(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
House Republicans have voted to eviscerate the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent body created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison.
The ethics change, which prompted an outcry from Democrats and government watchdog groups, is part of a rules package that the full House will vote on Tuesday. The package approved Monday also includes a means for Republican leaders to punish lawmakers if there is a repeat of the Democratic sit-in last summer over gun control.
Under the ethics change pushed by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the non-partisan Office of Congressional Ethics would fall under the control of the House Ethics Committee, which is run by lawmakers. It would be known as the Office of Congressional Complaint Review, and the rule change would require that “any matter that may involve a violation of criminal law must be referred to the Committee on Ethics for potential referral to law enforcement agencies after an affirmative vote by the members,” according to Goodlatte’s office.
Lawmakers would have the final say under the change. House Republicans voted 119-74 for the Goodlatte measure despite arguments from Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., against the change. They failed to sway rank-and-file Republicans, some of whom have felt unfairly targeted by the OCE.
“The amendment builds upon and strengthens the existing Office of Congressional Ethics by maintaining its primary area of focus of accepting and reviewing complaints from the public and referring them, if appropriate, to the Committee on Ethics,” Goodlatte said in a statement.
Democrats, led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, reacted angrily.
“Republicans claim they want to ‘drain the swamp,’ but the night before the new Congress gets sworn in, the House GOP has eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions,” the California Democrat said in a statement. “Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress.”
Chris Carson, president of the League of Women Voters, said Ryan should be ashamed of himself and his leadership team.
“We all know the so-called House Ethics Committee is worthless for anything other than a whitewash — sweeping corruption under the rug. That’s why the independent Office of Congressional Ethics has been so important. The OCE works to stop corruption and that’s why Speaker Ryan is cutting its authority. Speaker Ryan is giving a green light to congressional corruption.”
The OCE was created in March 2008 after the cases of former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., who served more than seven years in prison on bribery and other charges; as well as cases involving former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who was charged in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and pleaded guilty to corruption charges, and former Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., convicted on corruption in a separate case.
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AP Congressional Correspondent Erica Werner contributed to this report.
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4 thoughts on “House Republicans gut ethics watchdog”
I’m hoping we can remember this two years from now and ask “So, you voted Republican, did you?” J.
Jon-It won’t matter. Voters – especially Repub voters have very short memories. And anything that can go wrong or does go wrong, because of the rw media, the Dems get the blame and it’s built up from that. Without exception, the people I’ve talked to who voted Republican and have all of their lives, have no idea what the issues are/were. Especially in this last election. Most of them have believed what they heard regarding Hillary’s crises du jour. And they all end up voting against their interests. The Repubs have the same talking points at the same time from the very top on down. Dr. Goebbels would be so proud of the propaganda machine they’ve set up. I’m curious to see how the msm covers the Office of Congressional Ethics fiasco.
Perhaps we can ask our esteemed Publisher to earmark this one and drag it out for us roughly a couple years hence. Although I think they’ve backpedaled already, it just means they’ll try again soon, but more quietly.
I mentioned the failed nomination of Merrick Garland and got a very blank look from a Fox News devotee. “Who? What?”.
J.
PS – Took me a couple minutes to get “rw”. Generally speaking I’m in favour of typing things out. J.
Of course the Repubs can gut the Ethics Watchdog. They’ll be reelected because they have gerrymandered districts and rw propaganda on their side. The Dems only have logic, and email, and maybe msnbc. But I don’t think any rw voter watches that to get facts.
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