Ensign scrambles to explain objections to disclosure bill

Publication: The Hill

September 26, 2007

Ensign scrambles to explain objections to disclosure bill

By Manu Raju

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) found himself in a tough position Tuesday as he tried to explain why there had been a secret hold on popular bill aimed at forcing candidates for the Senate to disclose their campaign-finance reports electronically.

The senator would not say whether he in fact placed a hold, only that he could not recall whether previous objections to the bill were made on his behalf.

“I don’t remember. I honestly don’t remember,” said Ensign, who also chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Senate GOP conference.

Ensign made his concerns public for the first time on Monday, when he said on the floor that he objected to moving the bill forward.
He then acknowledged Tuesday that he had been working behind the scenes to alter its language.

“We were actually trying to get something else on the bill, and [Democrats] wouldn’t go for that,” Ensign said, without offering more details.

However, Ensign’s staff on Tuesday denied that the senator had placed a hold on the bill after it was reported out of the Rules Committee on March 28.

“Sen. Ensign has never had a hold on this bill,” said his chief of staff, John Lopez. “He went to the floor last night to exercise his right as a senator to offer an amendment.”

Ensign said he had brought his concerns to the attention of Democratic leaders and Rules panel Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), which Feinstein’s staff denied.

“Nobody had contacted me from Sen. Ensign’s office,” said Howard Gantman, staff director of the Rules Committee. Feinstein also said she had been unaware, until Monday, that Ensign had concerns with moving the bill forward.

The issue has generated enormous interest from watchdog groups, which have complained for months that an anonymous senator was preventing the Senate from voting on the non-controversial bill. It would bring requirements for Senate candidates in line with House and presidential candidates and make it far easier for the public to access campaign finance reports by requiring them to be filed electronically.

Supporters of the bill say the current filing process is convoluted, and that campaign finance data filed in the fourth quarter before Election Day is usually inaccessible until the following February.

Ensign said he does not oppose the bill. But he wants an amendment considered to the bill that would require outside groups filing ethics complaints against senators to disclose their donors.

“We have a problem going on in the Senate where there are outside groups that are filing ethics complaints and they are doing it for purely political reasons,” Ensign said.

But Democrats objected to Ensign’s push for consideration of that amendment, saying it was unrelated to the underlying measure and should be taken up separately.

Since April, Democrats have tried to pass the bill by unanimous consent twice, but Republicans objected on behalf of an anonymous senator.

Monday’s revelation of the senator’s objection opens the door for a renewed lobbying campaign by watchdog groups to target Ensign. The disclosure also allows supporters to attempt to resolve Ensign’s concerns.

Ensign already is feeling pressure from watchdog groups. In the spring, the Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group, contacted all 100 Senate offices to uncover the name of the senator, but no one would admit to blocking the bill.

“Sen. Ensign should know by now that Americans want Congress to be more transparent, and they’ll make their voices heard to demand it,” said Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation.

Supporters of the bill credited the newly enacted lobbying and ethics law for convincing Ensign to acknowledge what they said was a hold on the bill. Holds are procedural tools used to signal to Senate leaders that a senator plans to block a bill or nomination on the floor, possibly by a filibuster.

“I believe that the new provision under the new law is the reason that this individual identified himself,” said Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, the lead sponsor of the campaign finance bill. “I don’t think that would have happened had it not been for the positive deterrent effect that this new legislation has.”

Over the years, anonymous holds have become more popular, infuriating watchdog groups, which say a senator can avoid public scrutiny while thwarting Senate action. The new law requires that senators who are anonymously blocking a bill make their hold public within six legislative days.

Feingold called Ensign’s amendment a “poison pill,” saying it was unfortunate he had objected to the measure. But “at least we know what we’re dealing with,” he added.