House GOP votes to gut independent ethics office

[bsmooth]

House GOP votes to gut independent ethics office

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans have voted to eviscerate the independent Office of Government Ethics, prompting an outcry from Democrats and watchdog groups.

The vote Monday night would put the office under the control of the House Ethics committee, which is run by lawmakers. The full House is expected to vote on this change on Tuesday.

In a statement, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Republicans had claimed they wanted to "drain the swamp," an oft-repeated phrase from President-elect Donald Trump. Instead, Pelosi said the night before the new Congress, Republicans have eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions.


She added: "Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress."

The League of Women Voters said Speaker Paul Ryan is "giving a green light to congressional corruption."

 

[hashmander]

god's only party doesn't need an ethics watchdog, they behave with supreme ethics at all times. MAGA

 

[the cac mamba]

what a shame, they were doing so much to combat all the corruption in politics

 

[DlAMONDZ]

GOP in full control

That next recession gonna be glorious

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

what a shame, they were doing so much to combat all the corruption in politics

Are you saying this is okay because you're assuming they (the OCE) did nothing?

 

[the cac mamba]

Are you saying this is okay because you're assuming they (the OCE) did nothing?

yes

after i got done laughing at a criminal, i mean 'prolific fundraiser' like nancy pelosi feigning outrage that the ethics committee is gone

 

[ADevilYouKhow]

Disgusting

 

[Dr. Acula]

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

yes

after i got done laughing at a criminal, i mean 'prolific fundraiser' like nancy pelosi feigning outrage that the ethics committee is gone

Why? It was an independent group whose purpose was to report on - publicly - wrongdoings by House members, but it was ultimately up to the House Ethics Committee to pursue. And with this group being defanged, we're losing that small bit of transparency. How is this good?

The move to place the OCE under the Ethics Committee’s aegis stands to please many lawmakers who have been wary of having their dirty laundry aired by the independent entity, but some Republicans feared that rolling back a high-profile ethical reform would send a negative message as the GOP assumes unified control in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to “drain the swamp” and has proposed a series of his own ethics reforms.

 

[the cac mamba]

Why? It was an independent group whose purpose was to report on - publicly - wrongdoings by House members, but it was ultimately up to the House Ethics Committee to pursue. And with this group being defanged, we're losing that small bit of transparency. How is this good?

if theyve been effective in the past, then its not good. but i feel like theres a reason ive never heard of them

is there any examples of shyt theyve aired out?

i know you think im a fukkin a$$hole, but do you really think i have a problem with an effective ethics committee

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

if theyve been effective in the past, then its not good. but i feel like theres a reason ive never heard of them

is there any examples of shyt theyve aired out?

i know you think im a fukkin a$$hole, but do you really think i have a problem with an effective ethics committee

What does "aired out" mean? And what's an effective ethics committee to you? The current House committee that sweeps things under the rug? It was an independent watch dog group than investigated and reported to the House committee on its members. It was a good step forward that's now gone. Moreover, they had to have been doing something right with the amount of rule changes and budget restrictions being attempted against them to limit their power. Further, why do you think this was done in secret?

The House Ethics Committee is supposed to handle ethics questions. But it's run by members and was generally as good at sweeping ethics issues under the rug as addressing them. More generously, in an era of intense partisanship, it was often simply un-runnable. In any case, the OCE was able to do a lot of things the Ethics Committee could not. It could look into anything it wanted to. It could issue recommendations to the Ethics Committee.

This may all seem a bit like inside baseball. But in the world of oversight, it was actually a pretty big step in having someone with some actual power keeping an eye on members.

Well, tonight in a sort of kick off to the Trump Era, the House GOP Caucus voted to put the OCE back under the authority of the Ethics Committee, which of course has a GOP Chair. Basically that means abolishing the OCE since the whole point of the OCE is that it's independent of the Committee. One of the sales' points for this new set up is that it "provide(s) protection [for Members of Congress] against disclosures to the public or other government entities" of the results of any investigations. In other words, if wrongdoing is found the newly-neutered OCE can't tell anyone.

Back to The Auction House

 

[ZoeGod]

GOP in full control

That next depression gonna be glorious

Fixed

 

[Dr. Acula]

I think this is the beginning of an era where the republican government starts to resemble what we see in North Carolina. A bunch of last minute unplanned votes.

 

[Brown_Pride]

no good will come of this.

 

[bzb]

"The new group would no longer be able to release information to the public, employ anyone “for a position involving communications with the public,” or directly contact law enforcement without approval. It would also be prohibited from investigating anonymous complaints."

rip to any semblance of transparency or checks and balances. gop gearing up for trump admin fukkery. the way things are going the whistleblower protection act might not even make it.