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October 26, 2023
RELEASE: Watchdog Group Requests Communications Between DOJ Officials And Google Defender Paul Weiss
Following news coverage that Yelp and the News/Media Alliance filed an unsuccessful motion to take BigLaw firm Paul Weiss off Google’s defense team in the adtech antitrust case brought by the DOJ, the Revolving Door Project submitted a Freedom of Information Act Request for communications between Paul Weiss and key Department of Justice officials. The American Prospect featured the request in their coverage of Google’s attempts to remove DOJ Antitrust Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter from the case, as well as Paul Weiss’ potential conflicts.

February 23, 2023
Biden Must Retract World Bank Nomination Immediately
“Neither private equity, nor Mastercard, nor Citigroup, nor PepsiCo, nor Nestlé, nor Dow promote shared prosperity.”

September 22, 2022
FOIA Request: Is Big Tech’s Favorite FTC Commissioner Going To Lobby For Amazon?
Outgoing FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips recused himself from a recent FTC vote involving Amazon and BigLaw firm Covington & Burling. Revolving Door Project filed a FOIA request seeking information on Phillips’ post-employment plans and looked back on Phillips’ corporate-friendly record.

July 26, 2022
Fossil Fuel-Tied Legal Experts Are the Main Critics of a Climate Emergency Declaration
months of dedicated advocacy and both public and private pressure from environmental groups which insisted an emergency declaration was necessary to meet the moment, it seemed like Biden was finally ready to respond. But the declaration didn’t come, and in the days since, PoliticoPro’s EnergyWire and GreenWire have given spotlights to legal experts opining on the legal and political merits of such a declaration.

April 12, 2022
Corporate Crackdown Updates: 4/11/22
Rohit Chopra’s CFPB walked the walk after his incredible speech at the University of Pennsylvania last month.

October 07, 2021
FOIA RequestPress Release Congressional OversightEthics in GovernmentFederal ReserveFinancial Regulation
Watchdogs Request Fed Leadership's Contacts With Ethics Office
“The malfeasance already in the public record is staggering. For the sake of government integrity, the public must learn how deep the rot goes at Powell’s Federal Reserve.”
July 27, 2021
FOIA For Staff Lists and Leadership Directories
Transparency surrounding the identities of the country’s senior-most political leaders should be a given. Unfortunately, the federal government presently falls short in this regard. Inconsistent and insufficient standards for publishing and maintaining leadership and senior staff directories makes it difficult, if not impossible, to learn who occupies hundreds of critical roles throughout the federal government.
June 30, 2021
The Supreme Court Confirms, There Are More Trump Holdovers Left to Fire
With few exceptions, the Biden administration has not moved nearly as quickly to remove Trump holdovers as we had hoped he would. Most of the figures who we identified for immediate removal last November remained in office well past Biden’s day one and some are still there today (day 161). Happily, however, none of that foot-dragging was on display last week after a Supreme Court decision gave Biden the green light to remove Trump’s director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Mark Calabria. Within hours, Calabria was out and a new acting Director, Sandra Thompson, was in.

December 21, 2020
From Civil Rights Giants to Dairy Farmers, Tom Vilsack for USDA is Bad Politics
Biden has long marketed himself as the unity candidate who could appeal to large swaths of the American electorate. So his selection of his old friend Tom Vilsack as USDA Secretary, whose only unifying characteristic is the disdain he has received from a broad coalition of advocacy groups, is perplexing to say the least.
September 01, 2020
Revolving Door Project Seeks to Uncover Politicization of Career Hiring Under Trump
Today, the Revolving Door Project is introducing a new initiative to uncover and draw attention to the ways the Trump administration may be seeking to interfere with the federal government’s ability to effectively serve the public interest over the long-term. RDP has issued Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for the resumes of new hires at 10 federal departments and agencies. We seek to determine if hiring for career positions has been subjected to political influence. It is our hope that, by identifying potential instances of politicization, we can build political support for efforts to reverse any damage.
September 16, 2019
Revolving Door Project Probes Thiel's White House Connection
Max Moran
Washington is awash with proposals for a new regulatory agency centered on Silicon Valley. Often lost in that important conversation is the fact that the executive branch already has some positions with a direct focus on the technology sector, though they are limited in scope and scattered across the alphabet-soup of agencies. Perhaps no tech-focused bureaucrat has the president’s ear quite like the Chief Technology Officer. The CTO is the White House’s top advisor on anything to do with technology and innovation, tasked with explaining the latest developments and guiding the thinking of the most powerful politician on earth.
July 22, 2019
Revolving Door Project Requests Info On Big Tech Regulators
Max Moran
The Revolving Door Project’s mission is to scrutinize the nexus of corporate power and the executive branch. In the United States, two agencies within the executive branch have the power to seek to break up a company: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division. That is why it is important that we research any entanglements undermining the FTC and DOJ Antitrust’s commitment to serving the public interest.
March 20, 2019
RDP Requests Record of Contracts between BlackRock and Key Federal Agencies
Eleanor Eagan
With just under $6 trillion in assets under management (as of year-end 2018) BlackRock is the largest money manager in the world. Virtually unheard of only a decade ago, it has now grown into one of the most powerful forces in financial markets and politics alike. Central to this ascendance was its risk management software, Aladdin. Aladdin — an acronym for Asset Liability and Debt and Derivative Investment Network — has become the “industry’s dominant platform for keeping track of portfolios.” It counts among its clients approximately 200 financial firms who use the software to manage approximately $18 trillion in assets.