Monday, May 21, 2007

House Reform Members Might Get Slammed by "Revolving Door"

Late last week, the House leadership agreed to remove the "revolving door" provision from the lobbying and ethics bill. The bill is scheduled to reach the House floor for a vote this Thursday, right before Congress leaves for Memorial Day.

The revolving door provision in the Senate version of the bill calls for a two-year "cooling off period" after members retire from Congress before they are allowed to lobby their former colleagues.

The unexpected and preciptous removal of this provision from the bill comes as a shock to close observers. It's liable to attract critical media attention. Remember "the cleanest House in history" promised by Pelosi? This sudden revolving door retreat could mean political peril for the dozens of newly-elected House members who rode into Washington last November on a strong reform platform.

The vote on the lobbying and ethics bill is in just a few days. So there is still time for members who are vulnerable to attacks that they've already forgotten their mandate and their districts protect themselves -- by getting on the record -- the media record, if not the legislative record -- against this surprising step backward on the revolving door provision, before it turns around and hits them.