An Obama Tradition Continues: Biden Taps Facebook Lobbyist for Top Admin Post

President-elect Joe Biden on Friday announced the selection of Louisa Terrell as his legislative affairs director. Like most of the people Biden has tapped for senior roles in his administration, Terrell formerly worked in lobbying shops for controversial corporations such as Facebook, Yahoo, and McKinsey & Company.

The decision is in keeping with former president Barack Obama's proud tradition of hiring corporate lobbyists—despite explicitly campaigning against the influence of such lobbyists in Washington. Terrell is merely the latest former lobbyist to earn a senior role in the Biden administration.

Biden's incoming chief of staff, Ron Klain, previously lobbied on behalf of U.S. Airways, AOL Time Warner, Fannie Mae, and ImClone, a pharmaceutical company whose CEO was convicted of fraud. His deputy chief of staff, Jen O'Malley Dillon, cofounded an "integrated strategy and marketing agency" that was recently hired to represent private equity firms. The incoming counselor to the president, Steve Ricchetti, previously lobbied for AT&T, Eli Lily, and the American Bankers Association.