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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday January 03 2017, @02:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the plugging-the-swamps-drain dept.

In one of their first moves of the new Congress, House Republicans have voted to gut their own independent ethics watchdog — a huge blow to cheerleaders of congressional oversight and one that dismantles major reforms adopted after the Jack Abramoff scandal.

Monday's effort was led, in part, by lawmakers who have come under investigation in recent years.

Despite a warning from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Republicans adopted a proposal by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) to put the Office of Congressional Ethics under the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee.

The office currently has free rein, enabling investigators to pursue allegations and then recommend further action to the House Ethics Committee as they see fit.

Now, the office would be under the thumb of lawmakers themselves. The proposal also appears to limit the scope of the office's work by barring them from considering anonymous tips against lawmakers. And it would stop the office from disclosing the findings of some of their investigations, as they currently do after the recommendations go to House Ethics.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/house-republicans-gut-their-own-oversight-233111

The Office of Congressional Ethics was established in 2008 under House Democrats, in response to the era of lobbying scandals made notable by Jack Abramoff, the former lobbyist who went to prison on corruption charges.

It is the first independent body to have an oversight role in House ethics. There is no Senate counterpart. The OCE independently reviews allegations of misconduct against House members and staff, and if deemed appropriate refers them to the House Ethics Committee for review. The OCE cannot independently punish lawmakers for any ethics violations.

Update: House Republicans pull plan to gut independent ethics panel after Trump tweets


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by jdccdevel on Tuesday January 03 2017, @05:42PM

    by jdccdevel (1329) on Tuesday January 03 2017, @05:42PM (#448989) Journal

    From this BBC News Article [bbc.com]:

    Republicans are to drop a plan to gut the independent body that investigates congressional misconduct, following an outcry.

    From the sounds of it, they misjudged public apathy towards their ethical bankruptcy. Nothing says "Hey, I want to be free to be as corrupt as I want!" like voting to gut an independent watchdog.

    My cynical side just says that they just tried to push their agenda too fast. I'd be shocked if this doesn't happen some time in the next four years anyway.

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @08:56PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @08:56PM (#449058)

    My cynical side says this was all show and just a PR setup for Trump to come in and show he's "changing the way Washington works." First he "personally" saves Carrier jobs. Now he gets this "not on my watch" moment. The guy who pushed it, Bob Goodlatte, has been a very early Trump supporter in the primaries. He then goes and pushes this change against his party leadership's wishes, and withdraws it after Trump very publicly opposes it.

    I bet a few more of these things happen before the 20th.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @09:46PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @09:46PM (#449083)

      YAY TRUMP SAVES THE DAY.

      THIS IS WHAT U DO WHEN DONALD TWEETS U.