There is no reason why a foreign government should be permitted to lobby Congress or the Executive Branch, let alone interfere in our elections. If a foreign government wants to share its views with the United States or to influence its decision-making, it should do so through regular diplomatic channels. The Biden Administration will bar lobbying by foreign governments; and it will require that any foreign business seeking to lobby must verify that no foreign government materially owns or controls any part of it.
Such a move would be, to say the least, drastic. It would also, interestingly, largely mirror Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren’s proposals to curtail foreign lobbying in the U.S. (Warren’s proposal went even further than Biden’s, banning lobbying for any foreign entity, linked to a government or otherwise.) Biden’s proposal would appear to also ban Americans from lobbying on behalf of government-related figures, such as we saw play out with Rudy Giuliani’s relationship with those close to Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash, as well as other figures in Venezuela and Turkey.
It also builds on Biden’s other lobbying-related proposals. These policies include expanding regulations on those who are required to register as lobbyists, forcing them to disclose their work in greater detail, and requiring elected officials “to disclose monthly any meetings or communications with any lobbyist or special interest trying to influence the passage or defeat of a specific bill.” As POLITICO noted, Biden also “proposed legislation barring lobbyists from fundraising for politicians they lobby or donating to their campaigns.” Biden’s campaign proposals culminate in the creation of the Commission on Federal Ethics, a new independent agency that would “have the authority to enforce its own subpoenas,” as well as “refer matters for criminal investigation to the DOJ.”
It’s unclear, legislatively, how things like the ban on foreign lobbying would come to pass in a bipartisan Congress. There are also concerns, just as we saw with Warren’s proposal, about the ban’s efficacy on constitutional grounds; after all, the right to petition remains protected by the First Amendment.
But Biden’s proposals, much as we saw with Warren’s campaign (and Senator Bernie Sander’s), would present a significant step forward in efforts to combat the kind of subterranean. It would also hammer the business model of numerous American PR shops and lobbyists, including some who remain supporters of Biden – such as Larry Rasky, who worked as a consultant for Azerbaijan’s despotic government before helping run a pro-Biden Super PAC.
Most importantly, Biden’s proposal, if realized, would present a substantial blow to the means with which crooked officials and kleptocratic governments are able to tilt American policy, both foreign and domestic.