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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 moreOctober 23, 2020
Breaking With the Trade Consensus
Over the past decades, U.S. trade policies have primarily served the interests of corporate America. The result? The American worker experienced few if any of the promised benefits of globalization. President Trump seized upon this in his bid for the Presidency in 2016, but his declaration of China as an enemy and ill-advised trade war have only widened the trade deficit he vowed to close. The data show that the trade deficit reached $67 billion in August, its highest level since August 2006. More so, job growth in the manufacturing sector has been on decline since before the pandemic. Indeed, the current deficit in manufactured goods, $84 billion, is the largest on record with data starting in 1992.
October 23, 2020 | Public Seminar
Donald Trump Politicized the Federal Bureaucracy: The Next President Needs to Reverse That
In an effort to mitigate the political damage from failing to contain the virus and manage its corollary crises, the White House recently mandated that the Department of Agriculture include a signed letter from Donald Trump inside food boxes, claiming credit for the federal program providing food to families in need. The move effectively politicized the taxpayer funded program as a tool of the president’s own self-promotion just a month before the election. Even worse, the department’s inclusion of the letter has jeopardized the program’s operation, as distribution sites fear they will be improperly engaging in political activity.
October 23, 2020 | Washington Monthly
Uncle Sam’s HR Department Needs Help
Joe Biden promises a return to an honest, competent federal government. For that to happen, the government must be adequately staffed with experienced civil servants empowered to push forward his policy agenda, should he win. Without an experienced team, even the best appointees will struggle.
October 22, 2020 | Independent Media Institute
How BlackRock Is On Track To Infiltrate A Biden Administration
The Democratic base, still scarred from the 2016 election, is frantic not to count its chickens before they hatch. But Wall Street and corporate America have no such qualms. As Joe Biden leads in national polls and swing states, the most powerful firms in the country are seeking assurances that his administration won’t crack down on their crimes.
October 27, 2020
Ben White - Politico
Morning Money 10/27/20
October 26, 2020
Nandita Bose - Reuters
Microsoft Quietly Prepares To Avoid Spotlight Under Biden
October 26, 2020
Ben White - Politico
Morning Money 10/26/20
October 26, 2020
Alex Seitz-Wald - NBC News
Progressives Push For Warren As Treasury Secretary, Signaling Bigger Ideological Battle If Biden Wins
October 23, 2020
Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson - Citations Needed
Climate Chaos (Part I): How The Gap Between Liberal Rhetoric & Policy Promotes Denialism
October 23, 2020
Alexandra Levine - Politico
The “laptop from hell” and the next twelve days
RDP on Twitter
“Are people who have been investigated by the FBI especially well-equipped to run the FBI? Whom do you trust more to act in the public interest: former CEO Alex Azar, or career public servant Anthony Fauci?" - @jeffhauser to Wall Street re: FinReg appts https://t.co/qkwguKraoA
ICYMI https://t.co/5OaIdk4Ozf
"You need a treasury secretary who is thinking big picture and is thinking beyond the traditional portfolio," said @jeffhauser, who runs the Revolving Door Project. "The history of good businesspeople going into the Treasury is catastrophic." https://t.co/OgoWWN8IWA
“Microsoft has been playing politics for much longer than the other large technology companies that are widely talked about,” said @MaxMoranHi, a researcher at @ceprdc. “It knows how to play the game on both sides of the aisle." https://t.co/YsPbwPE2KB
ICYMI: Our @MaxMoranHi wrote about prominent @blackrock executives with close relationships to potential @JoeBiden appointees. He must reject any influence efforts by the world's largest asset manager. https://t.co/ODZZm0Xhtb
RT @IlhanMN: 👌🏽 https://t.co/T87iO0MpMo
RT @monthly: Many of the Office of Personnel Management's numerous challenges predate Trump, but fixing them will require vision, energy, a…
An independent, well-resourced civil service is the backbone of good governance. Failing to recognize & act on that fact will severely limit the potential for all future administrations to use the federal government as a vehicle for the public good 21/21 https://t.co/RMdEIvzelf
But it’s not enough just to reverse the damage. If elected, a Biden admin must put real energy into reinvigorating the civil service. As our @yevshrag outlined for @monthly today, that should include injecting new life into OPM 20/21 https://t.co/rV4QY17pju