PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1760-1761)
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jan 20, 2006
Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2006 - Extends from one to two years the ban on former senior and very senior executive personnel, former Members of Congress, and officers and employees of the legislative branch from making lobbying contacts with any officer or employee of the entity in which such person served before his or her tenure terminated.
Eliminates floor privileges for a former Senator or Senator-elect who is a registered lobbyist.
Requires public disclosure by Members of Congress and senior congressional staff of employment negotiations.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Subjects to fines and penalties a Member of Congress or a congressional employee who wrongfully influences, on a partisan basis, an entity's employment decisions or practices.
Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA) to require: (1) quarterly instead of semiannual filing of lobbying disclosures reports; (2) electronic filing; (3) disclosure of registered lobbyist contributions and payments; (4) disclosure of paid efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying; (5) disclosure by registered lobbyists of all past executive and congressional employment; and (6) maintenance of certain lobbying disclosure information in an electronic data base, available to the public free of charge over the Internet.
Amends the Standing Rules of the Senate to: (1) exclude gifts from lobbyists from the gift ban exceptions; and (2) prohibit privately funded travel by a Member, officer, or employee.
Prohibits such individuals from accepting transportation or lodging on trips sponsored by non-profit organizations that are planned, organized, requested, arranged, or financed in whole or in part by a lobbyist or foreign agent, or in which a lobbyist participates.
Requires a Member, officer, or employee of the Senate to disclose certain information regarding noncommercial air travel.
Requires the Committee on Rules and Administration to develop and revise guidelines on reasonable expenses or expenditures for official government travel.
Establishes the Senate Office of Public Integrity.
Amends the LDA to increase the penalty for failure to comply with lobbying disclosure requirements.
Requires certification that congressional travel meets certain conditions. Establishes civil fines for false certifications.
Establishes mandatory annual ethics training for congressional employees.
Amends the Standing Rules to require: (1) actual voting in a conference committee meeting on the full text of the proposed conference report; and (2) availability of such report on the Internet for at least 24 hours before its consideration.
People & committees
Sen. Reid, Harry [D-NV] · D–NV
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1760-1761)
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 109-428.
Read twice and referred, under authority of the order of the Senate of Jan. 18, 2006, to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR 1/24/2006 S20-23)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Feb 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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Analyze S.2180 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
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