A significant portion of former Sen. Evan Bayh’s (D-Ind.) last year in office was spent hunting for jobs, potentially in violation of the chamber’s ethics rules, according to The Associated Press.
Bayh unexpectedly announced that he will run for Senate again in July, and is currently within a percentage point of his Republican opponent Todd Young.
{mosads}A private schedule obtained by AP shows that Bayh’s job hunt began immediately following his surprise announcement of retirement from the Senate on Feb. 15, 2010.
In the subsequent months, Bayh made numerous phone calls and attended a number of meetings with head hunters and potential employers.
During his job search, he was still voting on legislation that impacted businesses in various industries, according to AP.
Although there are specific rules that mandate a disclosure of such talks to the Senate, they only apply to job negotiations that take place after an official offer has been made.
Since Bayh did not receive an official job offer and worked mostly through headhunters, he did not have to reveal the job negotiations to the Senate.
However, Bayh may have violated the Ethics rules in one instance, when headhunter Mike Flood paid for Bayh’s hotel and transportation in New York City for two days. According to the Senate rules, such spending must be disclosed if it exceeds $250, but Bayh never made such a disclosure.
Bayh campaign spokesman Ben Ray defended the former senator, stating that “Evan Bayh’s career has been about standing up for Hoosiers, including taking on Wall Street Banks and Big Oil.”
“Evan Bayh voted for the largest Wall Street reform in generations, voted to close the carried interest tax loophole, and voted repeatedly against tax breaks for oil companies,” he added.
Craig Holman, a Public Citizen lobbyist that helped draft the language of the ethics provision, told AP that Bayh’s actions were “outrageous.”
“What we were unaware of at the time was how Congress would manipulate the rule so that they really don’t abide by it,” he said.