Ocasio-Cortez, progressives call on Senate not to confirm lobbyists or executives to future administration posts

Progressive Democrats on Friday called on Senate leadership to oppose the confirmation of any nominee to an executive branch position who is a lobbyist or former lobbyist for any corporate client or who is a C-suite officer for a private corporation. 

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), 13 progressive members of Congress asked that they oppose these nominees for this administration “or any future administration.” 

Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Katie Porter (Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Rashida Tlaib (Minn.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), among others, signed on to the letter.

“Ending the practice of filling cabinet and sub-cabinet posts with current or former corporate officers and lobbyists is not to offer a commentary on each individual person’s character. It is to make a statement of principle,” they wrote. 

The group noted that Schumer opposed President Trump’s nominees like former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for the position of secretary of State. Tillerson was fired from his post in 2018 and replaced by now-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

They said that an officer or lobbyist of a major bank should similarly not be working on financial policy in a Democratic administration.

The letter was endorsed by dozens of progressive organizations, including Public Citizen, Indivisible, Center for International Policy, Our Revolution, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Demand Progress and Greenpeace USA, as well as by Democrat Jamaal Bowman, who is running for Congress in New York. 

Eight progressive groups wrote a letter to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in April asking him to vow not to appoint any “current or former Wall Street executives or corporate lobbyists, or people affiliated with the fossil fuel, health insurance or private prison corporations” to his transition team, Cabinet or as his top aides.

That letter has since been criticized by Black and Latino lobbyists, who said a ban of that sort would end up shutting out minorities and could make the administration less diverse if Democrats win back the White House.