House Republicans vote to rein in independent ethics office

[Jacque67 7,328]

Defying the wishes of their top leaders, House Republicans voted behind closed doors Monday night to rein the independent ethics office created eight years ago in the wake of a series of embarrassing congressional scandals.

The 119-to-74 vote during a GOP conference meeting means that the House rules package expected to be adopted Tuesday, the first day of the 115th Congress, would rename the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to the Office of Congressional Complaint Review and place it under the oversight of the House Ethics Committee.

The OCE was created in 2008 to address concerns that the Ethics Committee had been too timid in pursuing allegations of wrongdoing by House members. Under the current House ethics regime, the OCE is empowered to release a public report of its findings even if the Ethics Committee chooses not to take further action against a member.

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.

[Jacque67 7,328]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/01/02/house-republicans-vote-to-rein-in-independent-ethics-office/

[Jacque67 7,328]

The new office of congressional ethics can't release information to the public or have a spokesperson .

No communication.

context: ethics cmte furious that the OCE report on member travel/Azerbaijan leaked to WaPo ( source Unknown )

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/10-members-of-congress-took-trip-secretly-funded-by-foreign-government/2015/05/13/76b55332-f720-11e4-9030-b4732caefe81_story.html

 

very Orwellian .

[Jacque67 7,328]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/sarahmimms/house-republicans-move-to-gut-congress-independent-ethics-wa

 

under the house amendment OCE must also stop investigations if given request from Ethics Committee. Race on to become most corrupt GOP in history. 

Ethics...nobody cares..a brave new world.

 

 

[smilesammich 10,727]

crazy innit. absolute crickets..

[Jacque67 7,328]

The move by Republicans in Congress to gut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics will cut down on “overzealousness,” incoming counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday morning, while leaving in place a “mechanism” with which to address ethical complaints.

Although Conway stopped short of saying the GOP move came with the blessing of the president-elect, she told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Republican majorities in the House and Senate mean “there's a mandate there for them to make significant change.” She said she had not spoken to President-elect Donald Trump about the move

(politico.com)

overzealousness??? Examples??

#SAD (Swamp appreciation day)

#Make Congress Corrupt Again.

Goodlatte

 

[Jacque67 7,328]

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/office-of-congressional-ethics-oce-kellyanne-conway-233121

[eieio 1,594]

I am shocked no loony libs bothered to post Trumps tweet. Coo coo

 

 

Donald J. Trump on Twitter: "With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance!"

 

[yuna628 9,680]

Republicans chicken out to angry telephone calls (hey maybe people should do that more often) decide to keep the IEW afterall.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-ethics-republicans-idUSKBN14N1KL

[MarkPerry 488]

Trump tweeted he wasn't down with it, and then it is struck down.

 

Trump Effect

[eieio 1,594]

1 minute ago, MarkPerry said:

Trump tweeted he wasn't down with it, and then it is struck down.

 

Trump Effect

He is a true natural born leader. He has taken many arrows for the good of our country.  

[eieio 1,594]

5 hours ago, smilesammich said:

crazy innit. absolute crickets..

 You were saying.

[smilesammich 10,727]

9 minutes ago, eieio said:

 You were saying.

silence. seems it was a politically motivated silence. not your post, of course, i know you have nothing to do with anything..

but golly gee if it don't seem like trump has bigger fish to fry. how convenient for trump, getting to save face and give the appearance of dts to his legions of koolaid drunk fans. 

[MarkPerry 488]

9 minutes ago, smilesammich said:

silence. seems it was a politically motivated silence. not your post, of course, i know you have nothing to do with anything..

but golly gee if it don't seem like trump has bigger fish to fry. how convenient for trump, getting to save face and give the appearance of dts to his legions of koolaid drunk fans. 

When Trump speaks, the GOP listens.

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

41 minutes ago, MarkPerry said:

When Trump speaks, the GOP listens.

rewind a couple of months. Do you remember when all the Media and Liberal lap dogs said Trump had destroyed the Republican party . Yeah. How did that work out