Obama team makes good on campaign promise. Barack Obama’s transition leader has drawn a line in the sand that’s consistent with campaigned pledge the Illinois senator made: Lobbyists need not apply for jobs on the Obama transition team. Obama transition chief, John D. Podesta, announced a set of broad regulations Tuesday that ban federal lobbyists from participating in Obama’s transition, saying the move is designed to ensure “that the undue influence of Washington lobbyists and the revolving door of Washington ceases to exist,” reports CNN. The transition team will not allow lobbyists to work in any areas in which they have previously lobbied, Podesta said. And if someone becomes a lobbyist after working on the transition, they will be prohibited from lobbying the administration for 12 months on matters on which they worked. “I’ve heard the other complaint, which is we’re leaving all these experts on the side. . . . We’re leaving all the people who know everything out in the cold,” Podesta said. “And so be it.” He said a similar ban was likely to be in effect for the actual administration, including an extension of the lobbyist ban to two years. Podesta also made clear that Obama intends to remain largely absent from the nation’s capital over the next 70 days, part of a conscious effort to maintain a low profile during the final weeks of the Bush administration.

TAGS: campaign promise, lobbyist, obama, transition team

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