American Prospect: Congressional Leader Lays Down Marker in Revolving-Door Battle

September 15, 2020 Media
A simmering battle over corporate capture in the Democratic Party burst into the open today. Progressive organizations and a committee chair are teaming up to force House Democrats, nearly all of them up for re-election, to take a stand on whether they will hold a potential Joe Biden administration to at least the same anti-corruption standard that Barack Obama held for himself as president.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has issued a “Dear Colleague” asking for partners to sign on to a letter, provided to the Prospect, to be given to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. The letter urges Senate leaders to “oppose Senate confirmation of any nominee to an executive branch position who is currently or has been a lobbyist for any corporate client or officer for a private corporation, in this or any future administration.”
That would include all Cabinet officials, and any of the roughly 1,200 Senate-confirmed positions throughout the federal government. The letter, endorsed by Demand Progress, the American Economic Liberties Project, the Revolving Door Project, and the Sunrise Movement, represents a baseline request for personnel in the next administration. Groups had proposed something similar to this for months, but not this sweeping a ban, and not with the full-throated support of a House committee chair.