Pelosi backs Obama, splits with Hoyer on White House disclosure rule

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday she supports a White House plan requiring federal contractors to disclose their campaign contributions. 

Her endorsement represents a break with the House’s No. 2 Democrat, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who expressed concerns this week that the disclosure rule risks politicizing the bidding process.

{mosads}Pelosi rejected that argument Thursday, maintaining that undisclosed political donations are the greater threat.

“What we are aiming at in this is to [target] those who have this endless, undisclosed money going into campaigns — again, in a way that I think undermines our democracy,” Pelosi said during a press conference in the Capitol. “I salute the president for what he did.”

Under the draft proposal unveiled last month, companies vying for federal contracts would be required to reveal their donations to candidates and political groups. The administration says the change will add transparency to the bidding process — an argument echoed by campaign finance watchdog groups.

The strategy has come under fire from Republicans, the business community and, more recently, Hoyer, who say political donations have nothing to do with either the competency of potential contractors or the bids they make.

“The issue of contracting ought to be on the merits of the contractor’s application and bid and capabilities,” Hoyer told reporters Tuesday. “There are some serious questions as to what implications there are if somehow we consider political contributions in the context of awarding contracts.”

In a joint gathering, the House Oversight and Small Business committees are hearing testimony on the draft proposal Thursday, featuring an official from the White House Office of Management and Budget.