Inside Google

Press Release

Obama Urged To Halt Google Government Takeover – Stop The Revolving Door

CONTACT: Cade Metz

Two consumer watchdogs – including the aptly-named Consumer Watchdog – have urged US President Barack Obama to avoid appointing Google’s director of global public policy as the country’s deputy chief technology officer.

Google Lobbyist Unfit for Deputy CTO Job, Say Critics

Erika Morphy

President Obama reportedly is poised to name Andrew McLaughlin,
a former Google executive, as U.S. deputy CTO. The choice rankles the
heads of two advocacy groups, who maintain that McLaughlin’s work as a
lobbyist on behalf of Google makes him unsuitable for the government
policy development role.

Growing White House Ties To Google Draw Protest

Patrick Thibodeau

Consumer Groups Object To Expected Selection Of Google Exec To Deputy CTO Post

Andrew McLaughlin, Google’s director of global public policy, is
expected to be appointed U.S. deputy chief technology officer,
reporting to federal CTO Aneesh Chopra. Both are new White House positions. Two groups, the Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Watchdog,
yesterday urged Obama not to appoint McLaughlin to the post. In a
letter signed by Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for
Digital Democracy and and John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer
Watchdog, the groups said that McLaughlin "has been a lobbyist for the
biggest digital marketing company in the world, and we believe no
special-interest connected person should assume a position of vital
importance to the country’s future."

Obama’s Googler Draws Fire

Alexei Oreskovic

A pair of consumer advocacy groups sent the White House a letter on
Wednesday urging the administration not to appoint Google’s Andrew
McLaughlin to the post, a move reported to be in works by several media
outlets. McLaughlin is Google’s director of global public policy. That means he
has been “responsible for Google’s worldwide lobbying efforts,” said
the letter from Consumer Watchdog and Center for Digital Democracy. Obama has issued an executive order barring anyone who has worked as a
lobbyist in the past two years from serving in a federal agency that
they lobbied.

Ex-Googler’s New White House Job Rankles Some

Amy Schatz

Andrew McLaughlin’s departure from Google to the Obama administration
has prompted a little grumbling among some consumer advocates and the
search giant’s corporate foes. “We do not object to Mr. McLaughlin’s appointment because he is
associated with Google per se. The problem is that he has been a
lobbyist for the biggest digital marketing company in the world, and we
believe no special-interest connected person should assume a position
of vital importance to the country’s future,” wrote John M. Simpson,
founder of Consumer Watchdog, and Jeffrey Chester, founder of the
Center for Digital Democracy.

Google’s influence grows in the W.H.

Chris Frates

Consumer groups urged the White House on Wednesday to back off its
reported pick for deputy chief technology officer because he was listed
as a registered lobbyist for Google. Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy said Andrew
McLaughlin, the head of Google’s global public policy, would break
President Barack Obama’s executive order barring lobbyists from serving
in policy areas they lobbied in the previous two years.

Press Release

Google’s Former Policy Exec Faces Objections To Appointment As Deputy CTO

CONTACT: Thomas Claburn

Two consumer groups object to Andrew McLaughlin’s potential appointment, saying it would violate President Obama’s ethics guidelines.

Andrew McLaughlin is slated to become the new deputy CTO, under federal
CTO Aneesh Chopra, according to a New York Times report citing two
unnamed sources. Google has acknowledged McLaughlin’s departure, but not his
destination. The White House has not yet announced plans to appoint
McLaughlin. Nonetheless, the Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Watchdog on
Wednesday asked President Obama in a letter not to complete the rumored
pending appointment because doing so would violate the President’s
ethics guidelines.

Critics Rip Obama’s Proposed Google Pick

Roy Mark

As rumors swirl that President Obama plans to appoint Google’s Andrew McLaughlin as White House deputy chief technology officer, consumer watchdogs bay over possible ethics violations. "Mr. McLaughlin is very good at what he does — lobbying around the
world for Google’s interests," said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate
at  Consumer Watchdog. "That’s not what this job requires. It should
not go to any person whose most recent position has been advocating
policy for a technology company."

Obama’s Rumored Tech Pick Panned

Andrew Noyes

A pair of watchdogs on Wednesday urged the White House not halt the
pending appointment of Google’s top global public policy executive to
the position of deputy chief technology officer under CTO Aneesh
Chopra, saying it would violate the intent of President Obama’s ethics
rules. Although the choice of Google’s Andrew McLaughlin for the
position has been widely reported, it has yet to be announced.

Opposing Obama’s Deputy CTO Pick

Allan Holmes

Two consumer groups have lined up to oppose President Obama’s pending appointment
of Google’s Andrew McLaughlin as deputy chief technology officer in the
White House. In a letter to Obama, John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog (formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights), and Jeffery Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy,
said McLaughlin’s position as Google’s director of global public policy
violates the intent of the president’s ethics rules to stop the
revolving door between lobbyists and the executive branch.