This Times editorial endorses changes to congressional travel rules. Ingenuity is never in short supply in Washington when it comes to challenges like circumventing the ban on lobbyist-financed Congressional junkets. . . . The loopholes and violations were laid bare in a study of 1,150 trips by The Times’s Eric Lipton and Eric Lichtblau. Representative […]
Category: Senate
Baucus U.S. attorney appointment controversy swirls
The Times has the latest on Sen. Baucus’ nomination of Melodee Hanes to be U.S. attorney for Montana. Melanie Sloan, the executive director of the nonprofit group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, said Mr. Baucus was guilty of “bad judgment” but did not appear to have violated any Senate ethics rules because he received no […]
Focus on Congressional travel rules
This morning’s Times highlights how Congressional travel rules work. Despite changes intended to curb Congressional junkets, some lawmakers and even their families continue to take trips hosted by private groups and companies that revel in their access to Washington power brokers. . . . The rules are filled with odd contradictions. Lobbyists themselves are not […]