By Paul Kane
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The Senate ethics committee has officially ruled that senators can book multiple flights home from Washington and pay for only one without violating a new, highly touted gift ban.

A legal opinion from the Air Transport Association had raised red flags about multiple bookings because the practice isn't available to the general public. Panicked senators from both parties quickly launched an effort to preserve their benefit because voting schedules make it difficult to know when they can leave the Capitol.

Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Cornyn (R-Tex.), the leaders of the ethics committee, declared that "there would be no gift . . . if a member (or a Senate employee making a reservation for that member) makes more than one reservation for official travel with a participating airline."

The letter was prompted by questioning from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Rules and Administration Committee, which wrote most of the new lobbying laws. Feinstein has contended that the multiple-ticket practice was available to other travelers, including frequent fliers.

"Members are often unable to predict with specificity when they will be able to travel because of the fluid and unpredictable nature of Senate business," Feinstein and Sen. Robert Bennett (Utah), ranking Republican on the committee, wrote to the ethics panel earlier this month.

For now, the multiple-ticket benefit will not be extended to staff members, because the ethics letter was specific in saying that only a "member" can get multiple tickets.

The ethics ruling also most likely preempts the need for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to step in. They had slipped a provision into a spending bill this month allowing multiple bookings for both senators and staffers -- an expansion of the previous practice, which has been limited to lawmakers.