Christopher DeLacy is a partner at Holland &
Knight's
Washington, D.C. office
While many are familiar with the federal government's myriad
post-employment restrictions, less well known are
pre-employment restrictions. One example of a pre-employment
restriction is contained in the
Lobbyist Disclosure Act which in Section 21 contains the
following pre-employment restriction which is codified at 19 U.S.C. § 2171(b)(4):
(4) A person who has directly
represented, aided, or advised a foreign......in any trade
negotiation, or trade dispute, with the United States may not be
appointed as United States Trade Representative or as a Deputy
United States Trade Representative.
This provision has been scrutinized recently in connection with
the current U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) nominee and
the
White House has weighed in with a Clinton-era Department of
Justice Opinion stating the provision is unconstitutional...and
thus has no legal effect. The nomination is
