(TNND) — A new House resolution seeks to bar members of Congress from using taxpayer-funded earmarks to enrich themselves while in office.
The resolution, announced last week, comes on the heels of a House-passed ban on lawmaker stock trading.
But the stock trading ban has stalled in the Senate.
And Casey Burgat, the legislative affairs program director at George Washington University, said the new resolution on earmarks might be an even tougher lift for lawmakers.
The newly announced bipartisan resolution seeks to close a “loophole” in House rules requiring members seeking community project funding, or earmarks, to certify that neither they nor their spouse have financial conflicts of interest in the project at hand.
The “Stop Congressional Self-Enrichment Resolution” would expand that certification to cover immediate family members and any entity in which a lawmaker holds a material financial interest. It seeks to guard against both direct and indirect financial benefits for lawmakers.
“When politicians are busy lining their own pockets, how can they ever understand or focus on the pocketbook issues Americans face every single day?” Republican Rep. Young Kim, of California, said in a news release.
She introduced the resolution alongside Pennsylvania Republican Brian Fitzpatrick and Maine Democrat Jared Golden.
Golden said the resolution would “strengthen the anti-corruption guardrails” around earmarks to ensure federal dollars are used to benefit community members, not lawmakers.
Burgat said the public holds legitimate concerns over lawmakers using public office to build personal wealth, though he said blatant bribery or obvious insider trading is rare.
Still, he said Congress has a reputation problem. And that’s what this resolution, as well as the congressional stock trading ban, is meant to address.
Members of Congress want to “bring home the bacon for their district in the form of projects or infrastructure,” Burgat said.
“It’s just not only good representation, but also a signal that you’re a player and an actor within D.C.,” he said. “That’s always been true.”
But at the same time, he said projects have the potential to boost contractors, businesses or property tied to lawmakers when federal dollars are funneled back home. That doesn’t necessarily mean wrongdoing occurred, but it could give the public reason to scrutinize where Congress is spending taxpayer money.
Burgat called the resolution both good policy and good politics, though he said it’s unlikely to move anytime soon with the House out of session through the midterms.