‘The chokehold that corporate giants and the rich hold over our political system is not new.’
Progressive Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), are calling on the Senate not to confirm C-suite level corporate executives or lobbyists to future administration posts.
In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), left-wing House members, including 39 progressive groups, signed a letter asking that they oppose these nominees, The Hill reports.
“One of the most important lessons of the Trump administration is the need to stop putting corporate officers and lobbyists in charge of our government,” they wrote. “As elected leaders, we should stop trying to make unsupportable distinctions between which corporate affiliations are acceptable for government service and which are not.”
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In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, Democratic Reps. Katie Porter, Ayanna Pressley, Barbara Lee, Pramila Jayapal, Rashida Tlaib, and more, signed the letter.
Raúl Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, drafted the letter, and noted “it’s not addressed to Biden, but there’s an understanding that he’d be in charge and be the person making nominations,” he said.
“Ending the practice of filling cabinet and sub-cabinet posts with current or former corporate officers and lobbyists is not to offer a commentary on each individual person’s character. It is to make a statement of principle,” the group wrote.
The letter’s signees also include prominent liberal groups like Our Revolution, which has ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which is supported by Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
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“Despite the unrivaled corruption of the Trump administration, the chokehold that corporate giants and the rich hold over our political system is not new,” said Illinois Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, who also signed the letter. “Their power and influence in American politics has been growing for years.”
The letter’s authors warn Democrats not to appoint any of their own corporate buddies or officials after criticizing Trump’s appointees.
“Just imagine explaining to the American people why those names, with those affiliations, are unacceptable, but similar names with similar-sounding affiliations are not only unobjectionable, but necessary to the proper functioning of the federal government,” they wrote. “The revolving door needs to stop, not just change direction every few years.”
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