{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.casey.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/casey-urges-president-elect-trump-to-make-good-on-promise-to-drain-the-swamp", "Casey Urges President-elect Trump to Make Good on Promise to “Drain the Swamp”", "2016-11-18", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "PA", "Bob Casey", "C001070", "www.casey.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), along with 18 other U.S. Senators, sent a letter urging President-elect Donald Trump to increase transparency during his transition and keep his promises to reduce the influence of lobbyists and corporate special interests during his transition and in his administration.\u00a0 Despite a pledge to limit lobbying by members of the Trump administration, corporate lobbyists and Washington insiders have filled many prominent posts within the Trump transition team so far.\u00a0\r\n\u201cGiven your initial decision to allow lobbyists to dominate your transition team, we call on you to be completely transparent about who is working on your transition team, either officially or as unofficial advisors, and making key decisions about how to staff over 4,000 political appointments,\u201d the Senators write.\u00a0 \u201cFurther, we call on you to follow President Obama\u2019s example and implement strong, transparent and enforceable ethics rules governing your transition and Administration.\u00a0 For instance, President Obama\u2019s transition team did not accept gifts or donations from lobbyists, and your transition should do the same.\u00a0 Additionally, while a limitation on lobbying activities after serving in your Administration is important, you should also include stronger measures, like those adopted by President Obama, that prevent lobbyists who join your Administration from working on policy areas in which they recently lobbied.\u00a0 This will help ensure that officials in the Trump Administration are looking out for the best interests of the American people, not their recently former corporate clients.\u201d\r\nThe letter was also signed by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom Udall (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Al Franken (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Edward Markey (D-MA).\r\nFull text of the letter is below.\r\nDear President-elect Trump:\r\nWe write to urge you to follow through on your promise that you would work to reduce the influence of corporate special interests and lobbyists in our government.\u00a0 As Democrats, we, too, are committed to freeing the political process from the stranglehold of special interests.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\r\nOn the campaign trail, you told voters that you are \u201cfighting for every citizen that believes that government should serve the people, not the donors and not the special interests.\u201d\u00a0 One of your major campaign slogans was \u201cdrain the swamp,\u201d referring to your promise to cleanse Washington of the toxic influence of corporate special interests.\u00a0\r\nYour initial decision to fill your transition team with corporate lobbyists and insiders and solicit donations from them to finance its operation was deeply troubling.\u00a0 While we have been encouraged by subsequent reports that indicate you are requiring lobbyists to deregister in order to stay on the transition team, and are instituting a five-year lobbying ban for officials leaving your transition team and your Administration, we believe clearer actions should be taken to truly insulate your Administration from corporate special interests. \r\nGiven your initial decision to allow lobbyists to dominate your transition team, we call on you to be completely transparent about who is working on your transition team, either officially or as unofficial advisors, and making key decisions about how to staff over 4,000 political appointments. \r\nFurther, we call on you to follow President Obama\u2019s example and implement strong, transparent and enforceable ethics rules governing your transition and Administration.\u00a0 For instance, President Obama\u2019s transition team did not accept gifts or donations from lobbyists, and your transition should do the same. \r\nAdditionally, while a limitation on lobbying activities after serving in your Administration is important, you should also include stronger measures, like those adopted by President Obama, that prevent lobbyists who join your Administration from working on policy areas in which they recently lobbied.\u00a0 This will help ensure that officials in the Trump Administration are looking out for the best interests of the American people, not their recently former corporate clients. \r\nSetting up your transition team and staffing your Administration is the first opportunity you have to prove that \u201cdrain the swamp\u201d was more than just an expedient campaign slogan.\u00a0\u00a0 We sincerely hope that you will implement strong and transparent ethics guidelines to prevent special interests from taking over your Administration before it has even begun.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.casey.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/casey-urges-president-elect-trump-to-make-good-on-promise-to-drain-the-swamp"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2743109837174416, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": 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