As part of his effort to "drain the swamp" of Washington and enact new ethics laws, Donald Trump promised to increase regulations on the type of lobbying that congressional and White House officials can do after they leave public service.
Trump has vowed to reinstitute a five-year ban on executive branch officials lobbying the government after they leave office. He's also calling on Congress to pass a five-year ban on lobbying by former members of Congress and their staff. (All of these pledges can be found in Trump's 100-day "Contract with the American Voter.")
"It is time to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C," Trump said at a rally on the campaign trail. "This is why I'm proposing a package of ethics reforms to make our government honest once again."
WHY HE'S PROMISING IT
Of the 164 members of 113th Congress who had to get a new job after the 2014 midterm elections, 80 are now employed at lobbying firms (48.8 percent).
Trump's proposal goes beyond the rules already in place. Currently, former House members must wait one year before they can lobby Congress, and former senators must wait two years. White House officials in Barack Obama's administration must wait two years before lobbying, per executive order.
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN
Former presidents Bill Clinton and Obama signed executive orders that established "cooling off" periods for White House officials once they left their post.
Trump could follow in Obama and Clinton's footsteps and sign an executive order to ban executive branch members from lobbying for five years, but Trump has said he'd rather Congress pass the ban into law to assure it will stick.
In order to implement a five-year ban on lobbying former members of Congress, the 115th Congress would also have to pass a law.
WHAT'S STANDING IN HIS WAY
Trump needs Congress to enshrine these bans in law. But it's important to note that while a double ban on lobbying might seem like a win-win, there could be some drawbacks to Trump's promise.
Timothy LaPira, a political science professor at James Madison University, said Trump's promises — if successful — could actually make matters worse because it may expand "lobbying in the shadows."
This happens when former government officials lobby, but do so without meeting the definition of a lobbyist. (They might be called strategic advisers, for example.)
Under current law, the definition of a lobbyist is strict, LaPira said.
You must be earning money from lobbying. Second, you must have had contact with more than one government official. And last, you have to spend 20 percent or more of your time on behalf of a client in three-month period.
"Calling it a 'ban' on lobbying isn't really true," LaPira said. "It's a ban on lobbying that meets this unreasonably strict definition."
So unless Trump changes the definition of a lobbyist (which he has promised, vaguely), lobbying "in the shadows" will continue.
A POSSIBLE TIMELINE
Trump could sign an executive order to establish the five-year ban on lobbying for White House officials on the afternoon of Jan. 20.
That leaves four years (at least) for Congress to pass these promised rules into law.