Jake JohnsonHealthcare industry lobbyists who are used to exerting significant influence over legislation and committee activity in Washington, D.C. are fretting that they may see their sway diminish after Sen. Bernie Sanders—a vocal opponent of K Street's outsized power—takes over the Senate's top health panel in the new Congress.
"Sanders' well-chronicled antagonism toward lobbyists has some concerned they'll be unable to blunt criticism of their clients' profits or corporate executive salaries," the outlet continued."They are anxious Sanders might seek to revive policies like importing drugs from Canada and other nations, an idea loathed by drugmakers."
Michaeleen Crowell, a lobbyist with the firm S-3 Group who previously worked as Sanders' chief of staff, said it"will not be business as usual for K Street" with the Vermont Independent at the helm of the powerful Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. One lobbyist said healthcare industry influence-peddlers are particularly concerned about how Sanders—a longtime champion of