Public Citizen and Revolving Door Project analysis identified more than 40 Trump appointees with direct fossil fuel industry ties, plus 100+ more with related interests distributed across federal agencies. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum exemplify this systematic …
Chris WrightDoug BurgumTrump AdministrationPublic CitizenRevolving Door Projectregulatory-capturesystematic-corruptionfossil-fuel-industryrevolving-door
In response to increased political pressure on nonprofits, a comprehensive legal defense initiative was launched to provide strategic litigation support, with multiple organizations creating defense funds totaling over $65 million. The Democracy 2025 coalition, comprising 280+ organizations and 800+ …
Democracy ForwardLawyers for Good GovernmentMacArthur FoundationKenneth Rainin FoundationMeyer Foundation+9 morefundinglegal-networkspro-bono-supportconstitutional-defensenonprofit-resistance+3 more
Trump revoked Biden’s Executive Order 13989 on ethics commitments on January 20, 2025, eliminating requirements that banned gifts from lobbyists, prohibited shadow lobbying for one year, and imposed two-year cooling-off periods before joining firms that lobby agencies. The rescission allows …
Donald TrumpTrump AdministrationOffice of Government Ethics (OGE)Public CitizenCraig Holman (Public Citizen lobbyist)+1 moreethics-violationlobbyingregulatory-capturegovernment-ethicsinstitutional-capture+3 more
U.S. House Oversight Democrats, led by Representatives Robert Garcia and Stephen Lynch, launched a comprehensive investigation into Grok AI’s development practices. The investigation scrutinized potential risks to the public information ecosystem, including concerns about privacy, …
Robert GarciaStephen LynchElon MuskxAIHouse Oversight Committee+4 moreai-governancetechnology-regulationartificial-intelligencecybersecuritycongressional-oversight+3 more
xAI’s Grok AI faces initial government safety investigations and scrutiny at the AI Seoul Summit. Advocacy groups and AI safety researchers challenge the lack of comprehensive safety reports for Grok 4, while the GSA conducts an independent safety evaluation. Multiple consumer advocacy …
Elon MuskTech RegulatorsxAIGSA AI Safety TeamPublic Citizen+1 moreai-regulationtech-oversightsafety-investigationxaigovernment-ai-policy
The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act took full effect after President Bush signed it into law, implementing new ethics rules designed to slow the revolving door between Congress and lobbying firms. The law extended cooling-off periods from one to two years for senators and established a …
Public Citizen released “Congressional Revolving Doors: The Journey from Congress To K Street,” documenting that 43% of U.S. House and Senate lawmakers (86 out of 198) who left office between 1998 and 2004 became registered lobbyists. The report found that 50% of eligible departing …
Public CitizenCongressK Streetrevolving-doorlobbyingcongressional-corruptionregulatory-capture