All House members, officers and employees are still subject to the ethics rules and regulations during a government shutdown, including the gift rule, a House Ethics Committee memo Thursday states.
The panel emphasized privately sponsored trips during a government shutdown are not allowed. “If you have received Committee approval to participate in privately-sponsored, officially-connected travel, you may not travel if a lapse in appropriations is in place at the time of your departure,” the memo states.
The ethics panel memo urges those who plan to take a trip under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act, which is designed to strengthen international relations through foreign trips, to contact the committee for further guidance.
