Quite a LegiStorm

Disclosure in government frequently discomfits, but it also illuminates and guards the public trust. The latest row over the Capitol Hill Web firm LegiStorm is no different.

Founded in late 2006, LegiStorm offers easy and free public access to the salary information of Capitol Hill staffers. This information is already public record. It used to be difficult to access, but LegiStorm changed that. This year, the firm started to offer much more detailed personal financial disclosure information on senior staffers. Investment portfolios, bank information and home addresses are among them. House staffers have cried foul, citing a fear of identity theft. One went so far as to accuse the company of aiding and abetting the burglary of his home.

Staffers should get used to this level of scrutiny. They should purchase identity-theft protection if they fear fraud or erect window bars to guard against burglars. Those who require private-sector levels of anonymity should decamp to the private sector. The dominance of Capitol Hill by a select group of well-paid staffers commanding legions of twentysomethings is one of Washington’s most noteworthy open secrets, one which has begged attention for some time. It is due for a change. We’re quite certain that much of the voting public fails to realize how much influence senior staffers, and even some very junior ones, wield. Mr. Smith does not simply go to Washington; his staffers also battle corruption or succumb to it. As the Abramoff lobbying scandal of 2005-06 showed, routines can and do change in the wake of disclosure.

The logic for broad disclosure is compelling. This is the people’s branch, and it conducts the people’s business. A person sufficiently public-spirited to work in Congress can be expected to show the people some assurances of continuing honorable intent. For certain, this is less invasive than what many low-level employees in federal national-security positions experience during background investigations. It is not easy to be a public servant. Hence the “servant” part.