The AFL-CIO and Change to Win have filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) charging that two groups, the Center for Union Facts and the Marcus Foundation, violated their tax exempt status by engaging in prohibited partisan political activity during the 2008 election.

An editorial in RollCall ($$) considers President Obama's executive order to be a "war on lobbyists" that is "too broad and, at the same time, too narrow." The rules and the consequences of Obama's new ethics rules continue to be a topic of deliberation. The editorial criticizes "that it paints all lobbyists with the broad brush of corruption, deception and dishonesty."

The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) released a memorandum explaining the executive order banning executive branch personnel from accepting gifts from lobbyists. The memo states that the order; "was not intended to prohibit certain gifts that do not implicate the purposes of the ban. [. . .] appointees may rely on the following interim guidance, to accept certain gifts from 501(c)(3) organizations and media organizations." This revises the order allowing covered officials to participate in events sponsored by charitable organizations and the press.

Reportedly, after being stalled for years, the Senate is likely to soon consider a bill that would require senators to file their campaign finance reports electronically.