Tester Works to Drain the Swamp, Close Revolving Door with Cleaning Up Washington’s Act

“If we really want to drain the swamp we need to pull the plug on politicians trying to cash in on their public service”

(Big Sandy, Mont.) – Continuing his commitment to drain the swamp in Washington, U.S. Senator Jon Tester is introducing his Cleaning Up Washington’s Act, a landmark piece of legislation to close the revolving door between K Street lobbyists and Capitol Hill. Tester’s bill would ban former members of Congress and the Executive Branch from lobbying for five years upon leaving civil service.

“If we really want to drain the swamp, we’ve got to pull the plug on politicians trying to cash in on their public service-and that’s exactly what this bill would do,” Tester said. “This commonsense legislation fulfills one of President Trump’s most fundamental campaign promises, and I’m hopeful that after years of empty rhetoric his Republican colleagues in Congress will finally get behind our effort.”

Tester introduced the Cleaning Up Washington’s Act to help fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to “drain the swamp.” As a candidate, Trump identified “six measures to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington D.C.” that he would take in his first 100 days as President. These included “a five-year ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service.”

That’s why Tester first introduced his Cleaning Up Washington’s Act in in December of 2016-a few short weeks after President Trump was elected. Upon entering a new Congress in January of 2017, Tester introduced the bill again, but-despite Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate-the bill was never considered by a committee.

So, Tester is introducing the bill once again-continuing his efforts to reduce the power of big-moneyed interests in politics. Tester’s bill will specifically ban all members of Congress, the President’s Cabinet, and high level Executive Branch officials from lobbying for five years after they leave public service.

Tester is the founder and Chairman of the Senate Transparency Caucus and has long supported closing the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street.

He recently reintroduced the Spotlight Act, a bill to shine a light on dark money political donors and require the Trump Administration to enforce the nation’s campaign finance laws. And in September of 2018, Tester’s bill requiring Senate candidates to electronically file their campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission was signed into law.

More on Tester’s efforts to hold government accountable are available HERE.