Melissa Laurenza Speaks with NPR on President Biden’s Ethics Pledge Requirement

Akin Gump public law and policy partner Melissa Laurenza appeared in a National Public Radio segment titled “Biden’s Ethics Pledge Is Tougher Than Past Administrations — But Is It Tough Enough?” The story reports on President Biden’s executive order requiring his appointees to take a stringent ethics pledge.

As the story reports, Mr. Biden’s order requires all appointees who leave the government to wait two years before communicating with people at their former agencies or senior White House staff. It also bans for the first year, according to NPR, behind-the-scenes advising, such as telling a new employer’s lobbyist who to talk to or how to relate to them.

“Those are all things that that can be very important with respect to lobbying strategy. And here, the Biden EO obviously cuts that off for a certain amount of time,” said Laurenza.

In addition, NPR reports that people leaving the administration cannot work for foreign governments for at least two years. An appointee also cannot accept a big bonus from his or her former employer to reward them for getting a government job, which Laurenza said was a welcome development.

“In the past, if somebody had done that, then it could trigger recusal obligations. It could disqualify them from serving in certain positions,” Laurenza said. “So I think having that in the Biden EO is very helpful.”