Branching Out On Ethics Rules

This was inevitable: As the Senate Rules and Administration Committee debated ethics and lobbying reform yesterday, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., made the case that any "revolving door" restrictions on lawmakers' post-employment activities should apply to the executive branch as well. "We must ensure that if we are really going to change the culture of corruption, then we need to clean house and do it from top to bottom,” said Nelson. “If we’re going to stop the revolving door on the hill, then we need to stop it in our federal agencies..."