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About the Revolving Door Project
The Revolving Door Project (RDP), a project of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), scrutinizes executive branch appointees to ensure they use their office to serve the broad public interest, rather than to entrench corporate power or seek personal advancement.
Projects
The Agency Spotlight
The Agency Spotlight tracks appointments to leadership positions at thirty-nine independent federal agencies through the confirmation process and beyond. Additionally, for three agencies — the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the Spotlight monitors and exhibits key votes.
Read MorePresidential Power Map
The Presidential Power Map classifies bundlers and major donors by their professional and sectoral affiliations to offer the most possible clues about the composition of a presidential candidate’s hypothetical administration.
Learn moreNovember 24, 2020
Brian Deese's Policy Record Hurt The Most Vulnerable
From 2008 – 2016, Brian Deese rose from a law student to a Presidential advisor on fiscal policy, climate change, and trade. Deese’s personal geniality and intelligent demeanor drove this rise — but a review of his policy positions reveals a history of backing wildly incorrect conventional wisdom convivial to the powers that be.
November 24, 2020
Michèle Flournoy and The Ongoing Influence of WestExec Advisors
As we proposed in the Prospect, Biden’s administration can pursue a progressive national security agenda that prioritizes diplomacy over military action, opposes regime change interventions, reduces the Pentagon’s budget, and condemns governments that violate human rights. But to do so, Biden must also end the defense industry’s influence on the executive branch and turn to individuals without deep conflicts.
November 23, 2020
JANET YELLEN: What You Need to Know
Janet Yellen has had a long and distinguished career in the academy and in public service. Like anyone with such a lengthy career, there have been misses along the way. And RDP and other progressives will be sure to speak out in the future should any of them resurface. But Yellen’s commitment to fighting unemployment and the conventional wisdom has been the through line of her career. The differences between the worldviews of Janet Yellen and Tim Geithner, President Obama’s first Treasury Secretary, could hardly be more stark.
November 23, 2020
What A Bold Treasury Secretary Could Do
President-Elect Joe Biden’s choice to name Janet Yellen as his Treasury Secretary represents a tremendous opportunity to take executive action on the issues most pressing to all Americans. Here are just some meaningful actions the next Treasury Secretary could take without having to go through Congress.
November 25, 2020
Sahil Kapur - NBC News
Biden's "Balancing Act" With Early Personnel Picks Shows How He'll Govern
November 24, 2020
Igor Derysh - Salon
Progressives Praise Early Biden Picks, But Worry His Team Is Stacked With "Corporatists"
November 24, 2020
Evan Halper, Tracy Wilkinson, and Don Lee - Los Angeles Times
Trump Bows To Reality As Biden Shapes Historically Diverse Cabinet
November 23, 2020
Christopher Rugaber and Michael Balsamo - Associated Press
AP Source: Biden Taps Ex-Fed Chair Yellen To Lead Treasury
November 23, 2020
David Dayen - The American Prospect
Biden Can Echo Trump’s Favorite Phrase: ‘You’re Fired’
November 23, 2020
Alexander Kaufman - HuffPost
Biden Names John Kerry As Climate Envoy
RDP on Twitter
"Brian Deese’s relationship to BlackRock makes it less likely that the federal government will rein in BlackRock — the world’s biggest investor in the fossil fuel industry — as it should be doing." — @jeffhauser https://t.co/vABEQ0Mxay
Your daily reminder that, thanks to the Vacancies Act and recess appointments, we don't need to tailor Cabinet picks to Mitch McConnell's preferences or play by his rules! #NoCorporateCabinet https://t.co/R0C9iKF1Xw
@RyanLizza Bruce Reed was the chief architect of the disastrous 1996 welfare cuts, helped develop and pass the 1994 crime bill, and is an avowed deficit hawk who has repeatedly advocated for cuts to Social Security and Medicare. (In case anyone was confused!) https://t.co/cpqLh0RCLp
@brent858 @vonHerff @RyanLizza Not just said -- did! Reed was the Clinton White House's chief architect of the disastrous 1996 welfare cuts. In fact, Reed himself is credited with coining the phrase "end welfare as we know it."
@beyerstein @JHWeissmann @RyanLizza Reed was much more than a staffer on Simpson-Bowles. https://t.co/Jo0lzIx4CP
RT @saikatc: I get annoyed by the entire frame of “progressives” getting “concessions” from Biden. Biden should go big and rebuild the econ…
Don't be fooled — Cabinet hopeful Brian Deese has a troubling climate record. He's favored expanding fossil fuel extraction, supported TPP, and is chief "greenwasher" at BlackRock, the world’s biggest investor in fossil fuels. #NoCorporateCabinet https://t.co/IbgfphXReJ
RT @revolvingdoorDC: We are deeply concerned by reports that BlackRock's Brian Deese is the frontrunner for National Economic Council Direc…
We don't know who needs to hear this, but conflicts of interest in government service matter! https://t.co/EzVFWWfmaJ