WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Post is reporting that several leading American businesses have been hesitant to hire Trump’s top officials following his toxic presidency that led to an attempted coup in January. Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, former Attorney General Bill Barr, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are among the high-level Trump officials who have thus far been unable to seek refuge in the corporate sphere following their time in Trump’s inner circle. 

“It’s evident that American companies understand that they cannot live up to their corporate values and bring Trump’s Cabinet on board at the same time,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. “To hire out of Trump’s Cabinet is to reward the administration’s four years of cruelty and corruption. Businesses are right to think long and hard about whether hiring those at the highest levels of the Trump administration is consistent with the values they espouse.”  

“Trump’s inner circle is learning the hard way that even the revolving door of Washington influence has its limits,” said Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight. “The abuses and misdeeds of the Trump administration and its top officials have been well documented, and it’s clear that corporate America wants no part of them.” 

KEY POINTS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 

  • “Headhunters who have sought similarly prominent work for Chao have found little interest, according to two headhunters she’s consulted personally. The headhunters, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions, said top executives wary of backlash from associating with former Trump officials are boiling down Chao’s four-decade Washington résumé to its most recent entry: long-standing ally of Donald Trump, despite her resignation the day after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.”
     
  • “William P. Barr was a fixture on elite corporate boards before a tumultuous two-year stint as the second U.S. attorney general to serve during the Trump era… But he’s unlikely to return to at least one of his former employers. Kirkland & Ellis, the firm where Barr practiced before joining the administration, has no plans to rehire him, said a person familiar with the firm…”
     
  • “Headhunters and other corporate advisers say the calculus for executives at most large, publicly-traded companies is simple. Trump — the only president to be impeached twice, the second time on a charge he incited the mob that assaulted the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the presidential election results — left office with a majority of Americans strongly disapproving of his job performance. He remains a lightning rod for controversy and faces ongoing legal exposure from civil lawsuits and criminal investigations. Offering a board seat to anyone in his inner orbit risks inviting a revolt from customers, employees or shareholders.” 

The Campaign Against Corporate Complicity seeks to prevent normalizing the cruel and undemocratic actions and rhetoric of the Trump administration by ensuring that companies scrutinize former officials looking to sell their government experience as a qualification rather than a disgrace.

# # #

back to top