MEMORANDUM FOR ALL MEMBERS, MEMBERS-ELECT, OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES
FROM: Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
s/ Joel Hefley,
Chairman
s/ Alan B. Mollohan, Ranking Minority Member
SUBJECT: Member Swearing-in and
Inauguration Day Receptions, and Attendance at Inaugural-Related Events
Recently the Committee has received a number of
inquiries on the rules relating to two subjects: (1) the receptions that
Members wish to hold in connection with their swearing-in on
Member swearing-in and Inauguration Day
receptions. At times Members
– especially newly elected Members – wish to hold a reception or similar event
for their supporters in connection with their swearing-in. The Committee has long advised that Members
may use their campaign funds to pay the costs of such a reception, and this is
so even if the reception is held in the Member’s office or another House
room. A Member may also use campaign
funds to pay for an Inauguration Day reception for visiting constituents that
the Member holds in his or her office or elsewhere.
The Committee has received several
inquiries, the substance of which is whether it is permissible for a lobbying
firm or other private entity to pay the costs of a Member’s swearing-in or
Inauguration Day reception. Such
arrangements are not permissible, as the payment of the costs of the event
would constitute an impermissible gift to the Member under the House gift rule
(clause 5 of House Rule 25).
Attendance at Inaugural-related events. Offers of free attendance at
Inaugural-related events are fully subject to the House gift rule. Thus, a Member or staff person may accept
such an offer only if acceptance is allowed under one of the provisions of the
rule. Many of the inquiries that the
Committee has received concern attendance at events sponsored by a state
society or other private organizations. Free
attendance at those events is generally permissible under the “widely attended”
event provision of the gift rule, provided that the offer was made by the event
organizer (not a person who simply bought tickets or donated to the event), the
offer is limited to the Member or staff person and one accompanying individual
only, and the provision’s requirements on event size are satisfied.
In addition, Members and staff are generally free to
attend any reception, i.e., an event
at which the food served is limited to hors d’oeuvres, beverages and similar
items and does not constitute a meal.
The gift rule also allows the acceptance of virtually any gift,
including attendance at an event, having a fair value of less than $50,
subject, however, to the overall limitation of less than $100 in such gifts from
any one source in a calendar year.
Detailed information on the provisions of the gift rule is available in
the Committee’s Gifts & Travel
booklet, copies of which are available from the Committee’s office, and the
text of which is on the Committee’s Web site, www.house.gov/ethics.
Any questions on these subjects should be directed to
the Committee’s Office of Advice and Education at (202) 225-7103.