Partisanship Is Killing a Bipartisan Presidential Ethics Bill

A bill forcing new disclosures for the president, written by Oversight Chairman James Comer and progressive Rep. Katie Porter, is suffering a slow and common fate: death by politics.

James Comer
Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, argues a point as the House Rules Committee. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

As Donald Trump makes another run at the White House, some Republicans are ready to pass new rules that would force him — if he wins — to be transparent about his family’s businesses and gifts he receives.

But some Democrats aren’t entirely enthusiastic about the effort this election year for a simple reason: The rules would also apply to President Joe Biden.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, told NOTUS he thought about co-sponsoring the new bipartisan presidential disclosures bill — written by GOP Oversight Chairman James Comer and progressive Rep. Katie Porter — but he ultimately chose not to sign on because he feared it “was being weaponized in a way to score political points.”