Today the Blog of the Legal Times reports that a former commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Suedeen Kelly, will co-chair lobbying firm Patton Boggs' energy industry practice. For those unfamiliar with FERC, it is the independent agency responsible for regulating the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil (a full list of their duties can be found at the link). Kelly served at FERC from 2003 to 2009, and declined President Obama's nomination for a third term, saying that 11 years at the commission would be too much.
It is worth noting that if she had accepted the nomination, she would have been subject to the President's Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel Executive Order, which required every political appointee, appointed after January 20, 2009, to sign an ethics pledge that included a revolving door ban. It is likely that Kelly is among the 432 appointees exempted from the pledge (since she was appointed before January 20, 2009) that the U.S. Office of Government Ethics reported in March. POGO obviously has grave concerns about individuals passing swiftly through the revolving door between the government and the private sector. But among the worst of these cases are instances when someone who was entrusted with overseeing private companies in a regulatory or oversight capacity goes on to accept a job in the sector that they oversaw.
-- Mandy Smithberger
Addendum: Amy Butler from Ares pointed out that yesterday marks the six-year anniversary of Darlene Druyun's guilty plea. While evaluating bids for the massive KC-X tanker contract, Druyun inappropriately negotiated with Boeing for a job for herself and members of her immediate family.
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