WASHINGTON — Two influential progressive lawmakers are raising concerns about what they say is excessive corporate influence at the Commerce Department, escalating a clash between the left wing of the Democratic Party and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Washington State Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, sent a letter to Raimondo on Wednesday, criticizing what they described as a preponderance of former technology industry lobbyists who are helping to shape digital policy at the Commerce Department.
“The abundance of Big Tech alumni within the department raises concerns that the needs of consumers, workers, and small businesses are ignored in favor of Big Tech’s profits and priorities,” Warren and Jayapal wrote in the letter.
The letter includes a list of questions about how Raimondo is guarding against conflicts of interest, particularly as she leads negotiations over digital trade policies with Europe and Asia. It comes on the heels of a recent report detailing the ties of former technology executives in Raimondo’s office: her deputy chief of staff, Luis Jimenez, was a member of the government affairs team at Alphabet Inc.’s Google for four years, and her deputy White House liaison, Calynn Jenkins, worked on Amazon.com Inc.’s public policy team.
A Commerce spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Raimondo is helping to lead conversations within the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council as well as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, two key efforts to forge trade rules that would affect the major technology companies. Trade policies brokered under previous administrations have enshrined certain rights for tech companies such as Google and Amazon, dissuading countries from regulating them.
Warren and Jayapal wrote that it’s Raimondo’s responsibility to “raise ethical standards and crack down on corruption,” adding that it’s “disappointing that you have chosen not to do so.”
The lawmakers wrote that the “use of the revolving door is not a new problem at the Commerce Department” — a review found that more Commerce Department officials registered as lobbyists before and after their tenures than any other Cabinet department.
Commerce is charged with acting as the liaison between American businesses and governments worldwide.
Warren has been castigating Raimondo for months, criticizing her for defending U.S. tech companies against European regulation as well as her meetings with corporate executives. After facing pressure from activist groups, Raimondo earlier this year said that she supported antitrust legislation to pare back the power of the technology giants.
