Trump stonewalls on lobbyists' waivers

Almost immediately after his election, President Trump announced to much fanfare a new and apparently strict revolving-door policy on ethics in hiring, which he later codified as an executive order.

In keeping with his promise to "drain the swamp," Trump demanded that his new hires sign a pledge that they would not work as registered lobbyists for the first five years after they left the White House, and that they would be banned for life from lobbying for foreign governments.

That part was stricter than the Obama administration policy. But the new rule was a bit looser on the hiring of former lobbyists. They could now work at the agencies they used to lobby, but not on the specific issues on which they had lobbied their new employer.

Like President Barack Obama, Trump has the ability to make exceptions to his rules. Generally, Obama did this by hiring non-registered lobbyists. But he had, and Trump has, the authority to grant waivers in specific cases so that he can hire even registered lobbyists.

Here's what is unusual about Trump's rules and their implementation. When the Office of Government Ethics asked the various federal agencies for copies of waivers the Trump administration had issued for certain hires, White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney shot down the request.