The Biden administration seems to have discovered a new sport: the high-speed revolving door maneuver. Those at the top are switching back and forth between government jobs and influential environmental nonprofits faster than a politician can change their stance on a hot topic—mainly because they have a vested interest in staying in the game as green advocates cry out about climate change and fossil fuels.
Take, for instance, Tracy Stone-Manning, the current head of the Bureau of Land Management, who has been scrutinized for her past ties to eco-extremist organizations. Come February, she’ll be taking the helm at The Wilderness Society, a nonprofit with a very anti-fossil fuel agenda that has generously donated over $50,000 to progressive political candidates. It seems like a delightful arrangement: push for leftist policies in Washington and then jump to a cushy position where those policies can flourish in the nonprofit sector. A perfect match, like peanut butter and jelly, if the jelly were somewhat radical and anti-American.
‘Revolving door’ may allow Biden admin's top officials to exert influence over agencies they led. It sounds like a clear case of Pay to Play. It was a revolving door spinning faster than ever. https://t.co/CpwSkJl8Bk via @JustTheNews
— Patriotic 🇺🇸Suzanne⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@suzost) December 8, 2024
The “revolving door” in government is so well-oiled that one wonders if it deserves its own lobbyist. Many skeptics are questioning the ethicality of this arrangement, especially as former federal employees with close ties to radical environmental groups are primed to influence future policies from the outside once they leave their posts. Michael Chamberlain of Protect the Public’s Trust laid it out plainly: the very officials who promised ethical integrity now seem to be failing at every turn, shifting to roles that could undermine the national interests they were meant to serve.
Throughout Biden’s term, agencies like the Department of Interior—under which Stone-Manning’s bureau functions—have been excessively cozy with organizations like The Wilderness Society. Documents obtained from Freedom of Information Act requests indicate that lobbyists from the nonprofit have brainstormed with government policymakers on how to advance their agendas. Talk about a match made in regulatory hell: these supposed environmental advocates and public officials conversing away like they are old friends at a coffee shop, making plans to disrupt initiatives that could benefit American energy independence.
Even the great Senator Josh Hawley took the administration to task over these clandestine gatherings, pointing out that meetings with what he calls “left-wing environmentalist pressure groups” are hardly transparent. So much for government accountability. Instead, it seems the very institutions meant to uphold law and order are getting tangled in a web of political favoritism and financial indulgence—all while lobbying for the very policies that could be detrimental to the average American’s pocketbook.
Looking ahead, the semblance of reunification between former officials and their favored environmental nonprofits will likely continue, reinforcing the very policies many Americans are concerned about. While the likes of Stone-Manning vacate their government roles, the deep state stays intact, ready to push their climate warrior agendas from the shadows of previously established influence, showing that real change might be slightly more complicated than a mere change of administration.