House Rejects Royalties Limits Members Defy Ethics Committee To Kill Plan Costly To Gingrich

Defying its ethics committee, the House voted Friday to let lawmakers receive unlimited book royalties as long as they have their book contracts cleared by the ethics panel and do not accept advances.

By 259-128, the members rejected a strict curb on income they can earn from books - a proposal that could have cost House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., handsomely in connection with his book, “To Renew America.”

The rule adopted Friday applies to book contracts signed after Jan. 1, 1996, so that Gingrich’s deal would not be affected. The issue of book sales, which felled a Democratic House speaker in the late 1980s, has bedeviled Gingrich this year.

In Friday’s vote, 46 Democrats sided with the majority Republicans. Five Republicans voted against the rule, which covers only House members. All Washington state and Idaho Republicans voted to reject the strict limits; all area Democrats voted for them.

Democrats accused the Republicans of pushing through the rule to shelter Gingrich’s royalties.

They said it was the first time a recommendation from the bipartisan ethics committee had been weakened in a House vote.

House Democratic Whip David Bonior, D-Mich., referring to the ongoing government shutdown, said, “Veterans are still waiting for their checks … kids are being denied Christmas presents … (and) Congress voted to protect its own interest and to protect the speaker’s interest to make money.”

The original rule would have cost Gingrich a substantial amount of money. The panel said it proposed the rule because Gingrich left the impression he was using his office for personal gain.