Q&A on the News

Q: I understand that President Donald Trump is enforcing a policy where there will be no lobbying for foreign countries allowed. My question is, does this include Israel or will they be permitted from that? —Eldridge Holland, Atlanta

A: The executive order that Trump signed Jan. 28 permanently restricts political appointees from representing any foreign government as a lobbyist after they leave their service.

Specifically, the order requires “every appointee in every executive agency” appointed on or after Jan. 20, 2017, to sign and be contractually committed to an ethics pledge. The pledge promises, among other things, not to “engage in any activity on behalf of any foreign government or foreign political party which, were it undertaken on January 20, 2017, would require me to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended.”

The order also prohibits officials from engaging in other lobbying activities for five years after they leave and includes enforcement measures for the ethics pledge.

The executive order is meant to keep officials from profiting off of their government service in the future.

The Hill, a newspaper/ website that covers Washington, recently reported White House press secretary Sean Spicer as saying that individuals coming into government should understand they will be “serving the country and not yourself.”