Pappas, Nunn Introduce No Cashing In Act | Congressman Chris Pappas

June 30, 2026

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Congressman Zach Nunn (IA-03) introduced new bipartisan legislation to require members of Congress to file financial disclosures while receiving a taxpayer-funded pension and strip pensions from former members who cash in as lobbyists after leaving office.

“Public service should never lead to self-service,” said Congressman Pappas. “But if it does, as is too often the case for former members of Congress, it’s unacceptable that taxpayers remain on the hook to pay out their pensions while they cash in lobbying for massive corporate interests or even for foreign governments like China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Our bipartisan legislation would close the revolving door and provide transparency to the public, and I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting these reforms.”

"Public service should never become a stepping stone for personal profit," said Congressman Nunn. "First in the Iowa Statehouse and now in Congress, I've worked to ban stock trading and close the revolving door, because Iowans deserve representatives who treat public service like a public trust, not a chance to cash in on insider information or a cushy lobbying job after they leave office. This bipartisan bill builds on that effort to hold Washington accountable to Iowa."

Former Senators must wait two years after the end of their service and former Representatives must wait one year after the end of their service before pursuing lobbying activities. However, nothing prevents a member from lobbying while also collecting their taxpayer-funded pension.

Pappas and Nunn’s new, bipartisan No Cashing In Act would:

Require former members of Congress to file a financial disclosure for the 10 years following being a member or for all years that they receive a pension, whichever is longer,
Reduce any former member of Congress’s pension by the amount of any income earned from working for a substantial lobbying entity, defined as an entity employing three or more lobbyists or spending more than $10,000 on lobbying in a given calendar year.

The full text of the bill can be found here.