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January 29, 2007
DAIMLER-CHRYSLER LOBBYIST NOW A HILL STAFFER, MEANING…?
A Washington Post article questions the impact on legislation that can occur when an industry lobbyist takes a job on a Congressional staff. The headline, “The Hill's Revolving-Door Rules Don't Work in Both Directions,” points to an answer.
“In November, as a lobbyist and strategist for DaimlerChrysler, Dennis B. Fitzgibbons labored to block congressional proposals to mandate the production of more cars that use alternative fuels and to stop the most aggressive efforts to force auto companies to make their vehicles more energy-efficient,” the article notes. Now, Fitzgibbons is chief of staff to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the panel charged with deciding whether automakers should be compelled to do either of those things.
Fitzgibbons plans to meet with his successor at the auto company “soon,” the article says, and notes: “If Fitzgibbons had been in his congressional job and then went to DaimlerChrysler, he couldn't be hitting up his successor so soon. But the rules are different for reverse migrations from K Street to Capitol Hill. In fact, there are no rules. ‘There really are no congressional ethics rules that bar a member or a staffer from influencing legislation in a way that would benefit their former client or employer,’ said Robert K. Kelner, an ethics expert at Covington & Burling, a law firm.”
The article goes on to say, “Government critics are appalled that lobbyists-turned-staffers can assist without restriction the industries that recently employed them. ‘The issue is whether loyalty to their former employers will impact the decisions they make in their new roles,’ said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Posted by MVHAP at January 29, 2007 03:41 PM