{"id":32801,"date":"2020-06-12T17:46:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T17:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/06\/12\/dod-asks-to-ease-lobbying-restrictions-and-these-lawmakers-are-saying-no\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:04:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:04:06","slug":"dod-asks-to-ease-lobbying-restrictions-and-these-lawmakers-are-saying-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/newsletters\/2020\/06\/12\/dod-asks-to-ease-lobbying-restrictions-and-these-lawmakers-are-saying-no\/","title":{"rendered":"DoD asks to ease lobbying restrictions, and these lawmakers are saying \u2018no\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON\u2015Four House Democrats are opposing a Department of Defense proposal <\/a>to ease recent lobbying restrictions on former senior officials, arguing it would put the defense industry ahead of the taxpayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawmakers, led by California Rep. Katie Porter, are pushing back on the Pentagon\u2019s argument the changes would make the restrictions more consistent with criminal law and other agencies. DoD requested the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act contain a partial roll back of the rules, which apply to former general officers and senior Pentagon civilians by amending the 2018 NDAA\u2019s Section 1045.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do not believe that weak ethics rules for some agencies is a reason to roll back the relatively strong ethics rules at the Pentagon,\u201d the lawmakers wrote in a letter Thursday to DoD General Counsel Paul Ney. \u201cIt is unfortunate that Congress has not enacted stronger ethics rules governmentwide, and we agree this should be a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DoD\u2019s proposal would change a one-year lobbying ban for all senior officials, regardless of rank, to a two-year ban in place for some officials; narrow the definition of \u201clobbying\u201d to apply only to direct \u201clobbying contacts\u201d \u2015 which would allow former personnel to work in less visible roles \u2015 and eliminate the departmentwide lobbying ban so that former senior officials will be able to immediately lobby some components of the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee Chair Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., signed the June 11 letter to Ney with Reps. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, and Dean Phillips, D-Minn.\u2015as part of an ongoing back and forth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speier and Porter, on Wednesday, published a column<\/a> calling the proposal \u201cmisguided\u201d and asking, \u201cWhy is the Pentagon trying to grease the revolving door between the military and the defense industry?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t