The incoming Trump administration won’t be the first time that Pam Bondi and Susie Wiles have worked for the same boss.
Bondi, poised to become Attorney General, and Wiles, picked as White House chief of staff, lobbied for clients General Motors Corp. and Bankers Financial Corp. when they overlapped at the firm Ballard Partners.
Now they’re among a growing group of current and former registered federal lobbyists that President-elect Donald Trump has tapped for high-level roles, despite saying he wanted to limit K Street in his first term. The incoming Trump team has picked nearly a dozen federal lobbyists for top jobs already, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis of hiring announcements and federal lobbying disclosures. It’s a sharp break with the Biden and Obama administrations, which had prohibitions on hiring recent lobbyists for White House or agency posts.
Trump’s shift toward embracing select K Street insiders signals that lobbyists can shed the stigma they wore during the Biden and Obama administrations. But it doesn’t necessarily mean lobbyists will face an easy path of getting what it wants from the incoming team, lobbyists said.
“If you’re viewed as an ally, friend, someone who helped, you’ll get meetings, not necessarily getting policy outcomes,” said Sam Geduldig, managing partner of the CGCN Group, an all-GOP firm with former Trump administration officials on the roster.
Welcoming ex-lobbyists into the administration poses potential conflicts of interests, ethics watchdogs argue. But even some Democrats said having people with private-sector and K Street experience will add a valuable perspective to executive branch decision-making.
“To be honest, you have to applaud the Trump administration, not for every nominee, but he is picking probably the most diverse cabinet in terms of background and experience that we’ve seen in a while,” said Rich Gold, who runs the lobbying practice at Holland & Knight and served in the Clinton administration.
Keeping out recently registered federal lobbyists unless they received a waiver to join, the rule in the Obama administration, drew an arbitrary line and punished those who publicly registered and disclosed their clients, lobbyists have complained.
That Trump isn’t excluding lobbyists from positions is important, Gold said: “You need to have debates around things and need to have a variety of voices around the table in order to make the best decisions for the people that elected you.”
Gold said he expects the new Trump administration to foster a “healthier” rapport with K Street than the Biden team’s skeptical approach. Many of Trump’s picks have deep industry ties, beyond just the lobbyists he’s selected.
The incoming Trump administration officials “have the experience of working in the private sector advocating on issues and understanding how it gets done,” Gold said.
Conflicts Ahead?
Along with Bondi and Wiles, who was a registered federal lobbyist at the firm Mercury earlier this year, Trump has picked former lobbyists to lead the Transportation Department, the Justice Department’s antitrust unit, and the Veterans Affairs Department, lobbying disclosures show.
The picks for US trade representative, US ambassador to Canada, and counsel to the new effort dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have all been registered lobbyists.
“One of the big things we’re finding is that it’s just really clear that some of the highest-level folks have extensive and controversial clients,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a consumer and ethics watchdog group. “There are serious questions about conflicts of interests.”
Bondi, for example, has represented the private prison company GEO Group, the government of Qatar, and tech companies Amazon and Uber, among others.
Former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), Trump’s pick to lead the Transportation Department, lobbied at BGR Group after leaving Congress where his clients included financial industry firms as well as Partnership for Open Skies.
Gail Slater, selected to run DOJ’s antitrust division, was registered to lobby for Roku Inc., as recently as 2023, on issues “related to antitrust legislation” and other matters, according to lobbying disclosures.
Public Citizen lobbyist Craig Holman tracked ex-lobbyists in the first Trump administration after Trump adopted a posture toward lobbyist hires similar to Obama (that they needed a waiver in order to enter the administration). Holman said Trump did not follow his own 2017 executive order.
“This time around, Trump never even talked about draining the swamp in Washington, so there is no pretense to issue another ethics” executive order, Holman said.
“All nominees and appointees will comply with the ethical obligations of their respective agencies,” said Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance Transition, in an emailed statement in response to a question about whether the incoming administration will impose rules or restrictions on lobbyists.
Hill Ties
Some of Trump’s picks have ties to conservative groups, and like the ex-lobbyists with corporate backgrounds, they have experience on Capitol Hill, giving them insight into legislative deal-making.
James Braid, incoming director of White House legislative affairs, previously worked at Heritage Action for America where he registered to lobby in 2015. Braid worked on Capitol Hill for Vice President-elect JD Vance (R-Ohio), a senator from Ohio.
Trump is “setting himself up well, in my opinion, to have a good working relationship with the House and Senate,” said Ryan Walker, Heritage Action’s executive vice president.
Similarly, Republican lobbyist Ozzie Palomo, a founder of Chartwell Strategy Group, said the emerging Trump administration personnel shows an understanding of “the connectivity” between the business and political worlds.
“Our job as consultants is to try to fit our clients’ narrative with their agenda,” Palomo said. “By having folks that have worked downtown, it makes for more productive conversations. But I don’t think it guarantees it’ll be an easier outcome by any means.”
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