Thousands of lobbyists are being swept off federal advisory panels thanks to a policy initiated quietly by President Obama at the instigation of White House ethics counsel Norm Eisen. Eisen disclosed the policy on the White Houe blog last September, saying:
"Some folks have developed a comfortable Beltway perch sitting on these boards while at the same time working as lobbyists to influence the government"
The General Services Administration has estimated the number of advisory committees at 915 with over 60,000 members, but no one knows for sure. The committees no doubt seemed like a good idea back in the early 1970's when Congress followed the recommendations of Robert Vastine, a top Republican staffer at the time, and passed the Federal Advisory Committee Act apparently hoping to provide Congress, composed mostly of laymen, with guidance from professionals in dealing with the confusions of modern life. From simple beginnings the advisory committees have turned into what Vastine, now a lobbyist for the Coalition of Service Industries, frankly calls a "bureaucratic labyrinth" inter-twined with every aspect of federal government, including helping to write legislation and regulations or advising on the letting of government contracts.
|
