March 16, 2021
Revolver Spotlight: Einer Elhauge
Reports that Harvard Law Professor Einer Elhauge is being considered for a role in the Biden Administration should be treated with extreme caution due to his history of ties to Big Tech and work for the Republican Florida legislature in 2000. Although we at RDP applaud Elhauge’s recent pivot to support strengthening antitrust laws, we urge the Biden Administration to hold appointees to the highest possible standard. In particular, helping promulgate the absurd theory in 2000 that state legislatures can overrule elections conducted under laws they have passed should be disqualifying for any individual attempting to serve in the Biden Administration.
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March 10, 2021
Biden Ethics Pledge Alone Will Not Insulate the Administration from Conflicts of Interest
On President Biden’s first day in office, he made clear that, after the Trump administration’s fantastically corrupt reign, restoring trust in the federal government’s senior leadership would be a priority. His executive order on ethics, signed within hours of his inauguration, went further than any other towards slowing the revolving door and limiting conflicts of interest while in office. Subsequent appointments make clear, however, that these elevated standards are still not enough. Simply following the letter of the order will leave significant room for conflicts of interest to poison the administration’s actions and public trust.
March 09, 2021
Letter To Biden Chief of Staff Ron Klain Regarding Amazon And Google Influence Over Antitrust Appointments
It is precisely Amazon’s monopolistic power which gives us concern. Such a powerful corporation will no doubt expend enormous political and economic capital to limit the power of anti-monopoly forces and their ability to curb its power.
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March 08, 2021
Attn John Kerry: Mark Gallogly Is Loyal To Profit, Not Climate
John Kerry, President Biden’s international “Climate Envoy”, appears to want bold climate change policy. Kerry was a leader in developing the framework for the first UN climate talks in 1992, co-authored cap-and-trade legislation back in 2009 when it could have possibly been useful, and was a major driver of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
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March 05, 2021
Revolver Spotlight: Lisa Monaco
If confirmed as Deputy Attorney General, Lisa Monaco will be the second most powerful legal officer in the executive branch. But her financial disclosures raise profound concerns about who Monaco will truly be serving while in office.
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March 05, 2021 | The American Prospect
Trump Holdovers Still Dot U.S. Attorneys Offices
De-Trumpifying all levels of the Department of Justice (DOJ) remains a critical factor in Joe Biden’s success. He needs an energized and progressive pool of U.S. attorneys committed to criminal justice reform, prosecuting white-collar crime, and protecting the environment to do that.
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March 03, 2021
Biden Transition Earns A B- So Far
It’s been over a month since Biden took office and four months since he and his transition team began choosing appointees in earnest. That makes it an apt time for a tentative assessment. In a new release with Demand Progress, we gave him a B-, with wide variation across issue areas.
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February 24, 2021
Revolving Door Project Sees Cause for Concern at Biden's Justice Department
At his confirmation hearings this week, Merrick Garland made admirable commitments to reinvigorate a beleaguered Justice Department and redirect its energies towards domestic terrorism, civil rights, and antitrust enforcement. His ability to deliver on those promises and more will depend on his resolve to break with tired norms where necessary and populate the Department’s highest ranks with unabashed champions for the public interest, not corporate apologists.
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February 22, 2021
Garland Must Lock BigLaw Out Of DOJ Leadership To Enact Biden Agenda, 37 Groups Say
A coalition of 37 racial, worker, environmental, and social justice organizations demanded that President Biden’s attorney general nominee Merrick Garland keep BigLaw attorneys out of the leadership of his Department of Justice, especially those who generally represent large corporations or alleged white-collar criminals.
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February 22, 2021 | The American Prospect
Acting Officials Can Govern for Years. They Deserve Scrutiny.
Little attention is paid to acting officials, who hold jobs temporarily while permanent appointees go through lengthy confirmation processes. President Biden should choose personnel for these acting positions wisely.
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February 19, 2021
Senate Must Clear Obstacles and Avoid False Tradeoffs
On January 20, Joe Biden was sworn in as the country’s 46th President. It will be months, even years, however, before all of the accompanying members of his administration are in place. With over 4000 positions to fill, the vetting and selection process necessary to stand up a new administration is formidable. Add to that the lengthy road to Senate confirmation for over 1000 of those picks and you have a recipe for dysfunction.
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February 17, 2021
The Industry Agenda: Fossil Fuel
The fossil fuel industry is one of the most notoriously profit-hungry and planet-destroying sets of corporations to exist today. The “fossil fuel industry” includes oil, gas, (yes, even the “natural” kind), and coal companies, as well as subsidiary companies involved in the extraction processes for these materials: land and off-shore drilling, fracking, and underground and surface mining.
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February 16, 2021
How A Little-Known Treasury Position Could Move Mountains For Climate Action
President Biden has promised to take a “whole-of-government” approach to tackling the climate crisis, and so far his appointees appear to be following suit. The National Climate Task Force met for the first time in a crowded zoom room last week, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and International Climate Envoy John Kerry met earlier this month to discuss their “climate finance plan” to shift capital towards investments in line with a low-carbon economy.
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February 11, 2021
The Industry Agenda: Fintech
Since fintech apps provide a wide range of financial services, there are many potential harms to leaving the industry largely under-regulated — especially since many fintech and cryptocurrency firms design their products to narrowly evade existing laws that define certain types of financial products, and thus, the regulations to which they are subject.