Five former lobbyists have been appointed or nominated to President-elect Trump’s Cabinet, signaling he may not be as closed off to these hired guns as he appeared on the campaign trail.

Presidents from both parties have long tapped former lobbyists for high-level positions in their administration. Ron Klain had registered to lobby for clients including Fannie Mae, Time Warner and Cigna more than 15 years before he became President Biden’s first chief of staff, as did Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who previously lobbied for the National Education Association.

Incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department, are both alums of the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, helmed by one of Trump’s top campaign bundlers Brian Ballard and staffed with Trump administration alums.

Wiles, Trump’s campaign co-chair, was also a registered lobbyist with the firm Mercury Public Affairs as recently as the first quarter of 2024.

Former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), Trump’s Transportation secretary nominee; Veterans Affairs secretary nominee and former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.); and U.S. trade representative (USTR) nominee Jamieson Greer have also registered to lobby in recent years.

On the campaign trail, Trump said he’s “not a big person for lobbyists” and floated a ban on government and elected officials becoming lobbyists after they leave public service.

“You have to stop listening to lobbyists. You know, I was not a big person for lobbyists. And if they have even a little access to, like, a president or senator or a congressman or woman, they get a lot of money,” Trump told podcaster and comedian Theo Von, who had asked him about the nearly 1,800 pharmaceutical lobbyists in Washington during an August interview.

Von then asked what could be done to rein in the influence of these lobbyists, who have long been protected by the First Amendment right to petition their government.

“One way you could stop it is to say if you're going to go into government, you can never be a........

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