People should take a closer look at think tanks, the media and how government employees are using their positions to profit from private sector career moves. Proponents for loose regulation over revolving door policies argue experience outweighs the costs of leaving widespread loopholes. There should be strong regulations here, and none of this activity should be permitted when there are conflicts of interest. People know how to game the system, and this is causing all sorts of problems, especially when it comes to the national debt.
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| Sources: U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product [GFDEGDQ188S], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GFDEGDQ188S, August 24, 2026. |
Right now there are some regulations such as cooling-off periods. Current regulations are thin, and policy goes back and forth between shorter and longer cooling-off periods. This doesn't work here. Some of the regulations prohibit taking a position where there is a really direct conflict of interest. Often times former government officials get board seats at large companies or think tanks. Anyone can sit on a board.
This one guy went from a top government position, then years later received a board seat at a top contractor. Then, he gets a position with another contractor. He leaves the first contractor with millions in stock. While he sits as a board chair at a think tank, he has worked for Fox News as a regularly appearing strategic analyst for decades.
This happens all the time across different industries. Some may argue for transparency, but this type of behavior really should not occur. Voters don't have time to conduct this type of in-depth research on all kinds of issues. That's what politicians are for. They're supposed to do the research and act in our best interests.
