In case you were wondering about the breadth of the impact of the Trump Government Shutdown, here’s a sample, courtesy an AL Monitor mailing, concerning Middle East lobbying of the US Government:
Shutdown shrouds lobbying
One of the unmentioned aspects of the federal government shutdown is its impact on the ability of the public — and journalists — to find out what foreign lobbyists are up to. For the past two weeks, the Justice Department has not been updating its Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) website, because apparently tracking foreign propaganda efforts isn’t an “essential” government function (domestic lobbying filings, however, continue to be updated over on Congress’ Lobbying Disclosure Act website). So blame President Donald Trump, congressional Democrats or whoever else you want for the paltry contents of this week’s newsletter — just don’t blame us!
The glass grows cloudy.
