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About the Revolving Door Project
The Revolving Door Project (RDP) scrutinizes executive branch appointees to ensure they use their office to serve the broad public interest, rather than to entrench corporate power or seek personal advancement.
Projects
The Agency Spotlight
The Agency Spotlight tracks appointments to leadership positions at thirty-nine independent federal agencies through the confirmation process and beyond. Additionally, for three agencies — the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the Spotlight monitors and exhibits key votes.
Read MoreIndustry Agenda
Building off the work of our Personnel Map, the Industry Agenda is a report series that looks at how different industries seek to influence the staffing of the Biden Administration. In these reports, we take a closer look at the policy issues at stake for various industries, as well as the agencies and offices they will be looking to influence.
Learn MorePersonnel Map
The Personnel Map aims to demonstrate the breadth and depth of corporate America’s interest in the executive branch of the federal government. The map ties major economic sectors to the individual political positions that have the power to regulate, bring enforcement actions against, or disburse funds to the companies in that sector.
Learn MoreDecember 07, 2023
Henry Burke Jeff Hauser Kenny Stancil
Press Release CryptocurrencyEthics in GovernmentFinancial RegulationFintechRevolving Door
Press Release: The Revolving Door Project, A Government Ethics Watchdog, Alerts Media Of Possibility That CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam Is Considering Leaving Government To Cash Out In Private Industry
The Revolving Door Project, A Government Ethics Watchdog, Alerts Media Of Possibility That CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam Is Considering Leaving Government To Cash Out In Private Industry
December 07, 2023 | The American Prospect
Wall Street’s Favorite Financial Regulator May Be Looking for a New Job
CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam’s term doesn’t end until 2026, but there are rumblings of an early exit to the private sector. Place your bets where he’ll end up next!
December 06, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
The “Billionaire Matchmaker” and his Bad Amici
How does one right-wing activist get his worst ideas to appear in the legal decisions of the most powerful judges in America? A bombshell Politico investigation this week has the answers on how rightwing activist and “billionaire matchmaker” Leonard Leo managed to influence the outcome of several of the Supreme Court’s highest-profile and most damaging decisions over the past two years.
December 05, 2023 | The American Prospect
The Department of Justice’s Legal Love Letter to Moderna
The DOJ’s Civil Division is supposed to work for people and in the public interest. So why does it seem to care more about Moderna’s liability than its own taxpayers?
November 22, 2023
Jake Johnson - Common Dreams
'Awful News for Humanity': Alarm as Larry Summers Joins OpenAI Board
November 22, 2023
Zachary Warmbrodt - Politico Morning Money
Law and Order: Crypto
November 22, 2023
Pranshu Verma, Nitasha Tiku & Gerrit De Vynck - The Washington Post
Sam Altman reinstated as OpenAI CEO with new board members
November 18, 2023
Vishal Shankar - Common Dreams
OP-ED: The Public Has a Right to Know Every Detail of Louis DeJoy's Destructive Agenda
November 16, 2023
- Office of Congressman Jared Huffman
Ahead of COP28, Huffman, Merkley Announce Legislation to End International Investments in Fossil Fuels
November 15, 2023
Autumn Alston - The Mary Sue
Did the Supreme Court Really Think We’d All Be Won Over by This BS Ethics Code?
RDP on Twitter
“Regulators taking positions with the industries they were recently charged with reigning in is corrosive to good governance and public trust in government." @jeffhauser on the possibility of CFTC Chair Behnam leaving government for a corporate payout. https://t.co/MQYtdlHwfU
Instead of firing Louis DeJoy, the Biden-majority Postal Board of Governors is restricting public comments at its quarterly meetings. Read more from @merryvishmas ⬇️https://t.co/UViTvafbTW
RT @burkehenryt: Larry Summers’ influence over Sam Altman did not take long to be felt
Whoever his next employer turns out to be, Behnam’s soft-touch approach to the industries he has regulated offers a lesson to Democratic leaders: Appoint regulators who are committed progressives so you don’t have to worry about them becoming corporate villains later.
Behnam’s five-year term as CFTC chair isn’t up until mid-2026, but he has cultivated numerous cash-out opportunities should he opt for an early exit through the revolving door. After all, that's half the point of spending several years pushing a weakened regulatory environment.
At 200:1, Big Onion is by far our most outlandish prediction. But onions are the only agricultural product to be statutorily banned from futures trading thanks to a scheme by two financiers in the 1950s. Who better than the chair of the CFTC to lead an effort to reverse this law?