By MARY GILBERT
In one of his first acts as president, Barack Obama today signed two Executive Orders and three Presidential Memoranda at a briefing in front of several dozen staff members at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, with the purpose of keeping his campaign promises to increase transparency and openness in government.
In a move that may take some of the new members of his administration by surprise, Obama announced that he is freezing the pay of his top White House staffers. He thanked those affected -- staffers making over $100,000 -- for their willingness to agree to the freeze, saying that it was a mark of their commitment to public service and a recognition of the tough economic times facing the country. "Families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington," he said.
The new president is also setting new rules for lobbyists, saying as he did on the campaign trail that it's time to "close the revolving door" between the White House and K Street. "We need to make the White House the people's house," Obama said, mandating that lobbyists will be subject to stricter ethics restrictions under his administration than any other in history. The rules he put forth today establish a two-year window for lobbyists entering or exiting the administration. Lobbyists who go to work for Obama will "not be able to work on matters you lobbied on or in the agencies you lobbied during the previous two years," while anyone who leaves the administration will not be able to lobby the government for the duration of Obama's tenure in the White House.
Lobbyists are not the only ones facing new limitations, however. All of those who choose to serve under Obama's administration will be required to commit in writing to new ethics rules, the president revealed. And a strict ban on gifts from lobbyists has been set for all executive branch employees.
Obama went on to put government agencies on notice that his administration will take a new approach to the Freedom of Information Act. For too long, "there's been too much secrecy in this city," the president said, insisting that the government should live by the spirit -- not the letter -- of this law and make information available to the public whenever possible. He promised to follow the same standard himself, reiterating that "transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency."
Obama acknowledged that the executive orders he signed today will not, on their own, make government as "honest" as it needs to be. But he expressed his hope that they would "mark the beginning of a new era of openness in our country" and increase public confidence in government. "That's a pretty good place to start," he concluded.
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