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Maryland Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George鈥檚) is vowing to fight a determination by the state legislature鈥檚 ethics committee that he cannot hold a job in Prince George鈥檚 County government as long as he remains in the Senate.
Muse said he vehemently disagrees with a letter he received from the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics that determined it is unlawful for him to hold a Prince George鈥檚 County job while serving as a state senator and that he will challenge it 鈥� in court if he has to.
Muse鈥檚 comments come as his colleague Sen. Ron Watson (D- Prince George鈥檚) from the job he took this summer with Prince George鈥檚 County schools, in the face of a similar ruling from the ethics committee. Watson said he also disagreed with the committee鈥檚 determination, but decided against challenging it. Muse appears to be taking a different tack.
鈥淲e are challenging that, because we think that it鈥檚 wrong. We think that every person deserves a job,鈥� Muse said.
Muse did not immediately confirm the nature of his job at the county, nor did he provide the letter from the ethics committee in response to requests from Maryland Matters. Letters issued by the committee are not publicly available.
But a spokesperson for Prince George鈥檚 County Executive Aisha Braveboy said Muse started a job in October as ombudsman for the county鈥檚 procurement office. The $180,000-a-year job is 鈥渕erit based,鈥� said Sharon Taylor, the spokesperson, and Muse does not serve at the pleasure of the county executive. The position was posted publicly in August, Taylor added, and Muse applied and was selected.
鈥淲e assumed that Sen. Anthony Muse followed the state legislative ethics rules before accepting the job, which he was obligated to do,鈥� Taylor said.
Muse noted that legislative job is a 鈥減art-time job paying almost no money.鈥� Individual state legislators, who do much of their work during the state鈥檚 90-day legislative session, were paid $55,526 in 2025 and will get a raise to $56,636 in 2026.
鈥淲e are in government, and when you get to my age, where else can you get a job, but in government? So we are challenging it, and we鈥檙e going to win,鈥� said Muse, 67, who has served in the Senate since 2007.
State legislators, like Muse and Watson, are generally prohibited from holding paid jobs in state or local government, because of possible conflicts of interest. Exceptions can be made on particular grounds.
Deadra Daly, ethics counsel for the General Assembly, cannot speak about individual cases such as Muse鈥檚. But she said state law does not lay out an appeals process.
鈥淭hey [a lawmaker] might ask the committee to reconsider, but the law does not specify a decision may be appealed,鈥� Daly said. 鈥淭he law just doesn鈥檛 contemplate that. So there is not really an appeals process.鈥�
Nor does the law require the Joint Ethics Committee 鈥� a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House and Senate 鈥� to issue exemptions to lawmakers, it merely allows the committee to do so, Daly said.
鈥淭he law says the committee 鈥榤ay鈥� grant an exemption,鈥� Daly said. 鈥淪o, I don鈥檛 know how one would ask a court to require the committee to exercise discretionary authority.鈥�
Muse said he deserves additional opportunity to plead his case.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we do down here, we debate, we deliberate, we discuss 鈥� until we reach a final decision. And I think that鈥檚 my right, as one of the senior senators here, to do that,鈥� he said.
Muse argued the committee should reevaluate its ruling, but that if it doesn鈥檛 reverse course, he intends to bring a court challenge.
鈥淚 only ask for their patience to deliberate this, and if it goes further we will do a court case that only involves getting an opinion as to who is right, who is wrong,鈥� Muse said. 鈥淛udges are the ones who interpret the law, and they should be the ones who decide.鈥�
If a lawmaker does not abide by an Ethics Committee decision, Daly said they could be investigated, and ultimately sanctioned. A complaint from the committee, the presiding officers or a member of the public could trigger such an investigation, she said.
Senate President Bill Ferguson鈥檚 (D) office declined to comment on the matter.
An for the Prince George鈥檚 ombudsman job says its responsibilities include providing 鈥済uidance, advocacy, and support to small, minority, County-based businesses seeking to do business with the County. The Ombudsman acts as a liaison between the business community and County government, assisting firms in navigating procurement processes, addressing barriers to participation, and ensuring compliance with applicable legislations and policies.鈥�
State law lets General Assembly members keep paid positions in state or local government if they held those jobs prior to filing for election. It also allows them to work as teachers, non-elected law enforcement officers or emergency responders. A final exemption allows lawmakers to keep nonmanagerial state or local government jobs obtained through a 鈥渕erit system hiring process,鈥� a standardized procedure or test used to rank applicants based solely on merit.
鈥淭he committee is pretty strict,鈥� Daly said of the merit-based exception. 鈥淲e want it to be very much an objective ranking system. Then, one can鈥檛 argue that this person only got the job because the agency was trying to curry favor with the legislator.鈥�
Currently, no member of the General Assembly has such an exemption, Daly said.
鈥淚f we look at legislators who have government employment, most of them are people who came in with a government position,鈥� Daly said. 鈥淚 have a bunch who are teachers, adjunct professors, substitutes 鈥� I have a golf coach. I have nobody who has a merit-system exemption right now.鈥�
