The following article by Chris RIotta with Newsweek was posted on the National Memo website November 24, 2017:
The White House was forced to release the list of visitors to five federal offices after the Washington transparency group Property of the People sued under the Freedom of Information Act. The searchable logs, published Tuesday by ProPublica, provide a glimpse into the creation of the president’s political agenda, spearheaded almost entirely by business interests, with little input from consumer advocacy or humanitarian groups.
Officials at the Office of Management and Budget, for example, met periodically with CEOs from the health care industry and big businesses, a handful of lobbyists representing Koch Industries and several billionaires intent on shaping White House policy, including casino magnate Steve Wynn—a close friend of the president—and corporate leader Charles Schwab.
Logs were also released for the U.S. Trade Representative, National Drug and Control Policy, Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
It’s certainly not the first time that the Office of Management and Budget has heard from private business leaders and lobbyists, but the sheer variety of corporate interests and lack of consumer representation during policy conversations marks a clear departure from previous White House norms. Former President Barack Obama’s OMB typically met with consumer rights groups and philanthropic representatives under its director, Peter Orszag.
The logs also reveal how much money can be spent by lobbying groups just to get their foot in the door inside the West Wing. Budget chief Mick Mulvaney’s former congressional Chief of Staff Al Simpson was hired by the lobbying firm Mercury in February, soon after Trump appointed Mulvaney to run the management and budget office. Since then, Mulvaney and Simpson met at least seven times and had one phone call, as the lobbyist brought his clients to meet his old boss. Those clients, including powerhouse corporations like Cemex and pharma firms like AmerisourceBergen, paid Simpson’s lobbying firm $360,000 throughout 2017, ProPublica reported.
View the post here.