July 26, 2006
MEMORANDUM FOR ALL MEMBERS, OFFICERS, AND EMPLOYEES
FROM: Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
s/ Doc
s/ Howard L. Berman, Ranking Minority Member
SUBJECT: Laws, Rules, and Standards
of Conduct Governing Campaign Activity
With the election year underway, it
is important that Members and staff ensure that they are fully aware of the
House rules and related laws and standards of conduct that apply to them when
they engage in campaign activity. These
laws, rules, and standards are important to ensuring that staff time and other
congressional resources paid for by taxpayer funds are not improperly converted
to campaign purposes. Members are urged to review this memorandum
and the related Committee materials carefully. In addition, because Members are responsible
for ensuring that their staff members comply with applicable laws, rules, and
standards, we also urge that Members require
that their staff members who perform campaign work – including district staff
of Member offices – read this memorandum and the related materials.
Campaign
Activity by Congressional Staff.
A full explanation of the
laws, rules, and standards on campaign work by congressional staff appears on
pp. 20-29 of the Campaign Activity
booklet published by the Standards Committee.[1] As discussed in the booklet, there are two
fundamental rules that Members and staff must observe:
(1)
Any campaign work by staff members must be done outside the congressional
office, on their own time, and without using any congressional
office resources; and
(2) No staff
member may in any way be compelled or required to do any campaign work.
As to what constitutes a staff
member’s “own time,” this is determined by the personnel policy of the
employing office, and it is time during which the staff member is entirely free
to engage in personal or other outside activities as the individual sees
fit. Depending on the office policy, a
staff member’s own time may include a lunch period, time after the end of the business
day, weekends, or annual leave.[2] Staff may also switch to part-time status,
with an appropriate reduction in pay. In
addition, subject to House Administration Committee regulations, staff may go
on leave without pay status for the purpose of doing campaign work, but staff
doing so generally must cease performing official duties.
The Committee strongly recommends that any staff member who will be devoting a
significant amount of time to campaign work, or will be performing campaign
work during the regular business day, maintain careful records of the time
spent performing official duties and, separately, the time spent doing campaign
work. Maintaining such records helps to
ensure that no campaign work is done on “official” time, i.e., time for which the individual is compensated with House
funds. It also enables the staff member
to demonstrate compliance with the applicable rules in the event a question is
raised by the news media, a political opponent, or anyone else.
These rules apply to any campaign work by congressional staff, whether for a Member’s
re-election campaign or for some other campaign or political undertaking. These rules also apply to all congressional staff members,
including those who are employed in committee or leadership offices as well as
those employed in Member personal offices.
Furthermore, certain activities, such as soliciting contributions or
working with campaign consultants, clearly constitute campaign activity and are
subject to these rules. The performance
of other sorts of tasks, such as drafting a speech or attending an event, may
raise a question as to whether the activity is campaign work or instead
constitutes the performance of official duties.
Whenever such a question arises, guidance should be sought from the
Committee.
Use of
Official Resources for Campaign Activity is Generally Prohibited. As a general
matter, when engaging in campaign activity, neither Members nor staff may make
use of any congressional resources, including office equipment, supplies, or
files (including names or addresses contained in the files or official mailing
lists). The rules on this point are
discussed on pp. 7-20 of the Campaign
Activity booklet.
Recent Developments. The
Committee’s Campaign Activity booklet
does not reflect amendments to the House Rules that occurred at the beginning
of this Congress concerning, among others, the “unofficial office accounts”
rule (House Rule 24). Pursuant to those
amendments, it is permissible to use
funds of a Member’s principal campaign committee to pay certain limited types
of congressional office expenses.[3] Further guidance on this point is being
issued simultaneously by the Committee in its Advisory Memorandum on the “Use of Campaign Funds and
Campaign-Funded Resources for Official House Purposes.”
Any questions on the laws, rules,
and standards governing campaign activity, as well as any requests for
Committee publications or to schedule a briefing, should be directed to the
Committee’s Office of Advice and Education at (202) 225-7103.
[1] Copies of the booklet are available from the Committee office. The booklet, and well as other Committee publications, is also available on the Committee’s Web site, www.house.gov/ethics.
[2] On the other hand, it is permissible for a Member to require that a staff member work on evenings or weekends, provided that the work constitutes the performance of official duties, as opposed to campaign or non-official work, and other applicable provisions of law and regulation are complied with.
[3] Campaign funds, however, may not be used for mail or other communications, compensation for services, office space, furniture, or equipment and associated information technology services (except for handheld communications devices). See House Rule 24, cl. 1(b)(2).