Recently, the Washington Post and CBS teamed up on an investigation that has now cost Congressman Tom Marino (R-PA) his nomination as the next Drug Czar. It is an incredible report, deeply sourced, with amazing details on how industry worked with Congress to gut DEA’s ability to prosecute drug trafficking abuses and deepened a horrific opioid epidemic in the U.S.
Many watchers have already latched on to the financial ties between industry and government. However, as troubling as they may be, it appears no laws were broken. No bribes were reported. Campaign contributions appear to conform to the letter of the law. Yet something feels clearly corrupt in this story. Which brings us to why the report is devastating on another front: it is a stunning display of institutional incompetence.
Congress as an institution, in a bipartisan fashion, both professionally and politically, failed. And its failure illustrates by far the most common form of influence in today’s Congress. This was not a case where 535 members of Congress were corrupted by a few thousand dollars of campaign contributions. This was a case where 535 members and their staffs didn’t know any better. This investigation did not uncover a crime; it exposed an institution in decline. Congress, in this instance, was unable to prevent the worsening of a national crisis because it didn’t know what it was doing.
Lobbying Influence
The bill at the heart of the investigation is not a major bill. It is short and obscure. If you read it, you would likely have no clue what it does. And it’s a perfect example of where lobbying has the greatest influence.
Contrary to popular belief, lobbyists often do not have their biggest impact on major legislation. The intense scrutiny major legislation receives and the rich information environment in which it is debated means much more competition for lobbyists trying to affect legislation. Multiple studies illustrate that Congress is not a vending machine: money in does not necessarily equal results out. So while lobbyists have an impact on major legislation, it is not often where the lobbying industry thrives. Instead, complex, low-salience issues are where lobbyists wield the most potent influence.
These minor bills comprise the overwhelming bulk of legislation Congress passes each year. Most of their work is on issues you’ve likely never heard of: removing restrictions on land transfers; improving services for older youth in foster care; increasing helium reserves at hospitals. These obscure and generally uncontroversial bills rarely make national headlines but take up the lion's share of Congress’s time.
This was true -- until a few days ago -- of the law that was the subject of the WaPo/CBSinvestigation. The bill was obscure when Congress passed it, and it remained so when President Obama signed it into law. Unless you have intimate knowledge of the authorizing statutes for the Drug Enforcement Agency, the internal mechanisms of the Department of Justice, and the Controlled Substances Act, you probably had no clue what this bill did. And that’s the point.
One of the investigation’s key characters is Linden Barber, a former DEA official who was the top lawyer at the Office of Diversion Control, which is charged with litigating abuses from industry and distributors. Barber left government for a better paying job in the private sector. Ultimately, he became a lobbyist that pushed the idea for legislation on Capitol Hill, finding champions for a bill that would weaken his former office’s ability to enforce the law.
The revolving door is nothing new to federal government, and it’s a fact of life on Capitol Hill. Staff and federal officials frequently leave government for the private sector, bringing with them deep expertise and valuable insider knowledge. This gives former government officials critical information advantages and can enable them to maneuver easily on complex issues most people do not understand.
But this was more than just a case of prior experience giving a lobbyist a leg up. This was a situation where expertise in the private sector far outweighed the expertise in either chamber of Congress, laying bare a knowledge gap between the two that many fear is widening.
The way this bill passed illustrates exactly how large - and how dangerous - this knowledge gap has become.
by Joshua C. Huder, Legbranch.com | Read more:
Many watchers have already latched on to the financial ties between industry and government. However, as troubling as they may be, it appears no laws were broken. No bribes were reported. Campaign contributions appear to conform to the letter of the law. Yet something feels clearly corrupt in this story. Which brings us to why the report is devastating on another front: it is a stunning display of institutional incompetence.
Congress as an institution, in a bipartisan fashion, both professionally and politically, failed. And its failure illustrates by far the most common form of influence in today’s Congress. This was not a case where 535 members of Congress were corrupted by a few thousand dollars of campaign contributions. This was a case where 535 members and their staffs didn’t know any better. This investigation did not uncover a crime; it exposed an institution in decline. Congress, in this instance, was unable to prevent the worsening of a national crisis because it didn’t know what it was doing.
Lobbying Influence
The bill at the heart of the investigation is not a major bill. It is short and obscure. If you read it, you would likely have no clue what it does. And it’s a perfect example of where lobbying has the greatest influence.
Contrary to popular belief, lobbyists often do not have their biggest impact on major legislation. The intense scrutiny major legislation receives and the rich information environment in which it is debated means much more competition for lobbyists trying to affect legislation. Multiple studies illustrate that Congress is not a vending machine: money in does not necessarily equal results out. So while lobbyists have an impact on major legislation, it is not often where the lobbying industry thrives. Instead, complex, low-salience issues are where lobbyists wield the most potent influence.
These minor bills comprise the overwhelming bulk of legislation Congress passes each year. Most of their work is on issues you’ve likely never heard of: removing restrictions on land transfers; improving services for older youth in foster care; increasing helium reserves at hospitals. These obscure and generally uncontroversial bills rarely make national headlines but take up the lion's share of Congress’s time.
This was true -- until a few days ago -- of the law that was the subject of the WaPo/CBSinvestigation. The bill was obscure when Congress passed it, and it remained so when President Obama signed it into law. Unless you have intimate knowledge of the authorizing statutes for the Drug Enforcement Agency, the internal mechanisms of the Department of Justice, and the Controlled Substances Act, you probably had no clue what this bill did. And that’s the point.
One of the investigation’s key characters is Linden Barber, a former DEA official who was the top lawyer at the Office of Diversion Control, which is charged with litigating abuses from industry and distributors. Barber left government for a better paying job in the private sector. Ultimately, he became a lobbyist that pushed the idea for legislation on Capitol Hill, finding champions for a bill that would weaken his former office’s ability to enforce the law.
The revolving door is nothing new to federal government, and it’s a fact of life on Capitol Hill. Staff and federal officials frequently leave government for the private sector, bringing with them deep expertise and valuable insider knowledge. This gives former government officials critical information advantages and can enable them to maneuver easily on complex issues most people do not understand.
But this was more than just a case of prior experience giving a lobbyist a leg up. This was a situation where expertise in the private sector far outweighed the expertise in either chamber of Congress, laying bare a knowledge gap between the two that many fear is widening.
The way this bill passed illustrates exactly how large - and how dangerous - this knowledge gap has become.
by Joshua C. Huder, Legbranch.com | Read more:
[ed. The Washington Post does no one any favors by installing a hard paywall (not even themselves, I'd suspect, even if they are making money). It'd be nice if Jeff Bezos' bottom line were a little more nuanced (especially for issues affecting society in general, as the Guardian and NY Times have attempted to do) but it's not. Bezos, and his company Amazon, apparently have no problem using loss leaders if they ultimately result in cornering whatever business category they're focused on, but that doesn't seem to apply to the Washington Post. There's a lot of good journalism being produced there these days and the company could be a lot more influencial if it wanted to be, but it isn't. Because... subscriptions. Hard paywall. Here's another link to the article in question: maybe it'll work, maybe it won't. Probably not, and if so, you'll never know what this story is about.]
