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Six watchdog groups are calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to withdraw the official House ethics guidelines on lobbyist-sponsored convention parties and rewrite them to comport with a new, stricter Senate interpretation.
The groups have railed against the House guidelines, arguing that they introduce “gaping loopholes” eviscerating the ethics rules enacted last fall that Democrats promised would help usher in a new era of ethical standards.
“We’re going to send a letter this week to the Speaker asking her to take all possible steps to help get that guidance withdrawn,” said Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21, one of the groups complaining about the rules. “The House guidance creates a pathway for the wholesale circumvention and evasion of the law adopted by the House last year.”
Other groups upset by the House rules include the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
Pelosi’s office did not respond to a request for comment about whether she agrees with the House ethics committee’s interpretation of thea law.
The conflicting Senate and House views on which convention parties will pass legal muster is one more sign that party planners can forget the streamers and balloons for now and instead call their lawyers. For the next few months, this year’s convention parties look like they could be caught up in reams of confusing legal red tape as well as red-hot outrage from ethics watchdogs.
The one-page guidelines on convention parties issued Monday by the Senate Ethics Committee makes it clear that lobbyists or entities that employ them cannot sponsor events honoring a group composed solely of members of Congress. The House ethics panel, in contrast, issued guidelines months ago that said the new rules allow lobbyists to sponsor parties honoring more than one member as long as those members are not mentioned by name on the invite.
The Senate version also clarifies language in the new law barring lobbyists from directly paying for parties or events for a specific member. It does so by forbidding lobbyists or groups that employ them from earmarking money donated to the conventions’ host committees for specific events.
The House guidelines, on the other hand, specifically say that a private organization that receives some of its funding for an event during a national convention from a lobbyist or a private entity that retains lobbyists would not disqualify a member from participating in the event.
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