*Carlo Versano*
As his Republican colleague Rep. Chris Collins prepares to defend himself against charges of insider trading, Congressman Tom Reed has said he will introduce bipartisan legislation in September banning House members from serving on corporate boards.
It's a measure designed to eliminate "potential conflict and the appearance of impropriety," Reed said Tuesday in an interview with Cheddar.
Members of the House have long enjoyed the benefit of being able to serve on boards of public companies, a practice that has come under scrutiny after Collins's indictment last week.
Reed and Rep. Kathleen Rice, a New York Democrat, will propose rules similar to those in the Senate that prohibit Senators from serving on corporate boards ー even if they're not being paid by the company.
As it stands, members of Congress must disclose their board seats, but Reed wants to go further: "These types of conflicts should be avoided at all costs," he said.
Reed said there will be potential "carve-outs" for philanthropic work in his legislation, allowing members to remain on the boards of charities they support.
Unlike their Senate counterparts, members of the House have been allowed to sit on corporate boards even after they were elected to Congress. But, Reed said the House rules are too broad and don't prevent conflicts of interest.
Last week, Collins was accused of tipping off family members about a failed drug trial by an Australian biotech. Collins and his son own a stakes in the firm and the Congressman sits on the company's board.
Collins has denied any wrongdoing and since dropped out of his re-election race.
That was the "right call," Reed said.
"The district that Chris represents is a solid Republican district," Reed said. "There's a long list of candidates stepping forward on the Republican side."
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rep-tom-reeds-push-for-change-in-corporate-boards).
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama says his new Cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” in charge of fighting corruption. The AI, named Diella, will oversee public funding projects and combat corruption in public tenders. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the government's public service platform. Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since 1990. Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May. It aims to deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, but the opposition Democratic Party remains skeptical.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
