Exit stage right for Republican aides, lobbyists

By Kevin Drawbaugh - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Let the purge begin.

Now that Democrat Barack Obama has won the presidency, thousands of Republican aides and lobbyists -- many with close ties to U.S. business and industry -- will lose their Washington jobs.

For business groups closely allied with Republicans, the transition will mean being on the outside looking in -- at least for a while -- at a new administration with a much less amenable tone.

It will mean forging relationships with new cabinet secretaries, agency directors and chiefs of staff.

"With the election of Barack Obama and gains for Democrats in the House and Senate, businesses both large and small can count on a radically different landscape in Washington," said Maurice Baskin, a lawyer at the firm of Venable LLP.

The Washington power structure changes regularly, with one group of sages, influence peddlers, spinmeisters and policy wonks exiting the stage, and another bunch coming in.

The current transition really got under way in 2006, when the Democrats seized control of Congress and private-sector lobbying shops began hiring more Democrats.

A richer prize awaits Obama -- more than 3,000 political appointee jobs in the government, ranging from White House advisers to cabinet secretaries to chairs of agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"There will be a handful of people Obama will keep from the Bush administration ... but it will be a pretty clean house when it's all said and done," said Paul Light, professor of public service at New York University.

The incoming administration will soon request the resignation of all political appointees as of January 20, Inauguration Day, then decide who to keep.

The process normally takes months, although Obama could set a new speed record because of post-9/11 rules that allow for pre-election FBI vetting of some transition team members.

"Maybe 100 to 150 Obama appointees have gone through this clearance process, and they'll have a head-start on the appointments process on January 20," Light said.

"But I still expect it to be slow ... Obama will be very lucky to have his cabinet and sub-Cabinet in place by January 20, 2010. It's just a long process."

NAME GAME

The name game -- a regular ritual in which insiders guess who will fill the top posts -- is high gear.