The systemically questionable ethics practiced in government and politics in the swamp that is your nation’s capital from where I happen to be writing this are far more malleable than the ethical standards others are held to in any other sector in America. Also, the Pope is Catholic and bears….well, you know.
For example, here in the swamp it is apparently just fine for a lobbyist to be a member of a governmental decision-making commission that makes recommendations on the very issue the lobbyist works on. Being paid to lobby and implement the policy you lobby for seems like something that would raise some red flags. It is impressive that some have figured out how to game the system by lobbying and deciding on issues that help them accomplish their lobbying goals.
This is on my mind both because in between my own (entirely ethical) meetings and so forth here in DC today, I was reading a recent piece by my friend Robert Hornak in PJ Media where he gets into this very thing with the fascinating example of Kim Glas, “who by day serves as the president and CEO of the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), an organization that represents the interests of the U.S. textile industry” while at the same time “serves…as a member of the U.S.– China Economic Security and Review Commission (the China Commission), where she poses as an unbiased government official who is concerned about Chinese imported textiles.”
So, lobbying for the American textile industry while serving on a commission that has the power to gather and recommend things like protectionist measures against foreign textile manufacturers to legislators is apparently okay.
It seems Glas gets paid very well for her lobbying, as lobbyists do, and pulls a second significant check from U.S. taxpayers as a member of the China Commission. More power to her for figuring out a way to secure two healthy paychecks. I’m not jealous or anything. Hornak reports that Glas gets paid over $600,000 for her NCTO lobbying gig and just short of $200,00 for her job with the China Commission. Rad!
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, as cited in USA Today, the average salary of an American in 2023 was just under $60,000, so Glas’ cush partially taxpayer-subsidized salaries would put her in the top 1% of all American earners.
I do not know Ms. Glas and this is not meant as a personal attack, but a highlight of a publicized example of a major ethical stretch, typical of today’s Washington. I am sure she is perfectly capable and qualified to serve in either role, and to serve well. But how about we pick one and run with it, ok?
So-called DC watchdog groups like CREW are quick to go after all kinds of Washingtonians and nonprofits over conflicts of interest (mostly center-right ones) and it would be nice for them to pay attention to this one. It’s a low pitch down the middle, you guys.
News outlets like AP wailed last year on potential conflicts of interest for Supreme Court justices because of book deals, event appearances, and a lack of a codified Supreme Court ethics code. Fine. Where is the discussion of blatant ethical lapses like this one? It’s perfect for lazy reporters because the work is done.
I looked up how the China Commission members are chosen: The Senate Majority Leader, in consultation with Senate Minority Leader, names the Senate's commissioners. Likewise, the Speaker of the House, in consultation with the House Minority Leader, chooses the House members of the Commission. The President appoints the five Executive Branch commissioners. So they’re all guilty. With all of these geniuses in the mix, how no one managed to catch the ethical conflict in this beyond me. Actually, it’s not. I’ve been around too long. Maybe sunlight in this particular case will drive someone to step up. And maybe also a bunch of pigs will fly out of my…well, you know.
Polls indicate that the American people really don’t like anything about Washington and that the swamp must be drained. That will not even start to happen until seemingly constant too-cute-by half back-room machinations such as the Glas deal are rejected and something beyond lip service starts to actually be paid to the systemically sketchy ethical climate here in the halls of Congress and government.