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House Republicans are trying to up the ethics ante against Democrats by pushing a plan to make House ethics rules apply to members-elect.
Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told colleagues he will support legislation to “close ethics loopholes for members-elect” when Congress returns in April from its two-week recess, according to a “Dear Colleague” letter Boehner sent to all House Republicans Thursday afternoon.
The new ethics measure would prevent members-elect from penning lucrative book deals with publishers after they are elected to Congress but before they take the oath of office. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and freshman Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) both took advances for book deals while they were members-elect.
Clinton received an $8 million advance on her memoir of her years as first lady, and Murphy took $100,000 on an advance on his memoir Taking the Hill, which was just published.
In 1995, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) returned a large book advance from HarperCollins, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch. The media magnate was lobbying the House at the time. Unlike the Senate, the House has since adopted a prohibition on all book advances for members.
Boehner wrote that the “loophole” for members-elect is a perfect example of the “hollowness” of Democrats’ reforms and should be closed.
In his letter, Boehner included a bullet point about the new ethics legislation entitled: “Washington Is Broken, and Republicans Will Fix It — Even If Democrats Won’t.”
“The American people have every right to expect the highest possible ethical standards from their Congress,” he wrote. “The Democrat-led Congress is lowering the bar.”
A spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) did not immediately respond to a request for comment. |
