Proposed Legislation to Strengthen DoD Ethics Policies

The following was extracted from a press release announcing a new bill that was introduced in the Senate - The Department of Defense Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act.

In announcing her proposed legislation, Senator Warren wrote:

Defense contractors often recruit former DoD officials through the revolving door to become lobbyists, then use those former officials' relationships and access to peddle influence at the Pentagon and to secure lucrative defense contracts. According to the Project on Government Oversight's Center for Defense Information, in 2018, nearly 400 high-ranking DoD officials and military officers took a spin through the revolving door to become lobbyists, board members, executives, or consultants for defense contractors. Of these former DoD officials, including top brass in the U.S. military, one in four went to work for one of the DoD's top five contractors.

The proposed DoD Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act would:

• Limit the revolving door and restrict contractor influence by imposing a four-year ban on "giant" contractors hiring senior DoD officials and on contractors hiring former DoD employees who managed their contract.
• Extend to four years the existing prohibition on former military generals lobbying the DoD
• Require defense contractors to submit detailed annual reports to DoD regarding former senior DoD officials who are subsequently employed by contracts
• Raise the recusal standard for DoD employees by prohibiting them from participating in any matter that affects the financial interests of their former employer for four years
• Ban senior DoD officials from owning any stock in a major defense contractor and bans all DoD employees from owning any stock in contractors if the employee can use their official position to influence the stock's value.

Additionally, the 'Act' would require large defense contractors to submit a report of their lobbying activities including who they meet with and what they're lobbying about, and to make that information public.

A companion bill will also be introduced in the House.