Heh - I love it - Lobbyists and Trump

A bit of panic on K Street - from BuzzFeed:

Lobbyists Have No Clue How They’re Going To Work Under A Trump Administration
To lobbyists, the election of a new president usually means new jobs, new access to the corridors of power — and, by default, more influence for their clients.

But President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to “drain the swamp.” His transition team recently purged a number of registered lobbyists and announced a lobbying ban for those who want work in the administration. Virtually no one on K Street — the button-down power corridor of Washington — has any idea what is actually happening or what it will mean for their business.

Increasingly on edge are Democratic lobbyists. One of the most powerful Democratic lobbyists in Washington, Heather Podesta (whose former brother-in-law John Podesta ran Hillary Clinton’s failed campaign this year), wrote in an email to unnerved clients that their hard-earned influence dollars will still be well spent with her firm.

Do not count your chickens before they hatch, Heather. Trump is playing his cards perfectly:

But at least in the early stages of this year’s transition, Trump and his crew are turning that pattern on its head.

“The reality is that right now, Trump world is very small so access is very limited,” said Kyle Downey, president of Downey Communications and a veteran Republican strategist.

“Anybody who says they know how this going to work is kidding themselves, and their clients,” said a lobbyist with a bipartisan shop. “A lot of lobbyists are scrambling, because the biggest issue is access.”

The transition is being run by a tight group of advisers — many of which were the same people behind Trump’s campaign — many of whom don’t have deep connections to Washington. Most notably are his children Ivanka, Donald Jr., and Eric, who while all accomplished in the business world haven’t been players in any legislative or regulatory battles, nor have they spent years developing the normal relationships in Washington that would help lobbyists.

Looking forward to the next year.