[classicman]

Fact Check: President Obama's State of the Union 2010

Excluding Lobbyists From Administration:

"That's why -- for the first time in history -- my administration posts our White House visitors online. And that's why we've excluded lobbyists from policy-making jobs or seats on federal boards and commissions," the president said tonight.

It is true that the Obama administration became the first to implement a policy disclosing visitors to the White House, but the claim on lobbyists isn't quite right.

Obama signed an executive order in January 2009 barring lobbyists who became members of the administration from working on matters they lobbied on for two years or in agencies they lobbied during the previous two years.
But the president waived the rule for Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, who was a registered lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon before being appointed in January.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk was a lobbyist for investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., and law and lobbying firm Vinson & Elkins LLP in Austin, Texas.

The Obama administration has granted waivers for additional officials who had previously worked as lobbyists. In February, the administration signed waivers for Jocelyn Frye, former general counsel at the National Partnership for Women & Families, and Cecilia Muñoz, the former senior vice president for the National Council of La Raza, allowing them to work on issues for which they lobbied.