AOC, House progressives call for ban on corporate executives in a Biden cabinet

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Progressives unveil their agenda under a Biden administration

Fox News contributors Marc Thiessen and Juan Williams weigh in on progressives unveiling their agenda if Joe Biden is elected president.

House progressives and liberal groups Friday called for corporate lobbyists and executives to be shut out from a Biden Administration, drawing a clear line on what they expect if Democrats win the election.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., led a group of 13 Democratic lawmakers in penning a letter to demand that no corporate lobbyists or executives be confirmed to the cabinet. 

“One of the most important lessons of the Trump administration is the need to stop putting corporate officers and lobbyists in charge of our government,” the lawmakers wrote. 

Grijalva was joined by freshman powerhouses Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Katie Porter of California.

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They addressed the letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., since the Senate has the power to confirm a president's nominees. The lawmakers didn't single out former Vice President Joe Biden directly but called for the Senate to deny corporate interests from holding government power "in this or any future administration."

Politico was the first to report on the letter, which was also endorsed by a bevy of progressive and environmental groups, including Indivisible, Justice Democrats, Our Revolution, Greenpeace USA, Sunrise Movement and Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

The lawmakers called out President Trump's cabinet choices as examples of how corporate interests have improperly invaded the government's work, including Rex Tillerson, the former CEO and chairman of Exxon Mobil Corporation, who became Secretary of State; Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, "who spent decades in investment banking and private equity" and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler, "who represented Murray Energy and other fossil fuel producers as a lobbyist before coming to the administration," the letter states.

"Ending the practice of filling cabinet and sub-cabinet posts with current or former corporate officers and lobbyists is not to offer a commentary on each individual person’s character," the lawmakers wrote. "It is to make a statement of principle."

Spokespersons for Biden, McConnell and Schumer did not immediately offer comment to Fox News.

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Some progressives have already laid out an agenda they would like to see Biden enact if he's elected in an effort to pressure the Democrat leftward.

One progressive plan, endorsed by the Squad, is the Working Families Party "People's Charter" that calls for free public healthcare, universal childcare, creating millions of green jobs, canceling student debt, a $15 minimum wage and shifting money away from police departments and toward investments in schools and communities.

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“We’ve always said that electing Joe Biden was a doorway, not a destination,” said Working Families Party National Director Maurice Mitchell. “The People’s Charter is that destination: a nation that cares for all of us, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or how much money is in our pockets.

"We’re going to beat Donald Trump on Nov. 3, and then we’re going to organize to make the vision outlined in the People’s Charter a reality," he added.

Fox News' Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.