Since 1995, Congress has on three occasions approved legislation to regulate lobbyists' contacts with executive branch officials. Prior to 1995, lobbying laws only required that lobbyists contacting Members of Congress register with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate. Under current lobbying laws, individuals are required to register with the Clerk and the Secretary when lobbying either legislative or executive branch officials. Federally registered lobbyists who wish to lobby executive branch departments and agencies regarding funds provided by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 are subject to additional restrictions pursuant to a series of memoranda and guidelines issued between January and July 2009. This report outlines the development of registration requirements for lobbyists engaging executive branch officials since 1995. It also summarizes steps taken by the Obama Administration to limit and monitor lobbying of the executive branch; discusses the development and implementation of restrictions placed on lobbying for Recovery Act and EESA funds; examines the Obama Administration's decision to stop appointing lobbyists to federal advisory bodies and committees; considers third-party criticism of current executive branch lobbying policies; and evaluates options for possible modifications in current lobbying laws and practices. In 1995, the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) repealed the Lobbying Act portion of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 and created a system of detailed registration and reporting requirements for lobbyists. It included a provision requiring lobbyists to register with Congress and the disclosure of lobbying contacts with certain "covered" executive branch employees. The LDA was amended in 1998 to make technical corrections, including altering the definition of executive branch officials covered by the act. In 2007, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act further amended LDA definitions on covered officials. The Lobbying Act of 1946 focused on lobbyists' interactions with Congress, and was silent on lobbying the executive branch. The LDA, for the first time, included executive branch officers and certain employees by defining them as "covered officials." Section 3 of LDA defines a covered executive branch official as (A) the President; (B) the Vice-President; (C) any officer or employee, or any individual functioning in the capacity of such an officer or employee, in the Executive Office of the President; (D) any officer or employee serving in a position in level I, II, III, IV, or V of the Executive Schedule, as designated by statute or Executive order; (E) any member of the uniformed services whose pay grade is at or above O-7 under section 201 of title 37, United States Code ; and (F) any officer or employee serving in a position of a confidential policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character described in section 7511(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code . Under the LDA, lobbyists who contact these executive branch officials are now required to register with the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate, and to disclose lobbying contacts and activities. The LDA made these requirements identical for covered legislative and executive branch officials and assigned to the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate the responsibility of collecting registration and disclosure statements. In April 1998, the LDA was amended to make technical corrections. Part of the technical corrections was a minor change in the U.S. Code section cited by the LDA defining covered officials. The amendment changed the reference in the LDA from 5 U.S.C. Section 7511 (b)(2) to 5 U.S.C. Section 7511 (b)(2)(B) to reflect the ability to the Office of Personnel Management to exempt a position from the competitive service. The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) of 2007 also amended the LDA. HLOGA did not further alter the definition of a covered executive branch official but did refine thresholds and definitions of lobbying activities, change the frequency of reporting for registered lobbyists and lobbying firms, require additional disclosures, create new semi-annual reports on campaign contributions, and add disclosure requirements for coalitions and associations. Since its inception, the Obama Administration has focused on ethics and the potential influence of lobbyists on executive branch personnel. One of President Barack Obama's first actions was to issue ethics and lobbying guidelines for executive branch employees. These guidelines laid the foundation for formal lobbying restrictions issued in July 2009. On January 21, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13490, "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel." The executive order created an ethics pledge for all executive branch appointments made on or after January 20, 2009; defined terms included in the pledge; allowed the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the counsel to the President, to issue ethics pledge waivers; instructed the heads of executive agencies to consult with the Director of the Office of Government Ethics to establish rules of procedure for the administration of the ethics pledge; and authorized the Attorney General to enforce the executive order. In a press release summarizing the executive order, the White House explained the ethics pledge and the importance of following ethics and lobbying rules: The American people ... deserve more than simply an assurance that those coming to Washington will serve their interests. They deserve to know that there are rules on the books to keep it that way. In the Executive Order on Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel , the President, first, prohibits executive branch employees from accepting gifts from lobbyists. Second, he closes the revolving door that allows government officials to move to and from private sector jobs in ways that give that sector undue influence over government. Third, he requires that government hiring be based upon qualifications, competence and experience, not political connections. He has ordered every one of his appointees to sign a pledge abiding by these tough new rules as a downpayment on the change he has promised to bring to Washington. Requirement of an ethics pledge above and beyond the general oath of office administered to all government employees reinstates a similar requirement instituted by President William Jefferson Clinton in 1993. The effect of such a policy is undetermined for the recruitment and retention of governmental employees or for the barring of federally registered lobbyists from serving in executive branch positions. On January 27, 2009, just a week after Barack Obama became President, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner announced restrictions on lobbying, by individuals registered as lobbyists, to obtain Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) funds. The guidance was designed to combat potential lobbyist influence on the disbursement of EESA funds, to remove politics from funding decisions, to offer certification to Congress that each investment decision was based "only on investment criteria and the facts of the case," and to provide transparency to the investment process. The guidance classified contacts between federally registered lobbyists and executive branch officials into two broad categories: (1) unrestricted oral communications on logistical questions and at widely attended gatherings and (2) oral communications during the period following submission of a formal application for federal assistance under EESA until preliminary approval of EESA funds. The guidance also covers oral and written communication about EESA policy or applications for funding or pending applications. Restrictions on lobbyist communication with executive branch officials are mirrored in the updated guidelines issued by OMB for the Recovery Act lobbying discussed below. As with the Recovery Act restrictions, federally registered lobbyists may ask logistical questions of executive branch officials responsible for disbursing EESA funds and speak with those officials at widely attended gatherings. All other contacts between federally registered lobbyists and executive branch officials must be documented if they concern EESA policy, applications for funding, or pending applications. In contrast to the Recovery Act guidelines, which restrict contact by all non-governmental persons, the EESA guidelines continue to apply only to federally registered lobbyists. Following the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the White House was concerned about the potential ability of lobbyists to influence stimulus funds that would be allocated by the executive branch. On March 20, 2009, the White House issued a memorandum outlining proposed restrictions on federally registered lobbyists' contacts with executive department and agency officials on stimulus funds. Following a 60-day review and comment period, updated guidance was issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for communication with federally registered lobbyists regarding stimulus funds in July 2009. To ensure the responsible and transparent distribution of funds pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), President Obama, on March 20, 2009, issued a memorandum to the heads of the executive departments and agencies prescribing restrictions on oral communications with lobbyists on Recovery Act funds. In the memorandum's introductory remarks, President Obama stated that, In implementing the Recovery Act, we have undertaken unprecedented efforts to ensure the responsible distribution of funds for the Act's purposes and to provide public transparency and accountability of expenditures. We must not allow Recovery Act funds to be distributed on the basis of factors other than the merits of proposed projects or in response to improper influence or pressure. We must also empower executive department and agency officials to exercise their available discretion and judgment to help ensure that Recovery Act funds are expended for projects that further the job creation, economic recovery, and other purposes of the Recovery Act and are not used for imprudent projects. The President's memorandum outlined four policies for executive branch departments and agencies handing out Recovery Act funds: (1) ensuring that decision making is merit based for grants and other forms of federal financial assistance, (2) avoiding the funding of "imprudent" projects, (3) ensuring transparency for communications with registered lobbyists, and (4) providing OMB assistance to departments and agencies for implementation of the memorandum. To ensure transparency when executive department or agency officials are contacted by federally registered lobbyists for Recovery Act projects, Section 3 of the memorandum provides five guidelines for interaction with lobbyists: 1.