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How Trump’s swamp-draining words compare with his actions

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump began promising to “drain the swamp” while campaigning, with his rally crowds often chanting along with him. In October he outlined a few proposals he said would get the drainage started: Clamping down on lobbying, fundraising and even the number of terms lawmakers can serve. As president, he can now work to turn slogans into actions. Here’s what he’s done about the “swamp” in his first three months:

Lobbying

Within days of taking office, Trump signed an executive order aimed at limiting the influence of the people who leave government service. The order imposes a lifetime ban on their lobbying on behalf of foreign governments and a five-year freeze on their ability to lobby the executive branch on anything.

The catch: There have been exceptions to these rules. Take Marcus Peacock, who served as a senior budget adviser. He left after 77 days to work for the Business Roundtable, a lobbying group. And ProPublica and The New York Times reported that some administration hires appear to be taking up issues they recently worked on as lobbyists.

Transparency

Last week, the White House said it would not go public with its visitor logs. Obama released those records every three months. Seeing the names of people who come and go can help the public understand who has the ear of the administration on important policy matters.

Trump’s tendency toward concealment should not be a surprise: Breaking from precedent, Trump refused to release his tax forms throughout his campaign and even now — while Democrats threaten to hold up his tax reduction plans over the issue.

Family & (Industry) Friends

Same swamp, different creatures? Trump has hired his daughter and son-in-law as top advisers. Like Trump himself, they stepped back from daily operations of their companies but retained a financial interest in most of them. Government watchdogs have warned this leaves them susceptible to divided loyalties.

And the president has surrounded himself with advisers who aren’t technically White House employees, meaning they don’t have to adhere to its ethics rules. Among that group: billionaire Carl Icahn and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, both named by Trump in press releases as top advisers — but not actual employees.

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