http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/obama_team_bars_lobbyists_from.phpObama Team Bans Lobbyists From Transition; Mulling Reversals Of Bush Exec Orders
By Eric Kleefeld - November 11, 2008, 3:41PM
In another sign that Barack Obama is moving quickly to put his own stamp on the transition process, transition chair John Podesta just rolled out a series of new and reformist transition initiatives on a conference call with reporters.
Some highlights:
• There will be strong restrictions against lobbyist involvement in the transition: Lobbyists can't contribute or raise money to fund the transition; anybody who has worked as a lobbyist over the last 12 months can't shape policy and will have to cease all lobbying during the transition; and any transition staffers who become lobbyists afterwards won't be able to lobby the White House for 12 months.
• The Obama transition team is also launching a broad review of federal agencies -- over 100 of them -- so that the president and cabinet officers will have all the information they need to make decisions about those offices next year.
• The cabinet will have not just Democrats, but also Republicans and independents, "not just at a token level."
• Cabinet appointments will be put through faster than the usual process of only two dozen or so secretaries or sub-cabinet appointees being confirmed by March. "We expect that we can accelerate the process of confirmation in the Senate," Podesta said.
• Podesta confirmed that Obama is actively reviewing President Bush's executive orders, to see which ones he will reverse upon taking office: "We'll review all the executive orders that the president {Bush} has issued, and that process is going on."
The key here is that Obama is under extraordinary pressure amid the financial crisis to signal action even before he takes power, and here he's doing that.
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