The Daily 202: Mick Mulvaney’s confession highlights the corrosive influence of money in politics

The Daily 202: Mick Mulvaney’s confession highlights the corrosive influence of money in politics

THIS IS YOUR DEMOCRACY ACCORDING TO MICK MULVANEY: 


“If you’re a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn’t talk to you. If you’re a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you.”

To be clear, not all members of Congress operate this way. Many offices take pride in meeting with people no matter how much money they have given or might in the future. But Mulvaney’s comment appears emblematic of a mentality that pervades Trump’s orbit.

Mulvaney also announced during yesterday’s speech to the bankers he will likely end public access to a database used by consumers to file complaints against financial institutions. “The CFPB database has drawn 1.5 million consumer complaints on financial companies and products since its launch in 2011," the Wall Street Journal’s Yuka Hayashi reports.

… Mr. Mulvaney said the bureau would continue to maintain a toll-free number and a website to gather consumer complaints and forward them to companies, but the database would be hidden from public view.”

Multiple Republicans admitted last fall during the debate over tax cuts that they worried about losing campaign contributions if they didn’t vote for the legislation. “My donors are basically saying, ‘Get it done or don’t ever call me again,’” Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), the first member of Congress to endorse Trump’s presidential campaign, told The Hill in November.

The president himself has repeatedly said that he views politics as transactional. “As a businessman and a very substantial donor to very important people, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal in 2015. “As a businessman, I need that.”

-- Democratic members of Congress are accusing Mulvaney of practicing pay-to-play politics. “This is supposed to be a government by the people, for the people. Not a government of the thieves and the money changers. Mick Mulvaney is a disgrace,” tweeted Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who sits on the Finance Committee.

-- Several Republican senators called for more congressional scrutiny of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s management and spending decisions. From Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey and Mike DeBonis: “The increasingly critical comments from Senate Republicans across the ideological spectrum — from longtime ally James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma to moderate Susan Collins of Maine — come as Pruitt readies for back-to-back appearances before two House committees Thursday in what promises to be a grilling from members of both parties. Pruitt has declined to coordinate with White House officials in preparing for the hearings … Trump has been monitoring the recent coverage of Pruitt, according to aides, and has become increasingly concerned about the constant drumbeat of allegations against the EPA chief.” 

-- The head of Pruitt’s security detail worked for American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, during the 2016 campaign. The New York Times’s Kenneth P. Vogel, Eric Lipton and Jim Rutenberg report: “The security official, Pasquale Perrotta, had received a waiver from the E.P.A. under the Obama administration to hold outside employment, but the work has now become the subject of scrutiny in both the agency and Congress. … According to several people familiar with his work and documents reviewed by The New York Times, some of the activities included physical security, cybersecurity and investigative services involving litigation.

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