Representatives Ted Deutch (FL-22), John P. Sarbanes (MD-03), Zoe Lofgren (CA-19), Mark Pocan (WI-02), David N. Cicilline (RI-01), and Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) introduced the Conflicts from Political Fundraising Act, a bill to close a glaring ethics loophole in the appointment process for high ranking government officials. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
Under current law, a presidential nominee must disclose their personal financial information to the Office of Government Ethics to highlight and address any potential conflicts of interest. However, the nominees are not required to release information about their political solicitations or contributions, which may also create risks or appearance of conflicts of interest. For example, if a nominee asked a corporation for a $1,000,000 contribution to a political action committee before his appointment, they should disclose that and be disqualified from participating in any decisions involving that corporation.
The Conflicts from Political Fundraising Act would require nominees to disclose whether they have solicited or contributed funds for political purposes to 527 political action committees, or tax-exempt groups formed under sections 501(c)(4) or 501(c)(6) of the tax code.
“Because of the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision, big money has too much influence in our elections. That’s why we need to be certain that presidential nominees aren’t going to put their own political interests above the interests of the American people,” said Rep. Deutch, a Vice Chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force. “Under current law, billionaires can anonymously flood our elections with unlimited amounts of money one day and become heads of an agencies the next. We can’t let the failures in our campaign finance laws be compounded by failures in our ethics laws. That’s why we need to close this loophole. Until we overturn Citizens United, the American people won’t be able to place their full trust in the president’s highest-ranking appointees unless they are required to disclose their fundraising activities.”
“Americans of all political stripes expect cabinet officials and other executive branch appointees to be chosen because of their capacity to serve – not because of their political contributions,” said Rep. Sarbanes, Chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force. “Unfortunately, our ethics disclosure system for Presidential nominees is broken. Campaign donors can – and do – easily parlay their political activity into high-profile jobs. Excluding disclosure of campaign giving from the ethics review process leads to massive conflicts of interest and a weakened public trust. That's why I am proud to join Representative Deutch and Senator Whitehouse in introducing the Conflicts from Political Fundraising Act, which would close this senseless loophole and ensure the American people and Congress have all the facts when considering Presidential nominees.”
“The American people deserve a government that is free from conflicts of interest,” said Rep. Lofgren, a Vice Chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force. “This bill will go a long ways towards ensuring greater transparency and will help hold public servants accountable to the public – not special interests.”
“The American people have a right to know when presidential appointees have oversight responsibility of entities and political causes that they have previously supported with financial contributions,” said Rep. Cicilline, a Vice Chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force. “I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing this bill which will help to bring more transparency and accountability to the executive branch.”
“As we work to get big money out of politics and overturn Citizens United, we must also close loopholes that allow mega-donors to effectively purchase high-level Administration positions – using campaign contributions to put them in the position of regulating the very industries and special interests they represent," said Rep. Schakowsky, a Vice Chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force. "The American public deserves to know whether those who serve in their government have conflicts of interest. I am proud to join Senator Whitehouse and Representative Deutch in introducing legislation to increase transparency and guarantee that critical information is made known.”
“Citizens United unleashed a tsunami of corporate spending in our politics, threatening to drown out the voices of individual citizens. It’s time to update our ethics rules to prevent that spending from hatching serious conflicts of interest at the top levels of our government,” said Senator Whitehouse. “We ask high-level appointees to disclose their financial relationships, which may have a serious influence on the work they do if confirmed. We also need to ask about fundraising relationships, which can be just as thorny. That will help us avoid potentially serious conflicts of interest and the scandal that would follow.”
A fact sheet on the bill can be found here.
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