It’s safe to say that the dozen members of Congress charged with coming up with a plan for trimming $1.5 trillion from the federal budget won’t lack for input from lobbyists.

 

It turns out that the six Republicans and six Democrats on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction have more than 100 former staffers working as lobbyists. In fact, 39 former staffers for Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) moved on to become lobbyists, as have 37 staffers for Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana).

 

The revolving door works the other way too. According to Sarah Abruzzese, writing in The New York Times, deficit committee member Fred Upton (R-Michigan), who is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has three former lobbyists for his House committee staff, two having represented energy companies and one dealing with health care companies.

-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Deficit Supercommittee Members Have Close Ties to Many Lobbyists (by Sarah Abruzzese, Greenwire-New York Times)