Obama restricts role of lobbyists in transition
President-elect Barack Obama released an ethics policy on Tuesday that limits the role of lobbyists in his transition to the White House.

According to the policy:
• Federal lobbyists cannot contribute financially to the transition.

• Federal lobbyists are prohibited from any lobbying during their work with the transition.

• If someone has lobbied in the last 12 months, they are prohibited from working in the fields of policy on which they lobbied.

• If someone becomes a lobbyist after working on the transition, they are prohibited from lobbying the administration for 12 months on matters on which they worked.

Obama is moving quickly to establish his new administration but will stay out of Washington for the most part until January 20, 2009, his transition chief said. Cabinet appointments will be announced from Chicago.

Get the Story:
Obama Team Moves to Keep Its Distance From Lobbyists (The Washington Post 11/12)
Obama’s Transition Team Restricts Lobbyists’ Role (The New York Times 11/12)

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