I have done more to take on lobbyists than any other candidate in this race – and I’ve won. I don’t take a dime of their money, and when I am President, they won’t find a job in my White House.
a National Journal look at 267 Obama nominees and appointees found that at least 30 — or about 11 percent — have been registered lobbyists at some point during the past five years.
Among them are some top officials: Attorney General Eric Holder was registered as a lobbyist at Covington & Burling as recently as 2004; Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa governor who is Obama’s Agriculture secretary, was a registered lobbyist for the National Education Association in 2007; Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Biden, was a lobbyist at O’Melveny & Myers until 2004; and David Hayes, deputy secretary of the Interior, was a lobbyist at Latham & Watkins through 2006.