Q&A
With lobbyists all over Washington scrambling to figure out how to obey the new House and Senate ethics rules on gifts, meals, and travel, Kenneth Gross, a lobbying expert at the law firm Skadden Arps, is in high demand. Speaking regularly at standing-room-only seminars, Gross has become one of the leading counselors to lobbyists. He spoke to U.S. News about what will change and what will remain the same in the world of politics and perks inside the beltway.
How much will things really change with these new rules?
I wouldn't say they are radical reforms. I don't think this is changing anything to the core. But it is certainly going to have a palpable effect on what goes on day to day in Washington.
In what way?
It's not that a member or a staffer still can't go out with a lobbyist, but the member or staffer is going to have to bring their own credit card. And that is something that has not been a usual practice on the Hill. And it probably will result in a reduction in the number of those meals...We'll see if anybody loses weight around town.
Do you expect that to happen?
Perhaps. Some New Year's resolutions may be coming to fruition in a way that was not originally intended.
Meals paid for by lobbyists will be banned, but the so-called Toothpick Rule-a reception hosted by lobbyists where only hors d'oeuvres are served-will still be allowed?
The Toothpick Rule has been around for a long time. It's the old stand-up reception exception where if you're eating finger food or stabbing at food with a toothpick, supposedly that was OK. And it was OK. However, even those receptions over the years have morphed into more substantial feeding events-3,000 calories later, you haven't yet had dinner. I think that those types of receptions will continue to go on, but they will be toned down substantially.
Lobbyists will still be able to have intimate contact with lawmakers at these receptions.
No question about it. Many of the activities that go on in Washington from day to day are those types of receptions. You know, at 5 o'clock, a member might stack three or four in an evening, and they will continue to do that.
What are some of the gray areas of the new rules that are still open to interpretation?
The travel rules really have not fully shaken out yet. Right now everybody is walking around on eggshells, and you're not seeing much travel...Severe restrictions were put on travel that essentially says that a lobbyist cannot accompany a member or a public official on one of these fact-finding trips. I don't really know what "accompany" means. I know it means they can't be on the same corporate jet, but does it mean they can be on the same USAirways flight? Can they have dinner with the member once they get to their destination?
What have been some of the more interesting questions that you have been asked recently?
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