Lobbyists don't have a clue what role they will play in the incoming Donald Trump administration.
Trump had released new ethics proposals during the final weeks of the presidential campaign limiting their influence and "draining the swamp." But the president-elect also has several lobbyists on his transition team, The Hill reports.
"We're in the fog on where Trump is going to go on this," said Ron Bonjean, a partner at Rokk Solutions, according to The Hill. "He doesn't like lobbyists, but he knows that he needs them. He needs them in his transition, but he also needs them in his administration."
After taking office, President Barack Obama ordered limits on who could work in his administration, including banning those who were registered lobbyists from working on issues they dealt with before joining his staff, The Hill notes.
And he tightened conflict-of-interest rules prohibiting political appointees from leaving the government and lobbying high-ranking administration officials for two years.
But, according to The Hill, those restrictions could be loosened or completely thrown out by Trump just by signing and executive order after he takes office.
"I don't think they're going to make the same mistake the Obama administration did, by limiting the ability by some of the best and brightest to join the administration and help the country just because they have a lobbying background," said Ivan Adler, a principal at The McCormick Group.
The Washington Post reports that at least two people under consideration for top positions in the new administration have ties to the lobbying world.
Mike Flynn, who runs a consulting firm that lobbies on defense matters, is said to be in the running for secretary of defense, The Post reports, and Jeffrey Holmstead, who is being eyed as a potential Environmental Protection Agency administrator, lobbies for energy companies.
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