Congress Backs Off Requiring Financial Disclosures by Government Officials

Suddenly, they're shy

Congress has quickly and quietly moved to considerably scale back financial disclosure requirements that were mandated by the STOCK Act last year after a report released last month raised security concerns about posting the information online.

The House on Friday cleared a bill by voice vote that would exempt congressional aides and executive branch staffers from a requirement that they post financial disclosures online. The requirement would still apply to the president, vice president, lawmakers and congressional candidates, and positions that require Senate confirmation.

The Senate cleared the legislation, also by unanimous consent, Thursday night.

Open government groups are slamming the bill, charging Congress with overreacting to worries that could be addressed with more modest changes to the law.