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June 05, 2025

Dylan Gyauch-Lewis

Blog Post Economic MediaEthics in GovernmentExecutive BranchRevolving Door

Caring About Corporate Conflicts is Cool

The private sector rewards for public sector experience creates a conflict in which the public good and an employee’s own career prospects may be in tension. Not only does it incentivize public servants to consider the interests of the private sector (and how their decisions as a public servant might impact future employment prospects), but it erodes public confidence in civil servants.  

May 30, 2025 | Watchdog Weekly

Kenny Stancil

Newsletter Climate and EnvironmentCorruption CalendarCriminal JusticeCryptocurrencyDOGEElon MuskExecutive BranchHousingImmigrationRevolving DoorTrump 2.0

Corruption Calendar Week 19: “We Reject Regulators.” Pardon Me?

This week the Trump administration deepened its wildly corrupt and lucrative crypto grift, sought to further enrich wealthy supporters at the direct expense of working households, and continued to pardon white-collar criminals who don the red MAGA cap.

May 15, 2025 | The American Prospect

Timi Iwayemi Alex Moss

Op-Ed Department of CommerceHoward LutnickIntellectual PropertyPatent and Trademark OfficePharmaRevolving Door

Trump Appointees Are Hijacking the Patent System

The PTAB’s inter partes review (IPR) process was designed to swiftly weed out low-quality patents—the kind that stifle competition, inflate consumer prices, and entrench monopolies. But since Trump and Lutnick’s arrival, a quiet bureaucratic coup at the USPTO has undermined this critical safeguard. Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart has moved to centralize power and gut accountability measures, opening the door to a flood of dubious patents.

May 09, 2025 | Watchdog Weekly

Xaver Clarke

Newsletter Consumer ProtectionCorruption CalendarCryptocurrencyDOGEElon MuskEthics in GovernmentRevolving DoorTechTrump 2.0

Corruption Calendar Week 16: The Grift That Keeps On Giving

This week, the Trump brothers Eric and Don Jr. embarked on a world tour to make real estate deals while the administration used the threat of tariffs to push Starlink into other countries. Trump allies engaged in price fixing and fraud were given a pass seemingly as a reward for their donations to the president, our retirement savings were placed under the eye of a greedy insurance executive, and consumer protections were targeted by House Republicans eager to find tax breaks for the rich.

March 20, 2025

Jeff Hauser

Press Release AbundanceHack WatchRevolving DoorTech

Revolving Door Project Founder Challenges Abundance Authors to Debate

Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser invites Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson, and their ideological counterparts to engage in open debate with him or other progressive voices who are skeptical of their agenda and interested in hashing out their differences, in a venue of their choice. It is far better to have the agenda of the non-Trump majority determined by a free-flowing debate rather than settled by the preexisting media power of various figures.

March 07, 2025 | Watchdog Weekly

Timi Iwayemi

Newsletter Corruption CalendarCryptocurrencyEthics in GovernmentFinancial RegulationHealthRevolving Door

Corruption Calendar Week Seven: One Nation Under God, Indivisible

The seventh week of Trump’s presidency was a stark reminder of how little the public’s wellbeing factors into his administration’s decisions. This week, the administration reiterated its position that it’s open season for corporate predators, RFK Jr. moved to abolish public input into public health regulations, co-president Elon Musk found new ways to exploit the federal contracting system, banking regulators chose Wall Street over Main Street, and a corporate lobbyist stepped in to facilitate the sale of precious public lands to lumber companies.