From the Hill: Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, endorsed a temporary moratorium on privately funded travel during a closed-door meeting of House Republicans yesterday. The Pence endorsement is the first significant sign of support from conference conservatives for a temporary travel ban. Reportedly, although Majority Leader Boehner dismissed the idea initially, he said this week that "there is some merit to it". He is supportive of pre-approval of travel.

Why is grassroots lobby disclosure good for nonprofits? Find out by reading our statenent on lobby reform and grassroots disclosure. While your at it, check out our resource center on lobby reform!

Nothing controversial on the lobbying front came out of a Sen. Rules Cmte markup today. The bill would give any senator the ability to strike offensive “out of scope” provisions through a 60-vote point of order without killing an entire bill, however, it does not address issues outside the jurisdiction of the Rules committee, such as campaign finance law or lobbying law changes. These are expected to be addressed in a markup on Thursday in Sen. Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee. The Hill's take...

Following up on a Watcher article we did in Sept., HHS has agreed to settle the lawsuit that was filed against for providing federal funding to a pro-abstinence that did not seperate the message from the religous componets of the program. The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). For a Roundtable article on the decision.