Countering Corporate Capture of Federal Agencies: Recommendations for the Next Administration

ICAR is pleased to share our latest policy brief on the topic of addressing undue corporate influence over our government, entitled Countering Corporate Capture of Federal Agencies: Recommendations for the Next Administration.

In 2020, ICAR’s efforts to combat corporate capture focused primarily on identifying and combatting corporate capture of U.S. federal agencies. As part of this work, ICAR developed a set of concrete actions that an incoming administration should take to rein in undue corporate influence over federal agencies using existing executive branch authority. Developed based on in-depth research and extensive expert consultations, the recommendations focus on addressing gaps in existing ethics rules for executive branch personnel, shining a light on corporate influence, and elevating the issue within the administration.

ICAR’s recommendations were also integrated into the Declaration for American Democracy (DFAD) coalition’s broader list of recommended actions a president could take to strengthen democracy from day one, laid out in the November 2020 report Day One is for Democracy: A Blueprint for the Next Administration.

A high-level overview of ICAR’s core demands can be found below:

1) Combat the traditional revolving door by:

• Extending the length of post-employment cooling-off periods and expand their coverage.

• Ensuring that post-employment cooling-off periods prohibit “behind the scenes” lobbying activities and not just lobbying contacts.

• Requiring exiting officials to enter into binding revolving door exit plans.

2) Combat the reverse revolving door by:

• Preventing and manage conflicts of interest through recusal requirements linked to certain financial interests, including those of an appointee’s former employers and clients.

• Preventing individuals with significant conflicts of interest from being appointed to senior level positions in the first place.

3) Ban incentive payments (“golden parachutes”) for government service

4) Prohibit appointees from accepting gifts from lobbyists or lobbyist organizations

5) Mandate public disclosure of key ethics-related documents & agency visitor logs

6) Establish a public, annual cabinet level meeting on ethics and ethics reform

7) Establish a ‘peoples’ lobbyist office’ or ‘regulatory capture cop’

Read more in our full policy brief, which can be downloaded here.