Ted Cruz and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reach a pact to fight against lobbying: NPR

"Let's make a deal," said Alexandria representative Ocasio-Cortez, New York.
"You are on," agreed Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

The two lawmakers who have often disagreed have found a common ground in a place that often puts forward polarizing opinions: Twitter. It is here that Cruz and Ocasio-Cortez vowed to set aside their differences and work together on new lobbying restrictions for legislators. An unlikely coalition is now forming around their joint efforts.

It started when Ocasio-Cortez tweeted On Thursday morning, members of Congress should not be allowed to become corporate lobbyists.

"At a minimum, there should be a long waiting period," she wrote. Ocasio-Cortez cited a statistic from Public Citizen, in which the rights group said that among former members of Congress who held non-political jobs, almost 60% were beginning to lobby or influence in another way federal politics.

Cruz did not delay intervening.

"That's something I do not say often: on this point, I ACCEPT" with Ocasio-Cortez, Cruz said. He went on to say that he had long called for the lifetime ban of former members of Congress to become lobbyists.

"The Marais hate it, but maybe a chance for bipartite cooperation?" He asked.

In the early afternoon, Ocasio-Cortez said she co-direct an invoice with Cruz – there were no "inserted partisan clauses, no poison pills".

Cruz, who has already discussed with the Democratic recruit on Twitter, D & # 39; agreement.

At least one politician on each side of the aisle has come out to support their pact: Senator Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, tweeted, "IN" and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Free lead or co-sponsor a bill in the House.

Craig Holman, a campaigner for ethics, campaign financing and lobbying for Public Citizen, told NPR he was "encouraging" that Cruz and Ocasio-Cortez had decided to bridge the gap between supporters .

"I'm not sure Congress wants to adopt the proposed lifetime ban," Holman said in an email. He added, "But just signing a left-right deal on the fact that the revolving door is a serious problem that needs to be solved will get things moving."

Neither Cruz's offices nor those of Ocio-Cortez immediately responded to a question from NPR, whether their staff had begun to collaborate on possible legislation.

Washington's so-called revolving door has been running for years. According to OpenSecrets, dozens of former members of Congress have had a career influencing the federal government on behalf of corporations.

Of the almost four dozen lawmakers who left office following the 2016 elections, "one in six became a lobbyist". L & # 39; Atlantic reported. The magazine said the number was even higher after the 2014 session, when "about one in four became a lobbyist".

In the executive branch, at least 187 political members of the Trump administration have previously worked as federal lobbyists, reported the agency ProPublica last year. And many of them were placed in supervisory positions in the same industries for which they had previously lobbied.

Senators who leave office can not become lobbyists for two years under a law passed in 2007. In the House, representatives have a one year retraction period.

"The difference was due to a reform effort led by Sen. Obama at the time, in the 2007 Law on Honest Leadership and Open Government," Holman said. "We tried to secure both chambers, as well as to prohibit strategic consultations during this two-year reflection period, but the House committee chairs revolted and canceled the restrictions. revolving doors for the House ".