LobbyComply Blog

On March 19, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin introduced a bill to close a campaign finance loophole allowing foreign-owned, foreign-controlled, and foreign-influenced corporations to indirectly participate in U.S. elections.

H.R. 1615, the Get Foreign Money Out of U.S. Elections Act, amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to expand the ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals under the Act to foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, and foreign-owned domestic corporations.

In his press release, Raskin, a constitutional law professor, said, “The problem is that domestically registered corporations can be taken-over, bought-up, controlled, or influenced by foreign corporations and foreign nationals, and this means foreign powers have an easy and perfectly lawful way to funnel foreign money into American elections.” Upon introduction, the bill was referred to the House Administration committee.

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month would prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to pay for food, lodging, or other expenses at hotels owned or operated by any U.S. president.

House Bill 1452, the “No Taxpayer Revenue Used to Monetize the Presidency Act of 2017,” or the “No TRUMP Act of 2017,” also prohibits any payment for lodging and other travel expenses by the federal government at hotels owned or operated by a president’s relatives.

In his introductory remarks, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, clearly specified President Trump was the target of the legislation: “Hardly a week goes by without reports of taxpayer-funded trips by the president or his family to one of his family-owned properties throughout the world. These excesses have surpassed anything that this nation has seen before, and this unprecedented abuse of taxpayer dollars demands an additional ethical check on the office of the presidency.”

On March 9, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued an analysis of federal contracting trends to Congress. The report, titled Contracting Data Analysis: Assessment of Government-wide Trends, identified overall trends in contract obligations of defense and civilian agencies from fiscal year 2011 to 2015 using data from the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation.

The report states defense obligations to purchase goods and services decreased by over 30 percent while civilian obligations remained steady, as did the percentage of total obligations reported for competitive contracts. During this period, fixed price contracts were used for an average of 63 percent of obligations.

The GAO did not make any new recommendations in the report, but did highlight previous recommendations made to defense and civilian agencies. The report asserts the agencies “generally concurred with these recommendations and have taken or planned actions to address them.”

On January 28, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order mandating ethic commitments for executive branch appointees. Appointees are prohibited from accepting gifts, with limited exceptions, from registered lobbyists and lobbying organizations for the duration of their service as appointees.

Appointees are also prohibited from lobbying the agency they were appointed to serve for five years after leaving office. They are also prohibited from engaging on behalf of any foreign government or foreign political party if it would require them to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Additionally, registered lobbyists appointed to an executive agency cannot participate in matters in which they lobbied for two years after the date of their appointment.

This new Executive Order supersedes and revokes a similar Executive Order signed by former President Barack Obama in 2009.

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee has introduced legislation requiring ethical guidelines be followed by states before those states be allowed to administer certain federal funds.

House Bill 0554, The Make State Government More Open, Honest, and Transparent Act, suspends the authority of a state to administer funds under federal block grant programs if the state does not enact certain conflict of interest protections. These include banning state contractors from making state financial contributions, prohibiting state legislators from requiring their staff make political contributions, and requiring state legislators to annually disclose their own financial interests.

“My legislation is simple: it raises the bar for states to be more open and transparent with their constituents so that we can begin to restore public trust in government,” Kildee said in his press release.

President-Elect Trump’s Inauguration is estimated to cost around $200 million. The official events, including the swearing-in ceremony, security, and the parade, will be paid for by the federal government.

Security is the biggest expense, accounting for almost half of the budget. The inaugural ball and other festivities will be covered by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which raises money through private donors. The committee has raised a record $100 million-plus, which is almost double the committee for President Obama raised in 2009.

Inaugural committees have few regulations, but each administration sets their own rules and limits on donations. President George W. Bush capped the amount each individual and corporation could donate. In 2009, Obama allowed individual gifts up to $50,000, but banned donations from lobbyists and corporations.

Trump did not place restrictions on donations from individuals, but his committee has refused donations from federal lobbyists and capped corporate contributions to $1 million.

On January 3, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to impose term limits on members of Congress. The amendment would limit Senators to two six-year terms and House members to three two-year terms.

In a press release, Cruz states, “The time is now for Congress, with the overwhelming support of the American people, to submit this constitutional amendment to the states for speedy ratification.”

The election of a person filling a vacancy in the House would be counted as one term if the person fills the vacancy for more than one year. In the Senate, the vacancy would have to be filled for more than three years to be counted.

Following a rebuke in a series of tweets from President-elect Donald J. Trump and negative public reaction, the vote yesterday by the House Republican Conference to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics has been reversed.

This morning Trump tweeted, “With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS.” The hashtag #DTS is recognized to stand for the term “drain the swamp.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy offered a motion to restore the current OCE rules, which was accepted by the conference, according to Politico. Republicans planned to replace the Office of Congressional Ethics with a standing committee called the Office of Congressional Complaint Review, which would report to the House Ethics Committee. The resolution put forward by Republicans would have limited the power of investigation and the independence of the Office of Congressional Ethics.

On January 1, new changes to regulations concerning gifts for federal employees took effect.

Among the changes the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) made to the federal regulations include a non-binding recommendation employees “consider declining otherwise permissible gifts if they believe that a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts would question the employee’s integrity or impartiality as a result of accepting the gift.”

Additionally, federal officials who are required to be granted permission to attend “widely attended events” must now seek the permission in writing.

The $20 threshold for accepting a gift remains the same.

Today, the United States House of Representatives may vote to replace the Office of Congressional Ethics with a standing committee called the Office of Congressional Complaint Review, which would report to the House Ethics Committee. On January 2, the House Republican Conference voted to submit the change, over the objections of Speaker Paul Ryan, according to the New York Times.

The resolution put forward by Republicans specifically limits the power of investigation and the independence of the Office of Congressional Ethics. The resolution will be considered today when the representatives vote on their House Rules. The Office of Congressional Ethics was created in 2008 in response to various corruption scandals, including those involving Jack Abramoff, a former lobbyist convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud.

On December 15, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler announced his resignation. Wheeler will leave office on January 20, 2017, the date of the inauguration of president-elect Donald J. Trump.

Because Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel was not confirmed by the Senate for a new term and will not be with the FCC after January 3, until new commissioners are appointed, the FCC will have a 2-1 Republican majority on the day Trump is sworn in as president. The five-member FCC may only have three commissioners from a single political party. One of the responsibilities of the FCC is enforcement of broadcast political advertising.

On November 30, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows introduced bills allowing unlimited contributions to candidates from individuals. The SuperPAC Elimination Act of 2017 would also require disclosure of contributions of more than $200 to be made within 24 hours. The act has been introduced as Senate Bill 3488 by Cruz and House Resolution 6409 by Meadows.

In a press release, Cruz said, “Establishing unlimited contributions paired with immediate disclosure is the best way to promote transparency, eliminate the viability of SuperPACs going forward, and ensure that free speech is protected in the electoral process.” Cruz previously introduced a similar bill, the SuperPAC Elimination Act of 2014.

On Jan. 1, new changes to regulations concerning gifts for federal employees take effect.

Among the changes the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) made to the federal regulations include a non-binding recommendation employees “consider declining otherwise permissible gifts if they believe that a reasonable person with knowledge of the relevant facts would question the employee’s integrity or impartiality as a result of accepting the gift.”

Additionally, federal officials who are required to be granted permission to attend “widely attended events” must now seek the permission in writing. The OGE declined to change the $20 threshold for accepting a gift.

Amendments to the rules made by the OGE were published on Nov. 18 in the Federal Register. The OGE press release is here.

Lobbyists hoping to work for President-elect Donald J. Trump will have to terminate their lobbyist registrations to be vetted for high-level positions, according to CNN.

Additionally, as an agreement to work with the next administration, officials leaving their future positions will be banned from lobbying for five years. Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer says the goal of the ban is to make sure “people aren’t using the government to enrich themselves and using their service in government to do that.”

Trump’s transition team told CNN this will help fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to “drain the swamp” in Washington.