The Permanent Class: A quiet look at the people who never leave Washington — and who really run it.
They don’t run for office.
They don’t appear on ballots.
And they don’t get voted out when things go wrong.
But they never leave.
The Permanent Class.
You won’t find them on campaign buses or kissing babies on cable news. Their names rarely show up in headlines. But if you trace the fine print of almost any bill that moves through Congress — you’ll find their fingerprints all over it.
These are the people who actually run Washington.
And they’ve been doing it for decades.
The People Who Never Leave
Presidents change. Senators retire. Cabinets reshuffle.
But the real influence — the real continuity — lives in K Street offices, agency backrooms, and taxpayer-funded “advisory roles.”
It’s a shadow circuit:
• Staffers become lobbyists
• Lobbyists become advisors
• Advisors become think tank fellows
• Then the cycle loops right back around
And each time it spins, their grip on power tightens.
Names like:
• Jeff Ricchetti, who managed to lobby the Biden White House while his brother served as Counselor to the President
• Jamie Gorelick, Clinton DOJ veteran turned mega-lobbyist for Amazon, JPMorgan, and Boeing
• Heather Podesta, the “it-girl” of D.C. influence, who moved money for insurers, Big Pharma, and defense clients
• Tony Podesta, who slipped out of the spotlight during the Mueller probe — only to reemerge representing foreign governments and corporate titans
• Eric Ueland, longtime Senate staffer turned Trump White House official, now back in the private sector working deals for defense and energy interests
Different party affiliations. Same client lists.
Their political jerseys may change — but their access never does.
And when they leave their formal titles behind? They don’t vanish. They monetize.
They join panels. They appear on Sunday talk shows. They write op-eds warning of “instability” anytime populists get too close to power.
And when an administration needs a fixer — someone to calm Wall Street or reassure foreign partners — it’s not a freshman senator they call.
It’s someone from the Permanent Class.
How They Keep Power Without Ever Running for Office
The trick is simple: become indispensable.
They don’t just know the system — they are the system.
• They draft legislation
• They ghostwrite speeches
• They vet nominees
• They build transition teams
• They run “stakeholder engagement” calls before the public ever hears about a bill
And they do it all with deniability baked in.
In 2024 alone, more than $4.2 billion was spent on lobbying — more than the total spent on every House and Senate campaign combined.
And that’s just the above-board money.
The real juice flows through revolving-door sinecures and sweetheart consulting gigs — where a six-figure salary is the opening bid. Seven figures if you’ve got international connections or national security credentials.
This isn’t about ideology. It’s about staying close to the levers that move money.
The game isn’t to win elections. It’s to control whoever does.
That’s why they donate to both parties.
Why corporate PACs host bipartisan retreats.
Why the same law firms throw fundraisers for rivals in the same race.
It’s not personal. It’s transactional.
If you get elected, they want you in their debt — and on their calendar.
Where the Real Power Lives
The image of a lobbyist cornering a congressman in a hallway is quaint.
Today’s Permanent Class has evolved.
• They sit on federal advisory panels
• They help write executive orders
• They chair task forces that determine federal spending priorities
• They shape regulatory rules before they’re even proposed
They also dominate the think tank circuit — those glossy, credentialed institutions that flood Washington with white papers and “nonpartisan” policy briefs.
Take your pick:
• The American Enterprise Institute — backed by oil interests and defense firms
• Center for American Progress — linked to healthcare conglomerates and Big Tech
• Heritage Foundation — bankrolled by prison investors and extraction billionaires
• Brookings Institution — flush with Wall Street money and global consulting cash
They sound academic. They publish research. They hold events.
But behind the scenes, their alumni flow seamlessly into government — and back out again, often as highly paid “strategic advisors.”
It’s not a conspiracy.
It’s a conveyor belt.
It’s Not Corruption — It’s the Business Model
This isn’t backroom bribery or duffel bags of cash.
It’s legal. Institutionalized. Polished by decades of precedent.
The real grift is boring:
- Serve in government
- Get access, build connections
- Leave for a private firm
- Use those relationships to influence future decisions
- Cash checks for the next 20 years while calling it “consulting”
You’ll find these players at firms like:
• Teneo — a public affairs behemoth with deep state and corporate ties
• WestExec Advisors — staffed by ex-national security officials, many of whom returned to serve in the Biden administration
• The Cohen Group — founded by former Defense Secretary William Cohen, representing foreign governments and defense clients
You’re not corrupt — you’re just “leveraging your expertise.”
Meanwhile, their clients get access ordinary voters never will.
This is how Big Pharma can meet with regulators months before a drug approval.
It’s how Silicon Valley gets fast-tracked exemptions written into law.
It’s how foreign governments shape U.S. policy without ever setting foot inside Congress.
Through front groups.
Through trade councils.
Through “strategic partnerships” signed off by people no voter ever approved.
The playbook is always the same: create proximity to power, then profit off it.
Why You’ll Never See Reform
Don’t expect Congress to fix any of this. They’re part of the food chain.
Many members already have post-retirement gigs lined up.
Some have spouses or siblings who lobby.
Most rely on lobbyist-written talking points to understand the very bills they’re voting on.
In just the last five years:
• Over 80% of retiring lawmakers have gone into lobbying, PR, or strategic consulting
• At least two dozen senior aides have crossed directly into industries they once “regulated”
• Hundreds of bills were ghostwritten in whole or part by industry reps or external “stakeholders”
Even the journalists who are supposed to watchdog the system?
They need access too — and guess who controls it.
This isn’t an accident.
It’s a fortress.
And every layer is designed to shield the Permanent Class from accountability.
They Don’t Govern — They Engineer Outcomes
You ever wonder why nothing actually changes?
Why healthcare stays broken?
Why we spend more on defense than the next ten nations combined?
Why Congress debates tax cuts for billionaires while kids live in tents?
It’s not just gridlock.
It’s engineered stagnation.
The Permanent Class doesn’t chase public outcomes — they broker private wins.
• Defense spending ensures steady contracts
• Tax cuts lock in donor loyalty
• Regulatory “reform” keeps industries extracting rent from the public
They’re not trying to fix America.
They’re trying to harvest it — piece by profitable piece.
This is why reformers get shut out.
It’s why whistleblowers vanish.
It’s why principled outsiders either burn out or sell out.
The system isn’t broken.
It’s perfectly rigged for the people who built it.
There’s no single lever to pull. No single villain to name.
But there are patterns — and fingerprints.
If a think tank white paper leads to a regulation that helps a donor, that’s not theory — that’s evidence.
If a lawmaker echoes language lifted from an industry memo, it’s not politics — it’s programming.
So What Can You Do?
You can’t burn the whole thing down.
But you can stop pretending this is just a “left vs. right” fight.
The rot isn’t partisan.
It’s structural.
Start naming names.
Start following the money.
Stop giving cover to the people who make sure real reform never gets close to the floor.
Hold unelected power to account — not just elected proxies.
Because until the Permanent Class is exposed for what it is — a shadow government with no mandate and no accountability — we’ll keep playing rigged games with loaded dice.
This isn’t about draining the swamp.
It’s about blowing up the dam behind it.
Final Thought
Lobbyists outlast elections.
Think tanks outlive administrations.
Consultants outmaneuver activists.
And the Permanent Class keeps cashing checks.
They don’t run the country.
They run the people who do.
And until we confront that — nothing else we do will matter.