The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria sees no conflict of interest in its previous dealings with Rep. Jim Kolbe, the chairwoman of the group's board said.

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WASHINGTON — Retiring Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe is up for a job leading a group whose funding he helped determine as chairman of a House Appropriations subcommittee.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria confirmed this week that Kolbe, a Republican, is one of five finalists to become its next executive director. The final decision is expected to be made by the Global Fund's full board at its meeting at the end of the month. The position pays about $173,000 plus a pension.

Kolbe will retire at the end of the year after 22 years representing Southeastern Arizona. During much of his tenure, he has been active on international trade and development issues.

The Geneva-based Global Fund is the central financing engine of international efforts to fight those diseases, and it receives about a third of its funding from the United States. According to its Web site, the group has, since 2001, attracted $4.7 billion in financing through 2008.

As the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, export financing and related programs, Kolbe helps oversee more than half the U.S. contributions to the Global Fund, said Seth Amgott, a spokesman for the Global Fund.

But spokespeople for Kolbe and the Global Fund said it is not a conflict of interest for Kolbe to apply for the job while still serving on the committee.

Kolbe is traveling in Europe and could not be reached for comment. His spokeswoman, Korenna Cline, said the committee considered the last foreign-operations bill this spring.

The committee's bill, approved May 25, included $3.4 billion in global assistance to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, including $445 million for the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund.

The Global Fund opened its search process in July. House travel records show Kolbe accepted $7,226 from the group to travel to Geneva Sept. 17-19 for a "position interview."

The group issued a statement from board chairwoman Dr. Carol Jacobs stating, "We see no conflict of interest in the background or positions of any of the short-listed candidates."

Gary Ruskin of the watchdog group Congressional Accountability Project said he agreed.

"We wish more members of Congress would follow his example — instead of becoming hired guns, help people who need help," Ruskin said.

Ruskin's group has tangled with Kolbe in the past over congressional pay raises, which the group opposes. Kolbe formerly headed the subcommittee that oversees congressional pay.

But Ruskin said his group believes House ethics rules should require more disclosure from a member of Congress applying for an outside job.

For example, Ruskin thinks members of Congress should have to answer detailed questions about their interaction with potential employers — in Kolbe's case, whether Kolbe has done anything for the fund since becoming a job candidate.

Cline said the House ethics committee approved Kolbe's travel to Geneva in September. She did not know whether the committee had looked into anything else related to the job.

Kolbe, the only openly gay Republican in Congress, this week was pulled into the unfolding scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley's e-mails to high-school-age pages. Kolbe confirmed Tuesday that in 2001 or 2002, one of his former pages told him he had received e-mails from Foley that made him feel uncomfortable. Kolbe said he referred concerns about Foley to the House clerk's office.

It is unclear whether Kolbe's role in the investigation into what Republican leaders knew of Foley's actions will affect his post-Congress job prospects.