The Next Government

Management Idea: Independent Ethics Office

Candidate: Barack Obama

Management Area: Transparency & Accountability

Description: Similar to the ethics office that was voted down in a Senate committee in March, 2006, this agency would work outside the institutional pressures of the House and Senate Ethics and Oversight panels to ensure that existing lobbying and ethics laws are observed.

Related Ideas: While in the Senate, both McCain and Obama supported the independent ethics office bill. In the last Congress it was spearheaded by Senators Collins and Lieberman through the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. It could not, however, get out of committee.