It may begin with an unusual media inquiry or a sudden spike in interest on social media. Just as often, it starts with a non-public request for documents or other evidence. Your boss or your staff have been accused of wrongdoing, and it falls to you to lead the response.
Continue Reading Handling Investigations of Members of Congress and Congressional Staff: A How-To Guide for Chiefs of Staff
Congressional Ethics Investigations: An Overview of Processes, Challenges, and Implications for Private Actors
Following a string of high-profile investigations targeting Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, congressional ethics investigations are more visible than ever. Indeed, as we recently explored, the House Ethics Committee in particular may be moving toward a more active and transparent enforcement posture, with its most
Continue Reading Congressional Ethics Investigations: An Overview of Processes, Challenges, and Implications for Private ActorsRecent House Ethics Committee Actions Signal Expanding Scope of Enforcement
While historically criticized for inconsistency or opacity, the House Ethics Committee appears to be moving toward a more active and transparent enforcement posture. Last week, the Committee adopted two reports finding Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) violated House ethics rules. The reports together serve as a warning—both to Members of Congress and private parties engaging with the Hill—that we may have entered a period of heightened scrutiny of interactions between private parties and Members of Congress and their staff.
In particular, as discussed in greater detail below, the reports suggest that the Ethics Committee is increasingly focused on policing inadvertent violations that create an appearance of impropriety. Likewise, by publishing public reports in lieu of more traditional letters of reproval, the Committee may be signaling a desire to assert its authority while providing clear guidance to Members and private parties alike. Moreover, the dual release of the reports—adopted with a unanimous vote of the Committee’s members—signals the Ethics Committee’s intent to strictly enforce its rules publicly and across party lines. Below we provide an overview of each report, highlighting key Committee findings along with broader implications for congressional ethics enforcement.Continue Reading Recent House Ethics Committee Actions Signal Expanding Scope of Enforcement
Preparing Now for Expected Congressional Oversight: Newly Released Oversight Plans Signal Investigations of Private Parties
Recently, three key investigative committees of the House of Representatives—the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Judiciary Committee, and Energy and Commerce Committee—each adopted their respective committee’s oversight plan for the new Congress, offering a window into the committees’ investigative priorities for the next two years. The newly adopted oversight plans provide insights into the companies and industries most likely to draw congressional scrutiny from these three significant committees.
Under clause 2(d) of Rule X of the House, each authorizing committee is required to adopt and submit an oversight plan to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on House Administration by March 1 after the start of a new Congress. The Oversight and Government Reform Committee collects the individual oversight plans and later publishes a comprehensive collection by April 15.
With some exceptions, the current oversight plans described below align with the plans adopted by these committees in the last Congress, and the Republican Members of the committees rebuffed the Democratic Members’ efforts to expand the plans to encompass oversight of the new Trump Administration. During a series of contentious markups, the committees rejected various amendments that would have expanded the scope of the oversight plans to include reviews of the Trump Administration directives, federal funding freezes, the activities of the Department of Government Efficiency, and other topics. As a result, the oversight plans tend to focus on private sector investigations, suggesting that investigations of private sector interests may take an outsized role in these committees’ oversight activities in the current Congress.
Below we highlight those elements of the committees’ oversight plans that are mostly likely to have implications for private sector entities. The plans are especially relevant to clients in industries including energy and environment, aerospace and defense, communications, technology, artificial intelligence, higher education, and pharmaceuticals.Continue Reading Preparing Now for Expected Congressional Oversight: Newly Released Oversight Plans Signal Investigations of Private Parties