Trump Revokes His Own ‘Drain The Swamp’ Executive Order That Banned Some Lobbying

President Donald Trump revoked an executive order he signed in the early days of his presidency, which banned administration officials from becoming lobbyists within five years of leaving their position.

In the final hours of his presidency Tuesday night, President Donald Trump revoked his executive order, which placed restrictions on White House officials’ ability to immediately work as a lobbyist after working in government, the White House said. Trump signed the order on Jan. 28, 2017 in a move that was considered a fulfillment of his 2016 campaign promise to “drain the swamp,” NBC News reported at the time.

“The key thing for this administration is going to be that people going out of government won’t be able to use that service to enrich themselves,” former White House press secretary Sean Spicer said prior to Trump taking office, according to Politico.

The executive order was written as an ethics pledge, which every executive branch agency appointee was required to sign.

“I will not, within 5 years after the termination of my employment as an appointee in any executive agency in which I am appointed to serve, engage in lobbying activities with respect to that agency,” the pledge read.

However, the order had been criticized for not going far enough, according to Politifact. The pledge only required appointees to agree not to lobby the agency they worked in and didn’t necessarily prohibit them from lobbying other agencies.

The order also didn’t expand the definition of what a lobbyist is, Politifact reported. Former administration officials could therefore engage in “lobbyist-like” activities.

“It is not at all clear how, or even if, this ‘ban’ is enforced,” Timothy M. LaPira, a political scientist at James Madison University told Politifact.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org

Thomas Catenacci

Share
Published by
Thomas Catenacci

Recent Posts

Military Allows Marines to Fix Their Own Dilapidated Barracks

Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton, California, have been informed that they can take initiative on…

2 hours ago

Overpaid Water Carriers

This is the actual leadership at MSNBC. Some executives tried to hire someone to balance…

4 hours ago

The Torchbearer

Biden has been exercising the Obama-Democrat scorched earth policies since January 2021. However, because of…

4 hours ago

Move Over Peacock, Make Room For Mika And Rachel

In a fast-moving story culminating in the shortest career ever at the NBC News Network,…

4 hours ago

Red State Slaps Wall Street Titan With Cease And Desist Order Over ‘Fraudulent’ Claims About Green Investments

Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson sent a cease and desist letter to investment manager…

7 hours ago

Red State Lawmakers Pass Bill Banning Chinese Land Purchases Near Military Sites After DCNF Investigation

The Kansas House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday preventing foreign adversaries from buying up…

8 hours ago