House GOP guts ethics panel

[Neverdul]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/politics/office-of-congressional-ethics-oversight-of-ethics-committee-amendment/

Washington (CNN)House Republicans voted Monday night to gut Congress' independent watchdog on the eve of a new era.

Republican members voted 119-74 -- breaking with party leaders -- during a closed-door meeting in favor of Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte's proposal, which would place the independent Office of Congressional Ethics under the control of those very lawmakers, a move that outraged Democrats and outside ethics organizations.

The change in rules carries the appearance of House members taking power away from the office that can investigate them for misconduct, at a time when Republicans are about to have control of two branches of government with a mandate for shaking up Washington.

The proposal would bar the panel from reviewing any violation of criminal law by members of Congress, requiring that it turn over complaints instead to the House Ethics Committee or refer the matter to an appropriate federal law enforcement agency. The House Ethics Committee would also have the power to stop an investigation at any point and bars the ethics office from making any public statements about any matters or hiring any communications staff.

And the ethics office would no longer be able to accept or investigate any anonymous reports of alleged wrongdoing by members of Congress.
 
The full House of Representatives will now vote on it as part of a larger rules package up for consideration Tuesday.

Currently the ethics panel operates as an independent, non-partisan entity that has the power to investigate misconduct against lawmakers, officers and staff of the United States House of Representatives. Originally created by Congress under Nancy Pelosi's speakership in the wake of multiple lobbying scandals, it continued to act as an independent body under then-House Speaker John Boehner.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and other top GOP leaders opposed the change to ethics rules, but rank-and-file members disregarded their views and voted to approve the new structure for ethics reviews going forward, according to a senior House GOP leadership source familiar with the closed-door discussion.

Members of both parties complain that panel often takes up matters based on partisan accusations from outside groups with political motivations, and once they launch a probe members have to mount expensive defense campaigns.

Pelosi slammed the move.

"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. Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress," she said in a statement Monday following the vote.

Pelosi added: "The amendment Republicans approved tonight would functionally destroy this office."

House Republicans Move To Weaken Congressional Ethics Office

http://dailycaller.com/2017/01/02/house-republicans-move-to-weaken-congressional-ethics-office/#ixzz4Uhl3dPqU

[Cripplecreek]

Idiots are trying to see how fast they can lose power.

[XenaLee]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/politics/office-of-congressional-ethics-oversight-of-ethics-committee-amendment/


House Republicans Move To Weaken Congressional Ethics Office

http://dailycaller.com/2017/01/02/house-republicans-move-to-weaken-congressional-ethics-office/#ixzz4Uhl3dPqU

Pelosi slammed the move.

"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. Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress," she said in a statement Monday following the vote.

Anything Nancy Pelosi is against.... I am FOR.  And I do mean anything.

Good job, GOP!  About frickin time (that I could say that).

[Night Hides Not]

Anything Nancy Pelosi is against.... I am FOR.  And I do mean anything.

Good job, GOP!  About frickin time (that I could say that).

I'd recommend more selectivity, although I completely understand your point. The vote differential isn't large enough to overcome the expected vote to come in the full House. Optics aren't good in this matter, and the proponents aren't the most articulate members of this "august" body.

[Cripplecreek]

I'd recommend more selectivity, although I completely understand your point. The vote differential isn't large enough to overcome the expected vote to come in the full House. Optics aren't good in this matter, and the proponents aren't the most articulate members of this "august" body.

I look at it as something Pelosi herself would do.

Wrong then, wrong now.

[skeeter]

Knowing nothing about this group my initial response is that to CNN non-partisan entity = progressive manufacturer of news.

If the incoming administration delivers and really does start rooting out the partisans in the myriad of government agencies I expect this particular report to be repeated verbatim ad nauseam.

[Cripplecreek]

Anything Nancy Pelosi is against.... I am FOR.  And I do mean anything.

Good job, GOP!  About frickin time (that I could say that).

So what do you do now that Trump is in agreement with Pelosi?

[Night Hides Not]

So what do you do now that Trump is in agreement with Pelosi?

So now I'm in agreement with Pelosi and Trump?  I think I just ruined my appetite.