Our Blog

May 26, 2023
RELEASE: Revolving Door Project Reacts to Biden’s Debt Ceiling Cave & the Media’s Incompetent Coverage
In response to the emergence of the structure of a potential deal between President Biden and Speaker McCarthy, Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser issued the following statement:
“There are three aspects to the substance and coverage of this debate that have been infuriating.”
May 26, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
Hack Watch: Everyone’s So Worried About The President Getting Sued About the Debt Ceiling, No One Seems to Have Noticed He Already Was
May 24, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
Who’s Going To Keep Corporations Honest?
The Washington Post last week ran a delightful little synopsis of Senator Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) true passion: congressional oversight. Bernie is revered for his willingness to hold corporations and their CEOs accountable for their villainy, and how he does so with extraordinary dexterity. Be it by ruthlessly interrogating Big Pharma executives for their murderous price gouging of lifesaving treatments or humiliating Howard Schultz for being a whiny billionaire union-buster, Bernie Sanders makes congressional oversight hearings fun. The fun he makes for himself and for the public he strives to give real voice to through speaking truth to power is not just gratifying; it also helps sharpen congressional oversight into a tool to actually achieve something.

May 22, 2023
RELEASE: The Justice Department Should Not Defend The Legal Incoherence That Is The Debt Ceiling
On Friday, May 19, the National Association of Government Employees filed an emergency motion in their lawsuit against President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. NAGE urged the Massachusetts District Court to issue a preliminary injunction holding that the debt ceiling violates the separation of powers and Presentment Clause set forth in Articles I and II of the U.S. Constitution.
May 19, 2023
98 Organizations and Individuals Call on the IPCC to Uplift Settled Science and to Reject the Influence of the Global Meat Industry
This morning, 98 organizations and individuals sent a letter to calling on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to affirm its independence from private and corporate interests, to maintain a strict ethics regime that avoids even the appearance of interference or impropriety, and to boldly uplift the huge body of existing climate science that affirms the devastating climate consequences of animal agriculture and the global meat industry. Read their letter to Dr. Hoesung Lee, Chairman of the IPCC here.
May 17, 2023
Release: New Letter Urges President to Make Leadership Change at Surface Transportation Board
A whole-of-government economic agenda requires leadership devoted to rebuilding an economy that works in the public interest. As we explain in the letter, we believe Chairman Oberman has eschewed this responsibility and should no longer be trusted to lead vital oversight of the American rail industry.

May 17, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
Progressive Counteroffers to Manchin’s Dirty Deal, Debt Ceiling Edition
Manchin’s dirty deal is back on the table, again, according to coverage of the play-by-play of Biden and congressional leaders’ not-not-negotiations over raising the debt ceiling. Whether or not Manchin’s proposal gets packaged with a debt ceiling deal, it seems the question is when, not if, it gets taken up. That’s due in large part to Biden and Schumer’s unjustifiable fealty to Manchin, the administration’s chief saboteur, whose latest pledge is to block all of Biden’s EPA nominees.

May 17, 2023
Executive Branch Agencies That Protect Americans From Corporate Abuses Need Robust Funding, Not Cuts
With executive branch agencies under renewed attack as President Biden negotiates with the GOP, we revisit our research on government capacity.

May 17, 2023
Coinbase Spins The Crypto Revolving Door
Coinbase’s establishment of a new advisory council comprising former members of Congress is the latest example of the crypto industry’s embrace of Washington’s revolving door.

May 15, 2023
Biden Will Show He Can Be Bullied If He Caves To Republican Debt Demands
“GOP leaders have sent a wildly exploitative ransom note to the public. The administration should not accept its terms.”

May 12, 2023 | The American Prospect
Will Dem PR Flacks Help Studios Crush Striking Writers Again?
How two ‘Masters of Disaster’ helped Hollywood execs break the last writers strike

May 10, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
The GOP Budget Plan Would Ruin Millions of Lives
There are a lot of things you could say about the GOP’s proposed plan to reduce the deficit. But if we want to be more expansive than just calling it “batshit crazy” and washing our hands of the whole clown show, as we think Biden can and should, then we could point out that the GOP plan is an expression of profound hostility to the idea of a federal government that serves anyone besides war profiteers.

May 10, 2023
What The SVB Collapse Says About Crypto’s “Most Stable” Stablecoin
The March 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) — aside from foregrounding the hypocrisy of neoliberal pundits and libertarian venture capitalists alike — spotlighted the instability of the cryptocurrency industry’s most ostensibly stable offering. Hidden within the uncertainty of SVB’s fate following a $42 billion withdrawal frenzy was a similar crisis of confidence for Circle Internet Financial and its stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC).

May 09, 2023 | Common Dreams
Not Every “Former Antitrust Official” Is a Neutral Expert
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and DOJ Antitrust Division have long served as an essential stop for antitrust experts looking to maximize opportunities, influence, and compensation at BigLaw firms and monopolistic corporations. By spending some time learning the ins and outs of government investigations and enforcement efforts, revolvers are seen by potential corporate employers to be better equipped to assist corporations in antitrust lawsuits against their former government employers.
May 03, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
On the Debt, Biden Has No Choice But To Make One
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen shortened the estimate of when the U.S. could default on its debt to as soon as June 1. We’re less than a month out from the so-called X-date: the day that the federal government runs out of cash. President Biden has invited House and Senate leadership to the White House to talk debt this coming Tuesday, with highly uncertain results.