Will the House Give Top Feds a New Case of Writers' Block?

EXECUTIVE MEMO

Will the House Give Top Feds a New Case of Writers' Block?

enior executives and other high-level officials threw off the shackles of the honoraria ban earlier this year, regaining freelance writing and speaking rights already restored to lower level civil servants by a 1995 Supreme Court ruling (U.S. vs. NTEU). In February, the Justice Department delivered an opinion saying that since the high court had effectively eviscerated the ban, Justice would no longer enforce it against employees at any level.

Lest senior staffers bask too long in their newfound freedom, legislators already are considering whether to reinstate a portion of the prohibition. The legislation in question-HR 1639, introduced last year by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.-is directed at Members of Congress and non-career employees paid at or above Level V of the Executive Schedule. But some observers suggest the measure could have a chilling effect beyond its intended targets.

Testifying at a hearing on the bill in March, National Treasury Employees Union President Robert Tobias noted that HR 1639 bans senior non-career officials from freelancing related "primarily to the responsibilities, policies or programs" of their agencies. Tobias called the language "vague and overboard," suggesting it could ban a Voice of America editor from accepting a fee for an article about foreign policy.

Tobias also objected to a fee cap of $2,000, which he read to cover career federal employees as well as non-careerists. Calling the cap "unconstitutional," Tobias urged members of a House subcommittee to eliminate the limitation. Brent Thompson, executive director of the Fair Government Foundation, testified in favor of reviving the honoraria ban as a modest step toward preventing corruption in the federal ranks.