Congress back to work
Richard Fulton
Congress has ended (yet another) break and what greets them will make them want to return home.
There are several major issues that have been piling up since the beginning of the Trump years and none of the issues will be easily dealt with.
What will congress do with the failed attempt to solve the Affordable Care Act standoff? Republicans will need to find at least a band-aide or they will be stuck with a health program that their constituents find unacceptable.
There is the aid package for the beleaguered victims of Harvey and another hurricane aimed at Florida. The government’s ability to pay its bills will come before congress in the form of the need to expand the debt limit. There are dire consequences of not doing so. Many interests will want to add all kinds of goodies to these bills.
Trump has kicked the “dreamers” plight down to congress. Another fight. And creeping into their “to do” basket is the ever popular budget bills.
Over all of these cases, and more, loom the army of interests that want something from congress put into one bill or another. Lobbyists, foreign and domestic, dominate the process of making legislation in Washington.
Imagine this, there are at least 10,000 registered lobbyist in Washington and an untold number of influence peddlers not having to register but who service the lobbying industry.
That means there is a minimum of 20 lobbyists for every member of congress. And this doesn’t count the consultants, advisers, and fixers on the periphery. All of these folks are trying by hook or by crook to gain the attention and then the favor of members of congress for their clients.
A recent article in the New York Times Magazine discussed the infighting amongst lobbyists in the new world of the Trump presidency. The old line influence peddling companies wonder how to get at the Trump administration and what role the dominant Republican leadership of congress plays in policy development.
A new wave of Trump-connected lobby firms have popped up with the advent of the new administration. Competition is fierce. After all, tens of millions of dollars flow to lobby firms for everything from simple advice to access to decision makers.
Who are the lobbyists? Traditionally, and in most of the old line firms, they are former members of congress and their aides as well as former ambassadors. Add to this an army of former high members of the bureaucracy and you begin to understand what it takes to rake in the big dollars.
Inside information is the key, not only on who to contact but how the system operates so that you know when and where to put the pressure on congresspersons. Where in the process is the bill you want to influence, where is the pressure point?
How do I influence the president?
Nicholas Confessore, author of the Times article, says that Congress counts on the specific knowledge of lobbyists needed to make decisions because “after decades of cutting its own staff and research arms…much of Capitol Hill’s institutional memory and policy expertise now resides in the lobbying industry.”
They, after all, have been there and now have their own research capabilities.
No wonder the industry is shaken by theTrump presidency. Nobody knows who he is, how he thinks, people they can call in the White House for help or access. One person offered a former Trump aide, now a lobbyist, $250,000 just to get Trump to tweet about him. A billionaire offered a million dollars for a picture next to Trump.
Trump has created a whole different world that congress is going back to. And the work is piling up.
Richard Fulton is an emeritus professor of political science.
