thedrifter
02-07-06, 12:25 PM
February 13, 2006
Probe looks into whether Marine’s Hill job presents conflict of interest
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
A Marine Corps officer’s unusual five-year assignment to the personal staff of an influential lawmaker is under investigation and could lead to tighter restrictions on such legislative assignments.
Lt. Col. Carl Kime is an active-duty officer on loan to Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., whose position as House Appropriations Committee chairman makes him one of the most powerful members of Congress. His committee is responsible for providing funding for all federal agencies.
Kime, whose wife, Patricia, is a correspondent for Army Times Publishing Co., came to Capitol Hill in 2001 on a congressional fellowship, a position that normally lasts no more than a year and is designed to be simply an educational experience for military officers.
At the time, Lewis chaired the appropriations committee’s defense panel. When Lewis later became chairman of the full committee, Kime remained on Lewis’ staff, at the congressman’s request and with the agreement of the Marine Corps. Under normal circumstances, Kime long ago would have retired or returned to the Marine Corps for another assignment.
Kime, whose salary continues to be paid by the military, is now Lewis’ personal liaison to the appropriations committee’s defense panel, looking out for the interests of Lewis and his district in San Bernardino County, Calif., which includes the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms.
Questions about Kime’s extended assignment were first raised in a Feb. 2 article in The Hill newspaper. The article said the assignment appears to violate military and House rules and a federal law aimed at restricting federal workers on loan to Congress to duty on committee staffs — known as “details” — barring them from working on the personal staffs of any one lawmaker.
Those restrictions stems from a 1990s controversy over whether military officers assigned to the office of then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., were getting involved in politics.
Lewis spokesman Jim Specht said the appropriations committee staff — not Lewis’ office — is investigating the circumstances of Kime’s long-term assignment to determine whether any rules or laws have been broken.
“We don’t think we have done anything wrong,” Specht said. “DoD is aware of [Kime’s] status and has never raised the issue.”
In a brief e-mail exchange Feb. 3, Kime said the Defense Department “carefully researched the legal context of my assignment prior to approving it” and that no law, rule or regulation has been broken. He declined further comment.
Specht said Kime works for Lewis, not the committee, as “Lewis’ military representative. He watches over all of the defense issues for the chairman.”
Both Defense Department and congressional rules attempt to address the possible conflict of interest of having a military officer assigned to congressional positions in which they could influence legislation for their service.
Specht said Lewis believes in those rules, and that Kime, while a valuable adviser, is not setting policy or determining how much money goes to any programs.
“Under no circumstances does any staffer in [Lewis’] office direct policy,” Specht said.
Probe looks into whether Marine’s Hill job presents conflict of interest
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
A Marine Corps officer’s unusual five-year assignment to the personal staff of an influential lawmaker is under investigation and could lead to tighter restrictions on such legislative assignments.
Lt. Col. Carl Kime is an active-duty officer on loan to Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., whose position as House Appropriations Committee chairman makes him one of the most powerful members of Congress. His committee is responsible for providing funding for all federal agencies.
Kime, whose wife, Patricia, is a correspondent for Army Times Publishing Co., came to Capitol Hill in 2001 on a congressional fellowship, a position that normally lasts no more than a year and is designed to be simply an educational experience for military officers.
At the time, Lewis chaired the appropriations committee’s defense panel. When Lewis later became chairman of the full committee, Kime remained on Lewis’ staff, at the congressman’s request and with the agreement of the Marine Corps. Under normal circumstances, Kime long ago would have retired or returned to the Marine Corps for another assignment.
Kime, whose salary continues to be paid by the military, is now Lewis’ personal liaison to the appropriations committee’s defense panel, looking out for the interests of Lewis and his district in San Bernardino County, Calif., which includes the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms.
Questions about Kime’s extended assignment were first raised in a Feb. 2 article in The Hill newspaper. The article said the assignment appears to violate military and House rules and a federal law aimed at restricting federal workers on loan to Congress to duty on committee staffs — known as “details” — barring them from working on the personal staffs of any one lawmaker.
Those restrictions stems from a 1990s controversy over whether military officers assigned to the office of then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., were getting involved in politics.
Lewis spokesman Jim Specht said the appropriations committee staff — not Lewis’ office — is investigating the circumstances of Kime’s long-term assignment to determine whether any rules or laws have been broken.
“We don’t think we have done anything wrong,” Specht said. “DoD is aware of [Kime’s] status and has never raised the issue.”
In a brief e-mail exchange Feb. 3, Kime said the Defense Department “carefully researched the legal context of my assignment prior to approving it” and that no law, rule or regulation has been broken. He declined further comment.
Specht said Kime works for Lewis, not the committee, as “Lewis’ military representative. He watches over all of the defense issues for the chairman.”
Both Defense Department and congressional rules attempt to address the possible conflict of interest of having a military officer assigned to congressional positions in which they could influence legislation for their service.
Specht said Lewis believes in those rules, and that Kime, while a valuable adviser, is not setting policy or determining how much money goes to any programs.
“Under no circumstances does any staffer in [Lewis’] office direct policy,” Specht said.