Congress Seeks to Tighten Rules on Foreign Lobbying

Rob Kelner's commentary was included in a Foreign Policy article on the proposed Retroactive Foreign Agents Registration Act (RFARA). The bill strives to close loopholes in FARA and tighten up efforts to combat foreign interference in U.S. politics.

The push for reform is largely influenced by a recent D.C. ruling that dismissed a Justice Department suit against the former Republican National Committee finance chair Stephen Wynn. The DOJ had initially requested Wynn to register as a foreign agent for his lobbying efforts on behalf of China to get the Trump administration to cancel the visa of a Chinese businessman who was seeking asylum in the U.S. According to the court in its dismissal, FARA registration obligations end when the relationship does.

“The Wynn case deals with a very narrow situation and the proposed bill [attempts] to resolve that one very narrow situation,” Rob said.

“One possibility is that [RFARA] will pass and members of Congress will say okay we’ve reformed FARA when in fact they would have accomplished virtually nothing,” Rob added. “But I suppose another possibility is that as this bill moves through the congressional process, maybe some elements of the other bills will be added, but I think if that happens, it’ll probably be far less likely to pass [due to less bipartisan support].”

Rob concluded, “Most members of Congress who have paid any attention to FARA are focused on how to make it tougher when the real problem is that it’s too broad and vague. There’s very little interest in Congress in clarifying FARA and making it narrower and clearer and more targeted.”