Lobbyist favors may be restricted

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Dennis Hastert urged new restrictions on gifts from lobbyists Tuesday, responding to a scandal that already has claimed two Republican leaders and raised GOP fears about this year's elections.

Hastert, confronting a political crisis spawned by the Jack Abramoff scandal, promoted legislation that would end the practices of lobbyists footing the bill for lunches or arranging lavish "fact-finding" trips for members of Congress to warm-weather resorts.

Lawmakers-turned-lobbyists would be banned from the House gym and from access to the House floor, where they have been known to make deals in hopes of changing votes.

House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., who is spearheading the lobbying overhaul effort for Hastert, said the goal was to pass legislation by the end of February. He said it would include the forfeiture of congressional pensions for members convicted of a felony related to official duties.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration said Tuesday that Abramoff had a "few staff-level meetings" at the White House but refused to disclose who met with Abramoff or what they talked about.

Staff members spent weeks scouring White House records for traces of Abramoff, the center of a federal ethics investigation that has roiled Washington.

"The problems we have been reading about stem from violation of existing rules," Hastert, R-Ill., said in apparent reference to Abramoff, who sought to influence lawmakers through donations, meals at his high-priced restaurant, golfing trips and skybox seats. Abramoff has pleaded guilty to corruption-related charges and is cooperating with prosecutors.

Democrats, who are unveiling their own lobbying ethics package today, chided Republicans for addressing the issue only after the Abramoff controversy helped bring down two senior Republicans and cast a shadow on next fall's elections.

Former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who had stepped down from his post after being indicted on campaign finance charges in Texas, decided against trying to regain his job after the guilty plea of Abramoff, with whom he had long had ties. And Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, another recipient of benefits from Abramoff's clients, has temporarily given up his chairmanship of the House Administration Committee.