The House lobby and ethics reform package is scheduled for a floor vote today after the Rules Committee reported out a single rule late Wednesday night that sets up separate floor votes on the overall lobbying package, H.R. 2316 and the bundling bill H.R. 2317. The committee did not allow debate on a number of amendments, including doubling the one-year lobbying ban on former lawmakers and staff directly lobbying their former colleagues. Dropping this provision has already brought very negative media attention. From a New York Times editorial yesterday :

Yesterday, Michael Baroody withdrew himself as nominee to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). News of the withdrawal came less than 24 hours before today's scheduled nomination hearing. It is unclear whether the withdrawal came at the behest of the White House or was of Baroody's own accord. Either way, it is not surprising. The Senate nomination panel was preparing to grill Baroody on his ties to industry and obvious conflicts of interest. The withdrawal is a welcome decision. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) put it best in today's Washington Post:

This has not been a good week so far for the leader of the General Services Administration. Additional information on problems at GSA have catapulted Administrator Lurita Doan back into the headlines - and the news isn't good.

OMB Watch contributed this statement to a hearing on the IRS private debt collection program. At the hearing, which was held by the full House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charlie Rangel asked acting commissioner of the IRS Kevin Brown to not issue any more contracts to private debt collectors. Commissioner Brown did give a clear response, but Rep. Rangel seemed intent on reaching a compromise with IRS that contained the size of the program, making it unnecessary to immediately pass legislation that would end it.