigning to clean up the corruption and make Washington work for the people. Restoring public trust in our government has to be a top priority in these first weeks, which is why I am proud to introduce this legislation as my first bill of the new Congress," said Schneider. "President Trump's Administration has accelerated the revolving door between the executive branch and industry lobbyists. My bill is a step to restore the rules surrounding executive appointee lobbying to the higher, more commonsense standards of the previous Administration. We need to strengthen the firewall between public service and corporate lobbying to ensure public servants are putting the needs of the people first and not the industries they regulate."
This issue has been a long-time focus for Schneider. He previously introduced similar legislation in the 115th as H.R. 6732.