{"id":3443,"date":"2020-12-22T17:23:17","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T17:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=142366"},"modified":"2020-12-22T17:23:17","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T17:23:17","slug":"after-four-years-of-outright-grift-under-trump-trio-of-democratic-senators-urges-biden-to-padlock-the-revolving-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2020\/12\/22\/after-four-years-of-outright-grift-under-trump-trio-of-democratic-senators-urges-biden-to-padlock-the-revolving-door\/","title":{"rendered":"After Four Years of ‘Outright Grift’ Under Trump, Trio of Democratic Senators Urges Biden to ‘Padlock the Revolving Door’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the wake of the Trump administration’s pervasive corruption and flagrant law-breaking, a trio of Democratic lawmakers is urging President-elect Joe Biden to establish new, high standards for federal ethics and transparency by adopting key reforms that would prevent corporate lobbyists from serving in the White House, require the disclosure of lobbying materials privately shared with administration officials, and crack down on financial conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n

“The American public has a right to know when lobbyists meet with executive branch officials and what they share in the course of those meetings.”
\u2014Sens. Merkley, Warren, and Markey<\/p>\n

Encouraged by what they characterized as Biden’s “commitment to restore executive branch ethics through executive action,” Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Monday sent a letter <\/a>(pdf) to the president-elect with specific recommendations for how to “end special interest corruption of our politics and make government work for the people.”<\/p>\n

Americans, the lawmakers wrote, “have endured four years of the most corrupt president and administration in modern memory.”<\/p>\n

Despite pledging<\/a> to “drain the swamp,” the Trump administration “has allowed lobbyists and special interest to run federal agencies, even when they have been openly hostile to the agencies’ missions,” the senators continued. “It has allowed senior officials to maintain unacceptable personal and financial conflicts of interest, and allowed foreign governments to try to curry favor, as President Trump and senior White House staff abused the presidency to enrich themselves.”<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has also “shunned basic transparency, allowing lobbyists and special interests to subvert government for their financial aims and objections,” they added. “Simply put, President Trump built a government that worked for himself, his friends, and special and corporate interests, rather than for the people, critically eroding Americans’ faith in government.”<\/p>\n

To ensure that officials in the Biden administration “will serve all Americans, not just themselves or special interests,” Merkley, Warren, and Markey recommended the following steps:<\/p>\n