New comprehensive presidential ethics legislation in the House has an unlikely, bipartisan duo behind it: House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.).
Among other provisions, the legislation would require the president and vice president to disclose tax returns for two years preceding office, any foreign payments received, family members accompanying them on official travel and conflicts of interest.
Read the legislative text.
Those officials would also have to disclose gifts valued at more than $10,000 from or by immediate family members.
“By creating this bipartisan legislation to provide greater transparency to the financial interactions related to the office of the president and vice-president, we can ensure that moving forward American presidents, vice presidents, and their family members cannot profit from their proximity to power,” Comer said in a statement.
Comer and the committee he leads have investigated the foreign activities of Biden family members and loans repaid to the president.
And Democrats aggressively looked into foreign investments of Trump family members, as the former president additionally refused to release his tax returns. This isn’t Porter’s first foray this year into presidential matters, either: During her unsuccessful run for California Senate, she endorsed exploring age caps for all elected officials even as she praised President Joe Biden’s record.
