Brian Bengs
October 27, 2026 · Newsletter
“Ethics in Washington” Shouldn’t be an Oxymoron
As an Air Force ethics advisor, my job was to advise fellow Airmen on how to comply with federal ethics standards to avoid corruption, or even the appearance of impropriety. We made a whole television ad where I explained the rules for our military service members.
Fifty dollars is the limit. Any more than fifty dollars in a single year, and it becomes a bribe, subject to the full weight of military justice. An 18-year-old E-1 at basic training has stricter rules than our members of Congress.
The joint ethics regulation goes further. Our troops are expected to know and follow specific ethical principles. When they’re unsure about a particular case, they go to a JAG like me for guidance. If our personnel can follow common-sense ethical guidelines, why can’t our U.S. Senators and their staff do the same?
Here are a few of the guidelines that I and my fellow service members were required to follow:
Service members must place loyalty to the Constitution, the law, and ethical principles above private gain. They cannot hold financial interests that would conflict with the performance of their duties, and they cannot have or seek employment that conflicts with their official government duties and responsibilities. They cannot accept gifts from entities doing (or trying to do) business with the government.
This race is winnable. My opponent is relying on Big Money donors to coast to re-election, but I’m relying on regular folks like you. We need to keep our ads running to reach as many South Dakotans as possible. Please consider chipping into the campaign to help us sprint through the finish line. Thank you.
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There’s one more guideline I’d like to highlight: “Military members shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the appearance that they are violating the law or the ethical standards…” In ethics, even the “appearance of impropriety” can be enough to say “no, that ain’t happening.” Even if it’s technically above board, it still looks bad for everyone involved.
If my opponent, Mike Rounds, was facing an Article 15 (non-judicial punishment) or a court-martial, he would be found to have broken each and every one of these basic rules.
He puts party politics above his loyalty to the Constitution by failing to uphold his responsibility to exercise tariff (taxation) and war powers. He’s been caught breaking the STOCK Act by neglecting (or even outright failing) to disclose his stock trading. He racked up the largest travel bill in the entire Senate, using private charter flights to go home for the weekend when far cheaper commercial flights were available.
His long-time senior advisor was revealed to be moonlighting as a lobbyist for Big Tech, Big Tobacco, and Big Ag while on the taxpayer’s payroll. To make it worse, he also runs a large government affairs firm raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.
Finally, just look at my opponent’s campaign fundraising. He’s the co-chair of the Senate AI Caucus, while Big Tech and AI interests have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into his campaign. Are we really supposed to believe that there’s no quid pro quo here? Remember, even the appearance of impropriety is unethical.
It isn’t just Big Tech and AI interests giving him money. It’s Big Finance, real estate, Big Ag, and a number of other special interest groups. If you’re sitting on the Senate Armed Services, Banking, and Agriculture Committees and you’re taking campaign contributions from entities that have business with those committees, would that pass the military’s “smell test”? Not a chance.
In the halls of the United States Senate, all of this corruption is legal, even when common sense says it shouldn’t be. The corruption gets worse the longer a Senator walks the halls of the Capitol.
We are sprinting through the finish line, but we need your help to maintain our momentum. Recent polling has this race neck-and-neck, and we need to make sure that my name, message, and background reaches as many South Dakotans as possible. Your contribution today will help us pay for ads and put gas in the tank in this last week before the election. Thank you for your support.
What can one Senator do about this rampant corruption in the Senate? Let’s start with term limits. In the military, you rotate to different assignments every few years to minimize the potential for corruption and conflicts of interest. I have pledged to serve two Senate terms and return home to South Dakota.
Second, I’ve completely sworn off corporate PAC money. My campaign is overwhelmingly funded by regular people like you, with an average contribution of $36.
If the Senate won’t enforce its own ethics rules, and leaves such large holes for corruption in the rules it does have, maybe we need a new “Code of Senate Conduct.” The military’s guidelines are a good place to start, so let’s just swap out “military members” for “Senators and their staff”:
Public service is a public trust, requiring Senators and their staff to place loyalty to the Constitution, the laws and ethical principles above private gain.
Senators and their staff shall not hold financial interests that conflict with the conscientious performance of duty.
Senators and their staff shall not engage in financial transactions using nonpublic Government information or allow the improper use of such information to further any private interest.
Senators and their staff (or their campaign committee) shall not, except as permitted by the Standards of Ethical Conduct, solicit or accept any gift or other item of monetary value from any person or entity seeking official action from, doing business with, or conducting activities regulated by the Senate, or whose interests may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the Senator’s duties.
Senators and their staff shall not engage in outside employment or activities, including seeking or negotiating for employment, that conflict with official Government duties and responsibilities.
Senators and their staff shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the appearance that they are violating the law or the ethical standards set forth in the Standards of Ethical Conduct.
My own personal code will go a fair bit farther than this, but I hope that others in the Senate can use it as baby steps for this country to have some ethics in Washington:
The United States Senate and the Senate Ethics Committee should be embarrassed they cannot enforce their own rules. Maybe they can take a few of my suggestions and beef up their toothless ethical guidelines.
Thank you for reading.
Brian L. Bengs, Lt Col (Ret)
Independent Candidate for U.S. Senate
This race is winnable. My opponent is relying on Big Money donors to coast to re-election, but I’m relying on regular folks like you. We need to keep our ads running to reach as many South Dakotans as possible. Please consider chipping into the campaign to help us sprint through the finish line. Thank you.