January 2014

On January 17, 2014, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a legal challenge to President Obama’s ban on lobbyists serving on advisory boards and commissions in federal agencies.  The appellate decision overturned a lower court judgment, issued in September 2012, that dismissed the claims of several lobbyists who alleged…
Continue Reading Update #2: Appeals Court Reinstates Legal Challenge to Ban on Lobbyists Serving on Advisory Committees

The influential Washington publication, National Journal, published this week a lengthy examination of two exceptions to the congressional travel rules.  The exceptions have permitted Members of Congress to participate in extensive overseas travel, paid by outside interests and often organized by registered lobbyists, in spite of earlier reform efforts…
Continue Reading National Journal Focuses on Widely Used Exceptions to the Congressional Travel Rules

Virginia has often been referred to as the “Wild West” of politics because of its limited campaign finance and ethics laws.  The Commonwealth’s ethics laws are undergoing major changes, however, with more to come during the legislative session.

On January 11, in his second act as Governor, Terry…
Continue Reading Virginia: New Executive Gift Ban Takes Immediate Effect, with Ethics Reform Moving Through General Assembly

Thomas Edsall recently published an interesting op-ed in the New York Times about the changing nature of lobbying in Washington.  Edsall, who spent twenty-five years covering politics for the Washington Post, writes about the decline of direct lobbying based on relationships with policymakers, and the corresponding rise of consultants who…
Continue Reading “Unlobbyists” and Foreign Corporations