Bush to Propose Stricter Ethical Standards

WASHINGTON--President Bush intends to call for more stringent ethical rules on executive branch officials and recommend a 25 percent pay raise for federal judges in a sweeping ethics-in-government program to be unveiled today, administration officials said yesterday.

But these officials said Bush has decided for the time being against recommending any hike in the $89,500 salary received by members of Congress, and will recommend no change in the widely criticized system that permits lawmakers to earn thousands of dollars in speaking fees.

Bush, who promised during last year's campaign to crack down on ethical laxness in government, arranged to lay out his recommendations in a speech at the American Society of Newspaper Editors convention.

Among the recommendations is one extending the one-year ban that currently prohibits executive branch employees from lobbying their former office to members of Congress and to judges, said a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

In making his proposals, Bush is expected to accept most of the recommendations made by a special commission he established and discard some others.

The commission that Bush set up to recommend changes for an ethics overhaul had called for a ban on honoraria to members of Congress for speaking engagements or similar work. Such honoraria provide thousands of dollars in outside income for senators and representatives in a system that critics, including Bush's ethics panel, contend allows for too much special interest influence on the representatives.

But the president decided that the issue of honoraria should be considered in conjuction with the question of a congressional pay raise, separate from the ethics package he was preparing to put forward today, said the official who spoke anonymously.

Bush's proposal is expected to cover matters such as outside income, conflicts of interest, financial disclosure, enforcement and restrictions on what executive branch employees can do after they leave the government.

His announcement follows the March 10 report by his eight-member ethics commission, which detailed 27 recommendations for changes in ethics laws and regulations as they apply to senior officials, judges and members of Congress and their staffs.

In addition to proposals that require congressional legislation, Bush will issue an executive order covering executive branch employees, the administration sources said.