“Okay, with [Democratic Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz and Cruz] we’ve got at least one D-R team in the Senate to ban members becoming lobbyists, [and] myself w/ [Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy] makes at least one D-R team in the House. And that’s just in a few hours – there will surely be more from both parties to sign on. Nice,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote with a thumbs-up emoji.
Cruz and Ocasio-Cortez bantered about their shared discontent with the so-called “revolving door of K Street” – federal lawmakers using their connections to become well-heeled lobbyists once they are out of office. Law mandates ex-House members must wait a year to lobby their former colleagues, while ex-senators must wait two.
A report finding around half of ex-members of the 115th Congress went straight to lobbying and other gigs with federal influence came out Thursday and prompted the exchange.
“Here’s something I don’t say often: on this point, I AGREE with [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]. Indeed, I have long called for a LIFETIME BAN on former Members of Congress becoming lobbyists. The Swamp would hate it, but perhaps a chance for some bipartisan cooperation?” Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz wrote on�Twitter�Thursday.
Republican Indiana Rep. Trey Hollingsworth introduced legislation to permanently ban members of Congress from lobbying Congress once they exit office in 2017.�Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Braun of Indiana renewed interest in the legislation when they introduced a complementary Senate version Feb. 28.
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