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Trump’s lobbyist ban complicates administration hiring

FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2016, file photo, the HealthCare.gov 2017 web site home page as seen in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump says he wants to preserve health insurance coverage even as he pursues repeal of the Obama-era overhaul that provided it to millions of uninsured people. How his administration handles a pending lawsuit over billions of dollars in insurance subsidies will reveal whether Trump wants an orderly transition to a Republican-designed system or if he’d push “Obamacare” over a cliff. Stripping away the subsidies at issue in the case would put the program into a free-fall. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2016, file photo, the HealthCare.gov 2017 web site home page as seen in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump says he wants to preserve health insurance coverage even as he pursues repeal of the Obama-era overhaul that provided it to millions of uninsured people. How his administration handles a pending lawsuit over billions of dollars in insurance subsidies will reveal whether Trump wants an orderly transition to a Republican-designed system or if he’d push “Obamacare” over a cliff. Stripping away the subsidies at issue in the case would put the program into a free-fall. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

By Associated Press November 16, 2016 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp” of Washington might make it difficult for him to fill his administration.

Trump’s ethics plan calls for a ban on all executive-branch officials from lobbying for five years after leaving their government jobs. That’s one of several policies aimed at curbing the influence of lobbyists.

His campaign released his plan three weeks before Election Day.

Now, the Republican president-elect is racing to hire some 4,000 executive-branch employees. His ethics plan could give some job-seekers pause because it limits how they can earn a living when they decide to leave the administration.

“This will have a chilling effect on his hiring, no doubt,” said Paul Miller, who leads the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics. “We don’t want career politicians.”