Obama better break out those waivers pretty quick. A group of mostly left-leaning government watchdog groups are asking senators not to confirm Deputy Sec. of Defense nominee William Lynn due to his lobbying ties to defense contractor Raytheon:
Several Washington watchdog groups have ratcheted up pressure on Levin and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the panel’s ranking Republican, to not confirm Lynn because of Obama’s ethics rules. In a letter dated Friday to Levin and McCain the groups stressed that Lynn cannot serve “effectively” as the Pentagon’s No. 2 because he was a lobbyist for Raytheon in the last two years. They also said they would oppose a waiver, which they declared would violate Obama’s new “revolving door” rules. The Project On Government Oversight (POGO), Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Government Accountability Project (GAP) and Public Citizen signed the letter.
The waivers for lobbyists Press Secretary Robert Gibbs suggested yesterday may have to be plentiful, as yet another former lobbyists has been tapped as the No. 2 at Interior. Although, he hasn’t lobbied as recently as Lynn:
President Barack Obama plans to name environmental lawyer David Hayes as deputy interior secretary, a position Hayes also held during the last three years of the Clinton administration… Hayes, who served as the department’s No. 2 official under Secretary Bruce Babbitt from 1997 to January 2001, also at one time lobbied the Interior Department on behalf of a California utility. After leaving government, Hayes joined Latham & Watkins LLP, one of Washington’s top lobbying and environmental law firms as head of its environment, land and resources department. Until the end of 2006, he was a registered lobbyist, including on a number of issues before the Interior Department, falling just outside Obama’s two-year restriction on lobbyists joining the administration.
This is what happens when you see lobbyists in black and white, and paint them as our evil enemies with your aggressive campaign rhetoric instead of allowing for nuance. Obama’s administration will now suffer for his declaration of war on the Axis of Influence.
