Empower Public Liaison as carrot-and-stick gatekeeper over interest groups
Mandate casts OPL as the chief White House enforcer and gatekeeper among interest groups, working best when the Chief of Staff authorizes both carrot and stick, with an outsized role in presidential scheduling and travel.
Mandate
Mandate Ch. 1 (White House Office) — Office of Public Liaison: OPL is the chief White House enforcer and gatekeeper among interest groups; it has operated best when the Chief of Staff gave permission to use both the proverbial carrot and stick; OPL has had an outsized role in presidential scheduling and official/political travel; Director should come from the campaign or Capitol Hill, not K Street.
Undo plan
1) Strip OPL of punitive gatekeeping over access to the President based on group loyalty; restore viewpoint-neutral stakeholder calendars for official meetings.
2) Separate official scheduling from political fundraising/party enforcement; document Hatch Act compliance for travel.
3) Require disclosure of OPL-brokered meetings that affect pending rules or grants.
4) Recenter OPL on listening sessions and two-way civic engagement, not punishment of “frenemies.”
5) Verify: published visitor/meeting logs; ethics reviews of access-for-alignment practices.