The GOP-dominated House may be preparing to crack down on Google’s allegedly “inappropriate” ties with the floundering Obama administration.
To be sure, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has already sent a scathing letter to the White House expressing his concern over the issue.
“The American people have a right to expect that White House employees are working to advance the public interest and not the interests of the lobby shops who formerly employed them,” the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee wrote in a (May) document obtained and quoted by The Hill.
Unsurprisingly, Issa spokesperson Seamus Kraft confirmed that the Committee “will continue to be concerned about consumer privacy issues and the Presidential Records Act,” both of which significantly affect the Mountain View-based company.
However, Google insists that the recent Republican victory in the Congressional mid-term elections will have little impact on its relationship with either the White House or Capitol Hill.
“Technology isn’t a partisan issue,” Google spokesman Mistique Cano told The Hill.
“We’ve [truly] believed for a long time that it’s important to build relationships on both sides of the aisle, and that’s something we’ve done for years.”
Indeed, it should be noted that Google CEO Eric Schmidt – who reportedly maintains close ties to Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) – met with GOP Majority Transition Chairman Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) in his office on Capitol Hill shortly after the elections.
In addition, Mountain View maintains a rather prominent lineup of Republican strategists, including Pablo Chavez, Jill Hazelbaker and Seth Webb.
