Congress Passes Sweeping Lobbying and Ethics Reforms After a year-long debate and negotiations over enacting lobbying and ethics reforms, Congress finally passed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (S. 1). While not an ideal set of reforms, the new law is the most significant lobbying and ethics reform in a decade and should make important strides in increasing accountability and transparency in Washington. Senate Committees OK Nussle On July 31 and Aug. 2, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Budget Committees approved the nomination of former Rep. Jim Nussle (R-IA) to serve as Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director, by votes of 16-0 and 22-1, respectively. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has scheduled a floor vote on the nomination for Sept. 4. Congress Approves Fiscally Responsible Expansion of Children's Health Insurance During the week of July 30, the House and Senate passed different versions of a reauthorization and expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that will expand health care coverage to millions of uninsured children across the country. The Senate version would extend coverage to about four million additional children, while the House version would add five million children and root out excess costs in the Medicare Advantage program, which privatizes health insurance but at a higher cost than traditional Medicare coverage. President Bush has threatened to veto both bills.