Both the House and Senate passed lobbying and ethics reform bills this year, largely in response to the indictments and scandals of the past few years. But they couldn't send the bills to conference because of objections from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). They held up the bills in an effort to gut disclosure of lobbyist fundraising activities and ban congressional earmarks.

So now, House and Senate Democratic leaders plan to try again by writing a new ethics and lobbying reform bill. Roll Call reports today that negotiations are under way on a single bill, similar to the ones passed by the House and Senate, that would avoid conference if both houses approve it without amendments. Despite problems with a portion of the bill, both chambers are expected to vote on it and send it to the White House before the August recess.

The bill should pass the House easily but will have a rougher time in the Senate. DeMint and a group of conservative Republicans are threatening a filibuster if Democrats alter some of the earmark reforms in the bill.

The outlook is equally uncertain for the House ethics task force that was supposed to decide what changes to make to investigations of alleged ethical misconduct.

A group of freshman House Democrats are considering their own proposal, largely out of frustration that task force leaders Michael Capuano (D-MA) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) have put forth no official recommendation, nearly three months after their May 1 deadline. Capuano says the task force is making progress but does not expect to make its final recommendations before the August recess. However, one recommendation that is widely anticipated would allow outside groups and individuals to file complaints against lawmakers, the procedure the House had in place before 1997.

The House freshmen are considering an alternate proposal to reform the ethics process; others had endorsed a proposal by Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN) that would have eliminated the House Ethics Committee and replaced it with an independent, bipartisan commission.