Comer’s amended disclosure reports $100,001 to $1 million in book income; Pelosi reports the same range

By Rosalind Kerrow

WASHINGTON — Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, filed an amended financial disclosure report for 2025 on Oct. 19. Like his original report, filed Aug. 11, the amendment shows that a company he owns took in between $100,001 and $1,000,000 in book sales last year.

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reported the same range of royalties for 2025. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., reported $50,001 to $100,000, and at least 10 other House members listed book income or publishing contracts on their 2025 reports, according to a review of the filings by The Washington Inquisitor.

What Comer’s amendment changed

The Oct. 19 amendment adds two stock holdings that were not on the August report: BlackRock and Churchill Downs, each valued at $1,001 to $15,000. It replaces a dollar figure that had been listed for his wife’s salary from the Franklin County Board of Education with “N/A.” The House form asks members to report the source of a spouse’s earned income, but not the amount unless it is honoraria. The amendment also describes a “new account” as a “new brokerage account.” Nothing else in the report changes.

Both versions list Gamaliel Stargazer, LLC, which Comer owns outright, with a value of $1,001 to $15,000 and income from “book sales” of $100,001 to $1,000,000. According to a note in the filing, the company was formed to own the royalties from All the President’s Money, his book on the Oversight Committee’s investigation of the Biden family’s foreign business dealings, and sales began Jan. 14, 2025. Comer lists himself as the company’s president. HarperCollins lists the book under its Broadside Books imprint with the same release date. The report does not name the publisher, and its agreements section lists only pension arrangements.

Comer asked for an extension in May and filed his original report Aug. 11. Amendments like his are common: members often correct or add to reports after filing, and the Clerk’s website shows them as separate documents.

The rules on members’ books

House members may write books and keep the royalties, but under limits. Under clause 3 of House Rule XXV, a member may not accept an advance on royalties, and a publishing contract must first be approved by the House Ethics Committee. The committee approves a contract when royalties come “from an established publisher under usual and customary contractual terms.” According to the committee’s guidance, royalties paid under an approved contract do not count toward the cap on members’ outside earned income. An agent or researcher who is not a House employee or a member’s relative may still receive an advance.

The disclosure forms do not have to say whether a contract was approved, and most do not. Jeffries’ report is an exception. It notes that his book was “published by Grand Central Publishing” and that the “publishing agreement [was] approved by House Ethics Committee.”

Who else reported book income

The Inquisitor reviewed the 2025 annual reports filed with the House Clerk this year. These members reported book contracts or royalties (all figures are the ranges on the forms):

• Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.: royalties of $100,001 to $1,000,000 on The Art of Power, published by Simon & Schuster (report).
• Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.: $50,001 to $100,000 on ABC’s of Democracy, Grand Central Publishing (report).
• Jamie Raskin, D-Md.: a HarperCollins royalty payment of $15,001 to $50,000 and Sage Publications royalties of $1,001 to $2,500 (report).
• Jim Jordan, R-Ohio: $2,501 to $5,000 on Do What You Said You Would Do, from Post Hill Press, plus $1 to $200 from a 1994 book (report).
• Sharice Davids, D-Kan.: $2,501 to $5,000 in royalties from Sharice’s Big Voice (report).
• Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga.: $1,001 to $2,500 in royalties through Ingram Spark (report).
• Ronny Jackson, R-Texas: a December 2020 contract with Post Hill Press. It provided an advance paid that month, before he took office in January 2021, plus standard royalties (report).
• Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.: royalty agreements with Post Hill Press (August 2020) and with Brave Books (December 2022, together with her husband) (report).
• Jared Huffman, D-Calif.: a June 2025 agreement with W.W. Norton for a manuscript to be published in August 2026 (report).
• Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.: book contracts with St. Martin’s Press, each reporting no royalties for 2025 (Moulton, Wasserman Schultz).
• Linda Sánchez, D-Calif.: a 2007 publishing agreement with Grand Central Publishing (report).

The list includes five Republicans and eight Democrats. It is not complete: reports are searchable only one at a time on the Clerk’s site, and some members describe book income in ways a text search can miss. Senate reports were not included because the Senate’s electronic disclosure site could not be reached for this story.

Why it matters

Book royalties are one of the few large sources of outside income House members may still earn, since the outside income cap and the ban on honoraria do not apply to them. Ranges on the form are wide, so a report of $100,001 to $1,000,000 could mean anything from just over six figures to seven. The forms do not show sales figures or royalty rates.

None of the filings reviewed shows a finding by the Ethics Committee or any other body that a member broke the book rules.

The Inquisitor sought comment by email from the House Clerk’s office on the amendment process; from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Public Citizen and the Authors Guild on the book rules; and from the offices of Reps. Huffman and Luna. The Inquisitor is also seeking comment from the offices of Comer, Pelosi, Jeffries, Raskin, Jordan, Davids, Loudermilk, Jackson, Moulton, Wasserman Schultz and Sánchez through their published office contact lines. The questions to Comer’s office include who published the book, whether the publishing contract was approved by the Ethics Committee and why the amendment was filed. Responses will be added when received.