EDITORIAL: Put brake on door that revolves

Jul. 5—One of former Sen. Pat Toomey's last official acts before retiring in January was to help block the Enablers Act — a bipartisan bill meant to prevent using cryptocurrency for money laundering and to deter corruption from being included in the defense appropriations bill that was assured of passage.

Toomey was the Senate Banking Committee's ranking minority member. A spokesman at the time said Toomey wanted a public hearing because the bill would have expanded the Treasury Department's regulatory power.

The bill would have required entities that enable financial deals — investment banks, law firms, cryptocurrency companies, investment advisers and others — to conduct basic anti-corruption checks enabling the flow of money into the country.

Since leaving the Senate, Toomey has gone to work for Apollo Global Management, which lobbied about the defense bill; and an adviser to the cryptocurrency company Coinbase, which lobbied against the Enablers Act.

Senate rules preclude a departing senator from lobbying for two years after leaving office, but there is no rule regarding working for companies after working, as a senator, on bills that those companies had lobbied for or against. Congress should adopt a two-year prohibition on any member of the House or Senate going to work for an entity that had lobbied them or their committees.