When is a lobbyist not a lobbyist?: Ask the

Well, he is the head of a powerful labor union. Someone on Capitol Hill sent me this.

Q: What is the issue?

A: Andy Sterns of SIEU appears to be lobbying but is not registered as a lobbyist.*


Q: What makes you say he appears to be lobbying?

A: According to the White House Visitors Logs, between January 20, 2009 and August 13, 2009, Stern visited the White House 22 times (meeting with the President, Vice President, Rahm Emanuel, and Peter Orszag).
In addition, news articles have reported during that during 2009 Stern has held numerous meetings with Members of Congress and Senators. (See attached)
Stern also discusses meeting legislative and executive officials on his Twitter.com page. (See attached)


Q: Isn’t Andy Stern just meeting with political leaders like any other organization head? I mean, we can’t really prove he is lobbying, right?

A: Maybe, but lobbying is defined by spending 20% of time on lobbying/lobbying related activities.
And on his 2008 LM-2 form (the most recent available), Stern reported spending 24% of his time on politics and lobbying.
And that was when he spent zero time at the White House.**

So is a non-lobbyist lobbying the President and his Administration?

If Sterns is an unregistered lobbyist then each of his White House meetings would be illegal. . . .