Fight Against Sexual Misconduct Bringing Regulations, Protections for Lobbyists
California Gov. Brown Signs California DISCLOSE Act into Law
On Saturday, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the California DISCLOSE Act, AB249, into law. We posted a detailed analysis of the law when it passed the legislature, but the key points bear repeating as it will be of interest to anyone who gives or spends money in California elections.
U.S. House Considering Major Change to Trade Association PAC Fundraising Rules
The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations is considering a major change to the way trade associations are allowed to raise money into their political action committees (PACs). Currently, if a trade association wants to solicit money from its member companies’ employees, it must first get advance approval from the company, and each company can authorize
Rep. Gowdy Plans Deeper Oversight
The new chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Representative Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), outlined his plans for the Committee last week. As we expected, Mr. Gowdy said that he would pursue more methodical investigations. Noting that hearings are “an inefficient way to gather facts,” Mr. Gowdy said that the Committee would
Efforts to End Super PACs Moving Forward, Face Uphill Climb
Last summer there was much ado about the two parallel efforts of a “Dream Team” of attorneys to “end Super PACs.” Their goal was to get the Supreme Court to overturn the decision of the D.C. Circuit in SpeechNow v. FEC, and similar decisions in other circuits, which led to the creation of Super PACs.
Grassley Defends Congressional Oversight; House Democrats Turn to Statutory Oversight Authority
The Trump administration’s efforts to curtail congressional oversight of executive branch agencies by individual Members of Congress, including ranking Democratic Members of Committees, ran into significant opposition from an unlikely source: Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Republican Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Grassley’s strong reaction is consistent with his role as perhaps Congress’s
The Gowdy Era of Congressional Investigations
With the announcement by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) that he plans to resign from Congress on June 30, it appears increasingly likely that Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) will become the next Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the House’s powerful watchdog committee that has very broad investigative jurisdiction. Although a final
New Executive Branch Ethics Rules on Gifts and Procedures for New Hires, Appointees, and the Presidential Transition
The start of 2017 brings two changes to the federal Office of Government Ethics (“OGE”) rules for executive branch officers and employees.
First, important changes to the executive branch gift rules went into effect this week. We detailed those changes in this alert.
Second, OGE’s overhaul of the Executive Branch Ethics Program regulations (
Guidelines for Interacting with President-Elect Trump’s Transition Team
Over the next nine weeks, the Trump Presidential Transition team will formulate policy and staffing recommendations for the new administration. This alert gives a broad overview of the Transition and the laws that regulate interactions with Transition team members on issues related to appointments and policy recommendations. Persons interested in this topic may also wish