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119-s-1850119th Congress

Close the Revolving Door Act of 2025

Sponsored By: Senator Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]

Introduced

Summary

A lifetime ban on former Members of Congress from lobbying and much longer cooling‑off periods for staff. This bill would bar former Senators, Representatives, and certain congressional officers from lobbying Congress for private clients and would extend staff cooling‑off periods to six years.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

5 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.

Ban on hiring recent lobbyists

This bill would bar Members of Congress and their committees from hiring a registered lobbyist or foreign agent for six years after that person left lobbying if the person had a substantial lobbying contact with that Member or committee. Ethics committees could waive the ban only for a compelling national need. The bill also says what counts as a "substantial lobbying contact," such as talks about pending legislation, earmarks, meetings, presentations, or fundraising; casual social contacts would not count. These changes would take effect upon enactment.

Lifetime ban for former lawmakers

This bill would bar former Senators, Representatives, and elected chamber officers from, after leaving office, communicating with or appearing before Members or staff of Congress to influence action on behalf of anyone else. Violations would be punishable under existing criminal law. The ban would take effect upon enactment.

Longer cooling-off for staff

This bill would lengthen the waiting time for certain former congressional staff from 1 year to 6 years before they could do covered lobbying or related work. It would also update headings and wording in the law to focus on staff. These changes would take effect upon enactment.

New lobbyist disclosure website

This bill would require the House Clerk and Senate Secretary to run a joint, searchable website called lobbyists.gov. It would require incorporated lobbying firms with more than 3 registered lobbyists to file a yearly list of former Senators, Members, or senior staff they pay who meet stated thresholds. Filings must include short job descriptions. The site must be downloadable and offer an API, and $100,000 would be authorized for fiscal year 2026 to help build it. Copies of filings would be sent to the U.S. Attorney for review.

Higher fines for lobbying violations

This bill would raise a maximum civil penalty under part of the Lobbying Disclosure Act from $200,000 to $500,000 for the specified violation. The change would take effect upon enactment and increase possible fines for violators.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]

CO • D

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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