When Rep. Tim Burchett is in his Tennessee district, he spends hours a week in his barn — usually between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. — handcrafting longboards. He often jokes that the niche hobby is “cheaper than a psychiatrist.”
It turns out he might have to consult one from the sheer stress it’s causing him. He’s spent considerable time trying unsuccessfully to figure out how to sell the boards in a way that complies with congressional ethics rules. It’s become a grating journey for him, given that Congress’ notoriously toothless ethics rules are still holding him back.
“It’s just taking a lot of time, and it’s costing me a lot of money to do the right thing,” Burchett told The Washington Sun. “I’m incredibly frustrated.”
“Maybe I won’t ever be able to sell them.”
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The Republican occasionally causes problems in his conference. He’s developed a habit of changing his mind about major bills at the last minute, something he considers part of his legislative strategy. It’s almost as if he enjoys being whipped by leadership for his vote. As a fiscal hawk, he frequently aligns with the House Freedom Caucus, though he’s not a member because he says he doesn’t like caucuses.
When it comes to his skateboards — which gained attention after Tulsi Gabbard, his former House colleague and the former Director of National Intelligence, posted about the one he gave her — he’s trying to play by the book.
Burchett’s latest proposal to the House Ethics Committee is for his wife to set up a business that could sell them. Then, Pluto Sports, a local skate shop in Knoxville, could buy and resell the boards — so long as they don’t advertise them with the lawmaker’s name or likeness, according to House Ethics rules.
“Basically, I’m just gonna be the guy in the shop,” Burchett explained.
Outside the saws and sanders, the rest of the skateboard business would have to be out of his hands. He doesn’t know what a brand might be called, but he knows he wouldn’t be allowed to promote its products.
It’s unclear whether this proposal will be approved. Tom Rust, the chief counsel for the House Ethics Committee, declined to comment when The Sun asked about it.
“I’m just trying to do everything right and legal, and I just — you know, it’s funny. Some of these guys in Congress have said I should’ve just done it and not told them about it,” Burchett said.
The main hurdle is complying with the House Ethics manual, which says: “At times a Member or staff person wishes to engage in outside employment that involves the selling of goods or services. On the basis of the rules and standards of conduct set out above, a Member should not undertake any outside employment that would involve the Member personally in the selling or endorsement of any goods or services.”
It’s especially irritating for Burchett when he compares his financial ambitions to those of his colleagues: This Congress, he’s pushed to restrict lawmakers’ ability to trade stocks — a practice that’s proved wildly profitable for many members, but has also remained wildly unpopular among Americans for years now.
“I’m not trying to do any insider stock trading. I’m just trying to sell a few skateboards,” Burchett said.
Lawmakers being able to trade stocks while serving in Congress is a big reason that Burchett holds open contempt for politics-as-usual in Washington, which he calls a “sewer.”
He thinks what he’s been trying to do is much different, though he says he understands why the ethics rules prohibiting him from starting a business are in place.
“I get it. I get it,” he said. “You know, somebody wants to sway my vote, and they come buy a skateboard from me, or something.”
Burchett can’t talk up his own boards too much, but others can vouch for his work: Brian Beauchene, a longtime skateboarder, the owner of Pluto Sports and a hometown friend of Burchett’s, said “they are real good quality” longboards for casual skateboarders.
He stopped short of commending Burchett’s skating skills, going only so far as to say, “He’s competent.”
“I try not to get involved in too much politics, myself. But when it comes to skateboarding, I’m all about it, and if he’s going to make some skateboards, well, I’m going to help him put good trucks and wheels on,” Beauchene said. “I’m happy that he’s doing it. It brings some good attention to skateboarding that, you know, even politicians can ride skateboards.”
In the meantime, Burchett’s colleagues can continue trading stocks.
On Wednesday, the Stop Insider Trading Act died in the Senate. The bill, which the House passed in July, would have prohibited members, their spouses and children from buying new stocks, while allowing members to keep existing stocks.
Burchett said the bill didn’t go far enough compared to other stock-ban efforts he’s supported this Congress, but it was “better than nothing.”
“My bill was just a total ban on it. Just put all your money in a mutual fund. You make sacrifices when you’re in Congress,” Burchett said.
Danielle Caputo, senior legal counsel with Campaign Legal Center, said Burchett’s proposed business structure sounds like a “low-level concern for improper influence,” as long as “they’re not specifically being sold as like, ‘Representative Burchett’s skateboards.’”
Burchett said he’s trying to do the right thing, but what could have happened if he followed his unnamed colleagues’ advice and didn’t bother to seek guidance or approval from the Ethics Committee beforehand?
“It would probably, at that point, just be like a letter of admonishment or something like that, and telling him that he has to stop selling his skateboards,” Caputo said. “The House Ethics Committee does not have a great record of doing anything meaningful, and I don’t imagine that they would find this to be that serious of a violation.”
Still, he wants the process to be aboveboard, and everyone seems to be asking the 62-year-old where they can get his skateboards.
“I just don’t have a lot of time to, as much as I’d hope to, to satisfy all those people,” he said. “I have people, weekly, calling, people wanting to buy ‘em from me, that wanna get one for their grandkid or something. And then charities, of course, are calling, too. And it’s just, I don’t know what direction to go in, actually.”
He repeatedly asserted that setting up shop has been so difficult in part because he’s made too many enemies in the chamber.
“I’ve ruffled a lot of feathers since I’ve been in Congress,” he said. “So I totally expected this.”
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