Cite as: 513 U. S. 454 (1995)
Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting
a serious one and that this medicine is no more bitter than is needed to cure the patient," ibid. The Wilkey Commission also was aware that its recommendations covered not only high-level federal employees,4 but it "regard[ed] the current state of affairs as to honoraria in particular as unacceptable in the extreme, and believe[d] that [the Government could not] wait until an unspecified date in the future to end this harmful practice." Id., at 38.5
The Court concedes that in light of the abuses of honoraria by its Members, Congress could reasonably assume that "payments of honoraria to judges or high-ranking officials in the Executive Branch might generate a similar appearance of improper influence," ante, at 473, but it concludes that Congress could not extend this presumption to federal em-4 "The Commission also considered whether it was appropriate to impose a flat ban on outside earned income by all federal employees, or in the alternative, by the highest paid federal employees. In view of the diverse circumstances of federal employees, we felt that an across-the-board ban on outside earned income was unnecessary and too harsh." Wilkey Commission 38.
5 The Court discusses a report of the General Accounting Office (GAO) to refute the argument that there is some evidence of misconduct related to honoraria in the rank and file of federal employees below grade GS-16. Ante, at 472, n. 18 (citing General Accounting Office, Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Federal Services, Post Office and Civil Service of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, Employee Conduct Standards: Some Outside Activities Present Conflict-of-Interest Issues (Feb. 1992) (hereinafter GAO Report)). The GAO audited 11 agencies' controls over outside activities by employees. Id., at 2. The GAO Report reflects that under the prior regime, some agencies exhibited "overly permissive approval policies," ibid., and "five agencies approved some outside activities, such as speaking and consulting, that appeared to violate the standard of conduct prohibiting the use of public office for private gain," ibid. Nine of the eleven agencies reviewed had "approved outside activities in situations that involved potential violations of standard-of-conduct regulations or conflict-of-interest statutes." Id., at 58. Nevertheless, the Court maintains that there is no evidence of even the appearance of impropriety by employees below grade GS-16. Cf. ante, at 472, n. 18.
497
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