“In additionrnto abiding by the limitations of paragraph 4, I also agree, upon leavingrnGovernment service, not to lobby any covered executive branch official orrnnon-career Senior Executive Service appointee for the remainder of thernAdministration.”  </p

So howrndo this rule and Steven’s new job coexist? rn</p

Tim Rood, Partner and Managing Director of CollingwoodrnLLC said that Stevens could find himself somewhat hamstrung when it comes tornpolicy aspects of his new job.  He cited recent rumors that conventional mortgages might be subject to riskrnretention rules under the Dodd-Frank Act. rn”This could prove to be challenging because Stevens will have lotsrnof constituents pushing for MBA to work for a reversal of the rule, and hernmight have to leave it all up to his staff.”  Rood pointed out that, if President Obama isrnreelected, Stevens might have to isolate himself from the Administration forrnsix long years.   </p

Ofrncourse, there are three branches of government, and the Revolving Door Rulernonly applies to the Executive one.  Stevensrnis an old hand at working with Congress and given the amount of time he has spentrntestifying to various House and Senate Committees, he probably knows the playersrnwho deal with housing, finance, and the economy as well as anyone.  Still, with the Republicans very much inrncontrol of the show on the House side and the Democrats barely hanging on tornpower in the Senate, choosing a representative fresh out of a Democraticrnadministration to be the face of your organization on the Hill is a little quixotic.rn</p

A HUD spokesperson said that as soon as Stevens entered discussions withrnMBA he began working closely with the HUD’s Office of General Counsel torn ensurernhe complied with both the letter and the spirit of the Obama Administration’s “Revolving Door Ban” .  Stevens, the spokesman said, willrnrecuse himself from any matters that come to the FHA involving MBA or itsrnaffiliated groups between now and March 31 when his resignation becomesrneffective.  Once he is officiallyrnemployed by the association he will conduct himself in conformance with the lobbyingrnrules.  “It is critical,” thernspokesperson said, “that there not be even an appearance of a conflict of interestrnbetween Mr. Steven’s present and future roles.” </prn

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