When Do Personal Financial Interests Prohibit Earmarks?
Q: I am a staffer for a Member of the House and am responsible for her earmark requests. For years, she has obtained earmarks that specifically benefit a company that is a major employer in her district. Recently, the company acquired a corporation in which my Member’s husband holds stock. He received the stock as a gift from his godparents when he was a child, and he has held it ever since. Because the acquisition was paid for by stock, he is now a stockholder in the company that has been the subject of my Member’s earmark requests. I know that the new rules prohibit a Member from requesting an earmark that benefits the Member’s spouse. In light of those rules, if her husband keeps the stock, must she stop requesting earmarks that benefit the company?
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