Overview

    An important aspect of a House Member’s representative function is to act as a “go-between” or conduit between the Member’s constituents and administrative agencies of the federal government.  Whether promoting projects that will benefit constituents or assisting in the resolution of the problems that are an inevitable by-product of government regulation, the Member is serving as a facilitator, or ombudsman.  Such activity, in the opinion expressed by the late Senator Paul H. Douglas, plays a useful role in the governmental process by helping legislators and administrators perform their respective jobs adequately through the interest of the former in the work of the latter.¹

    In a committee print entitled Ethical Standards in Government, a subcommittee headed by Senator Douglas stated that legislators performing casework functions can “legitimately serve as an informal board of inspectors” over administrators, and “can prevent the administrators from flagging in their zeal and can detect and check abuses in the conduct of public business.”²  Douglas concluded in his own study of ethics in government that there is a “sound ethical basis for legislators to represent the interests of constituents and other citizens in their dealings with administrative officials and bodies.”³ 

    The Constitution guarantees all citizens the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.⁴  A logical point of contact is one’s elected representative.  Furthermore, Members of Congress continually must monitor government programs and the administration of public laws.  As the Supreme Court has recognized, “[s]erving constituents and supporting legislation that will benefit the district and individuals and groups therein is the everyday business of a legislator.”⁵

    This chapter includes a discussion on the rules in making contacts in aid of constituents with governmental agencies, the courts, and nongovernmental parties.  Pursuant to long-standing guidance, it is generally permissible for Members (and staff acting on their behalf) to:

• Request information or status reports; 

• Urge prompt consideration of a matter based on the merits of the case;

• Arrange appointments;

• Express judgment on a matter – subject to the ex parte communication rules; and

• Ask for reconsideration, based on law and regulation, or administrative and other decisions.

    In taking any such action, a Member or staff person must observe certain ethical principals.  Of particular importance is the principle that a Member’s obligations are to all constituents equally, and considerations such as political support, party affiliation, or one’s status as a campaign contributor should not affect either the decision of a Member to provide assistance or the quality of help that is given to a constituent.

    Also discussed in this chapter is the prohibition against the acceptance of gifts offered in connection with or in return for taking official actions (a matter also discussed at length in Chapter 2), and the guidelines for employment recommendations.

¹ Paul H. Douglas, Ethics in Government 87 (1952).

² Special Subcomm. on the Establishment of a Comm’n on Ethics in Gov’t, Senate Comm. on Labor and Public Welfare, Ethical Standards in Government, 82d Cong., 1^st Sess. 28 (Comm. Print 1951).

³ Douglas, supra note 1, at 87.

⁴ U.S. Const., amend. I.

⁵ McCormick v. United States, 500 U.S. 257, 272 (1991).