Obama Pushes Lobbyists Off Federal Advisory Boards

Hundreds, if not thousands, of lobbyists will be ejected from federal advisory panels as part of a little-noticed initiative by the Obama administration to curb K Street's influence in Washington.

November 29, 2009

The Washington Post reported that the move "may turn out to be the most far-reaching lobbying rule change so far from President Obama," resulting in "hundreds, if not thousands, of lobbyists" being ejected from federal advisory panels.

Not surprisingly, lobby groups, corporations, and other K Street influencers are up in arms.

"The reaction from the lobbying community has been swift and overwhelmingly negative."

And this week, congressional researchers concluded that the administration’s crackdown has “already changed the relationship between lobbyists and covered executive branch officials” and suggested that Congress might consider enacting similar restrictions on itself.

READ MORE

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/26/AR2009112602362.html

and

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/opinion/04fri4.html