There are strict guidelines that limit a former White House staffer's lobbying activity in the private sector. The White House defines lobbying as knowingly communicating to or appearing before any officer or employee of any executive agency on behalf of another (except the Unites States) with the intent to influence official action.
These guidelines also set the tone for public affairs ethics. Here are a few of them:
- Senior appointees cannot, within five years after their termination, lobby any officer or employee of the executive agency in which they were employed.
- Senior appointees within the executive office of the president cannot, within five years of their termination, lobby any officer or employee of any other executive agency with respect to which they had personal or substantial responsibility.
- Lobbying does not include communicating or appearing with regard to any government grant, contract or similar benefit as an officer or employee of an accredited, degree-granting institution of higher education, hospital, a medical, scientific or environmental research institution or a charitable or educational (nonprofit) institution.
Source: White House Office of the Press Secretary