Lobbying Requests

After Mark Zachares, a former congressional staffer of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, pleaded guilty yesterday to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and promises of a high-paying lobbying job on K Street in exchange for official favors for convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Public Citizen sent a letter to Congress today urging members to fix the revolving door of lawmaker and congressional staffer to lobbyist. Among its several requests, the watchdog group urged Congress to extend the period of time former members and senior executive branch officials are banned from lobbying from one to two years. It also asks that congress require a cooling-off period for former senior congressional staffers who make at least $123,900 before they can lobby staffers in the office in which they worked.