Lobbyists Irked that Conservatives Don't Feel Guilty

Politico reports that 300 K Street lobbyists met with the conservative Republican Study Committee, a group within the House GOP caucus last week–and were irritated that the conservatives did not express guilt for the recent government shutdown. Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman note:

Several attendees said they were frustrated the lawmakers did not address what they described as “the elephant in the room” on what they learned from the shutdown and whether they planned to force a similar standoff early next year when stop-gap government funding and the debt ceiling will be voted on again.

“Nobody asked what everyone wanted to ask them,” said one attendee.

“…The shutdown was not brought up or referred to,” said one lobbyist in the meeting. “I would have thought maybe they would feel the need to talk about what was accomplished, how to move forward.”

No one asked–perhaps because K Street is so used to running things that it assumes it shouldn’t have to ask. How refreshing that some members of Congress don’t feel they have to answer to K Street in advance.