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Government agencies should not be allowed to hire lobbyists because they already have the ear of politicians in D.C. Federal agencies are a part of the federal government structure and already have inroads to the budget, legislation, and reporting to the President and Congress regarding progress, change, and recommendations.

Lobbyists are representatives of companies, corporations, special interest groups, and organizations who spend time negotiating with politicians for the benefit of their cause.

The tobacco industry, oil industry, environmental groups, gay advocates, and insurance companies (just to name a few) all have lobbyists who buy meals and gifts for, and talk to, political leaders and players in Washington in attempts to garner support and underwriters for legislation that will benefit their causes.

Already, there are committees in Washington that oversee the funding of government agencies, made up of those same political leaders and players. This often pits the government agencies against the lobbyists, such as when the tobacco industry has been up against the Department of Health and Human Services in recent decades. Lobbyists for government agencies would be a waste of tax payer money and are entirely unneeded, as the needs of the agencies are already known to those in power. The federal agencies are on the federal budget every year as it is. What needs to be done is that those working inside the agencies should be talked to regarding legislation and funding, and they should be forthcoming about their needs. Since legislation forms the government agencies, they have already won the first battle, why then should tax payer money be thrown away at so-called professionals who go to Capitol Hill to schmooze and booze.

The government should pay more attention to their own agencies, but lobbyists don't need to be involved. Instead there needs to be communication between those in government and those running their agencies. There is enough competition between funding the agencies (think National Institutes of Health versus NASA or The Department of Defense) as it is. Lobbyists would turn it into a contest where funds go to the highest schmoozer, rather than the agency that needs them the most. We really can't afford that. Not when federal agencies include the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other food safety and health agencies we all rely on.

Learn more about this author, Alicia M Prater PhD.
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