Update Jan. 23rd: Guess there isn’t much chance the refugee lobbyists will be kept out when Pentagon lobbyists are already in, see Obama get testy with press here.
Ha! Ha! We will see! The ‘revolving door’ involving the volags (supposedly voluntary agencies) has been revolving for an awfully long time. So I am happy to hear that those who lobby on refugee policy will be barred from any work related to their former employer if they take jobs in the Obama State Department or the Office of Refugee Resettlement, that is, if this is to be believed:
During the presidential campaign, Obama pledged that “no political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointees will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration,” according to BarackObama.com.
I guess this would also mean that employees of lobbying organizations, like Refugees International, couldn’t be staffing the State Department’s Office of Population, Refugees and Migration.
Or, since these lobbyists are lobbying for “good” causes in Obama’s worldview will they be exempt from such restrictions? I can’t wait to find out!