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Schneider Ethics Provision Included in Sweeping Government Reform Package

January 4, 2019

Schneider supports H.R. 1 to “clean up corruption and restore public trust in our government”

Today, Congressman Schneider announced his support for H.R. 1, The For The People Act, a major government reform package that contains a provision initially introduced last Congress by Schneider that strengthens ethics rules to help close the revolving door between corporate lobbyists and the agencies that oversee their industries.

"The American people deserve better from Washington, and I am proud to support this major reform package to clean up corruption and restore public trust in our government as one of our first actions in the new Congress," said Schneider. "I am thrilled that a bill I previously introduced to strengthen the firewall between public service and corporate lobbying was included in this legislation. These commonsense rules will help ensure public servants are putting the needs of the people first and not the industries they regulate. Coupled with other reforms in the For the People Act, including restricting the influence of dark money in campaigns, bolstering voting rights protections, and limiting corporate influence, this legislation would make our government more responsive and effective in making progress for the American people."

Background:

Schneider's Ethics in Public Service Act, H.R. 209, would reverse changes made by the Trump Administration in their Ethics Pledge that now allow former appointees to communicate with the agency where they worked, and that permit former lobbyists to join an executive agency that they lobbied within the previous two years. Schneider's legislation would prohibit both of these practices by reverting to the previous more stringent standards of the Obama-era Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees. He previously introduced similar legislation in the 115th Congress as H.R. 6732.