Brian Johnson

Nonprofit Groups File New Request for Probe of SEIU Lobbying

SEIU logoThe Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is among the many partners that the Obama administration has relied upon in its ongoing effort to socialize the U.S. economy. Indeed, the SEIU has been a special partner. That's because President Andrew Stern has operated as a lobbyist all but in name. A major Washington, D.C. conservative nonprofit organization and a related group are putting the union on alert that this may be illegal. For the second time in less than a month, Americans for Tax Reform and an affiliate, the Alliance for Worker Freedom, have asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether White House visits by a top union official exceeded the allowable threshold for persons not registered as lobbyists. The last time around, the inquiry centered upon Stern. This time around, it is focusing on the union's secretary-treasurer, Anna Burger.

SEIU President Andrew Stern Is Frequent White House Visitor; May Have Violated Lobbying Laws

Andrew SternAndrew Stern is a close friend of President Barack Obama. That's hardly a revelation. His organization, the Service Employees International Union, spent more than $60 million to get him elected. And President Obama has made clear that he is fully committed to promoting the political goals of organized labor. But Stern may have gone outside federal law in his nearly two dozen documented White House visits through this mid-September. The SEIU president is a former registered lobbyist, but has been acting as though he is still one. A prominent Washington, D.C. nonprofit group and one of its affiliates recently sent a long letter recommending a federal investigation into the possibility that he's blurred the distinction between political support and lobbying.

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