'Instead of turning away
lobbyists and Washington insiders, he welcomed them into the White House with
open arms'
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.), a former law professor, just flunked President Donald Trump.
"This report makes it
clear: Trump's army of lobbyists are more interested in lining the pockets of
their long-time employers and corporate buddies than in making life better for
working families."
—Sen. Elizabeth Warren"President
Trump broke his promise to 'drain the swamp,'" said Warren who, along with
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and in honor of the president's six months in
office, released a report card on Thursday tracking 193 former lobbyists and
corporate insiders who have worked for Donald Trump since the election.
"Instead of turning away
lobbyists and Washington insiders, he welcomed them into the White House with
open arms," Warren said on Facebook.
"This report makes it clear: Trump's army of lobbyists are more interested
in lining the pockets of their long-time employers and corporate buddies than
in making life better for working families."
President
Trump's Drain the Swamp Report Card follows a Public Citizen report
released Wednesday that details how the president "has fully abandoned
populism in favor of giveaways to industry," from automakers and bankers
to Big Pharma and fossil fuel companies. Thursday's report concludes
"President Trump's grade on his first Drain the Swamp Report Card is a big
F."
The report card's four key
findings were:
Trump picked dozens of former
lobbyists to fill his transition team and administration: Since his election,
at least 160 current and former lobbyists advised or worked for the president.
Trump has also filled his
administration with dozens of corporate insiders: "This report highlights
37 of these swamp-dwellers who either advised the president during the
transition period or were hired by or nominated by President Trump to staff his
administration"—including the former Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn,
who now runs the National Economic Council.
Trump has undermined key
ethics rules: After taking office, Trump touted an executive order that he
claimed would close "loopholes." However, his order actually weakened
rules enacted by former President Barack Obama and enabled more than two dozen
former lobbyists to advise or work at agencies they have lobbied within the
past two years. The admininstration also uses waivers to work around Trump's
executive order.
Trump's industry insiders have
developed policies that harm ordinary Americans: The administration has already
supported and enacted policies that favor corporate interests over those of the
public. The report describes examples in the Education and Labor Departments
and well as the president's Drug Pricing Working Group. It also examines
financial policies harmful to retirees, frightening environmental policies, and
"a big handout to Wall Street."
As Warren said on Twitter:
Our report shows: @realDonaldTrump’s
team cares more about lining their longtime employers & buddies’ pockets
than helping working families.
In a Facebook video on
Thursday, Whitehouse compared Trump to a popular monster truck.
"If you know a little bit
about monster trucks, you know that one of them is called 'Swamp Thing'—that's
Trump," Whitehouse said.
"He is the Swamp Thing, after all those phony promises about draining the
swamp. Lobbyists for special interests swarm into Trump administration
positions. Special interest billionaires advise the Trump administration in
money-making ways and stock the Trump Cabinet....The swamp and its reptiles
control the administration.”
No comments:
Post a Comment