Carlos E. Bonilla (July 26, 1954 – February 28, 2018) was an American lobbyist, an advisor on economic policy to

U.S. president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, and senior vice president at The Washington Group, a lobbying firm.

Early life and education

Carlos Bonilla was born July 26, 1954, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He obtained an undergraduate degree from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

and a Masters in Economics from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, both in Washington, D.C.

Career

George W. Bush administration

In January 2001, Bonilla joined the

George W. Bush administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following his narrow electoral college vict ...

, where he served as Special Assistant for Economic Policy until early 2003. He worked on the first two tax bills, aviation issues, and pension issues including post-Enron reforms to 401(k) plans and issues related to defined benefit plans. In the aftermath of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, he was responsible for ensuring that trade flows across the borders and through the ports were maintained in light of enhanced security concerns, and participated in a working group on West Coast ports during a 2003 labor dispute, leading to a Taft-Hartley Act injunction.

Lobbyist

In March 2003, Bonilla rejoined the private sector as a lobbyist for The Washington Group, where he represented

BioMarin Pharmaceutical BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. is an American biotechnology company headquartered in San Rafael, California. It has offices and facilities in the United States, South America, Asia, and Europe. BioMarin's core business and research is in enzyme re ...

and

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited was an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company that was incorporated in India in 1961 and remained an entity until 2014. The company went public in 1973. Ownership of Ranbaxy changed twice over the course of its ...

McCain presidential campaign

In 2007, he joined the John McCain presidential campaign as an economic advisor, and resigned in May 2008 after exposure of his ties to convicted lobbyist

Jack Abramoff Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted criminal. He was at the center of an extensive federal corruption investigation, which resulted in his conviction and 21 ...

. The House Oversight Committee reported that Bonilla had accepted two tickets to a football game but did not report any improper actions by Bonilla on behalf of Abramoff.

Other affiliations

Bonilla's other professional affiliations include: * Senior fellow at

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...

* Chief economist for the National Chamber Foundation at the

United States Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is a business association advocacy group and is the largest lobbying group in the United States. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging of President Will ...

and at the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation (IRET). * Chief economist for the Employment Policies Institute focusing on health care and employment issues. * Economist for the House Committee on the Budget under then-chairman

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician and author who was the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001, and a Republican candidate for the pre ...

. * Advisor to the Bush-Cheney campaign on the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act.

Death

He died on February 28, 2018, at the age of 63.

References

External links

Lobbying profile
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector and ...

* 1954 births 2018 deaths American lobbyists American University alumni Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences alumni Latino conservatism in the United States The Heritage Foundation people {{US-poli-bio-stub