Jamie_B Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/house-republicans-gut-their-own-oversight-233111 TL;DR? They are voting to put the ethics committee underneath congress' control instead of being independent and they wont have to report their findings to the public anymore. Drain the swamp by not telling us what is going on in the swamp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Montana Bengal| Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-questions-timing-of-gop-move-on-ethics-board-1483459804?mod=e2tw Quote Donald Trump Questions Timing of GOP Move on Ethics Board President-elect says ‘weakening’ of watchdog shouldn’t be Congress’s priority By KRISTINA PETERSON Updated Jan. 3, 2017 11:20 a.m. ET WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized the timing of House Republicans’ move to undercut a nonpartisan congressional ethics board, saying in a pair of tweets that lawmakers should focus on issues that he considers higher priorities, including tax reform and health care. House Republicans, meeting as a group Monday night, approved an amendment from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) that would place the Office of Congressional Ethics under the oversight of the lawmaker-run House Ethics Committee. Mr. Goodlatte’s measure is now part of the package of new House rules set to come up for a vote on the House floor Tuesday, when the new session of Congress convenes. In two tweets Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump seemed to express sympathy with the move on its merits, calling the watchdog office “unfair.” But he said, “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.” He added that he would prefer a focus on issues “of far greater importance!” The Office of Congressional Ethics serves as the chamber’s independent ethics watchdog by reviewing allegations against House members and staff. It is governed by an eight-person board of private citizens who don’t work for the government. THE TRUMP TRANSITION The move by House Republicans to water down the office triggered swift pushback from Democrats and government watchdog groups. “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,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said in a statement Monday night. “Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress.” Quote Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump 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 8:03 AM - 3 Jan 2017 3,892 3,892 Retweets 12,154 12,154 likes Quote Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump ........may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS 8:07 AM - 3 Jan 2017 3,562 3,562 Retweets 12,694 12,694 likes House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) spoke out against the changes to the office on Monday night, pushing instead for bipartisan action to overhaul the office, according to someone in the room. However, Mr. Ryan didn’t intervene to stop the measure from passing in the House GOP meeting. It was approved in a 119-74 vote. The GOP push comes as Republicans prepare to control both chambers of Congress and the White House, when Mr. Trump assumes the presidency later this month. Mr. Trump’s business ties have raised concerns over his possible conflicts of interest. Democrats created the Office of Congressional Ethics in March 2008, after they took control of Congress in 2007, saying they wanted to help clean up Congress and make the ethics process more transparent. If the office believes it has found violations, its job is to recommend a formal investigation by the traditional House Ethics Committee. Lawmakers who found themselves under review by the Office of Congressional Ethics criticized the office for being too aggressive. Those who were cleared said it was unfair that the existence of investigations became public and that reputations could be tarnished even when suspicions were unfounded. Under Mr. Goodlatte’s measure, the Ethics Committee would be able to direct the office to stop any of its investigations into possible lawmaker misconduct. The measure would reduce how much information could be made public about investigations. The office, to be renamed the Office of Congressional Complaint Review, wouldn’t be able to publicly release any of its findings unless authorized by the Ethics Committee, and it wouldn’t be allowed to employ a press spokesman. The office also wouldn’t be able to consider anonymous allegations against lawmakers. A spokeswoman for the office declined to comment Monday night. Mr. Goodlatte said in a statement that the office “has a serious and important role in the House, and this amendment does nothing to impede their work.” He said his 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. It also improves upon due-process rights for individuals under investigation, as well as witnesses called to testify.” But government watchdog groups said the change would diminish the office’s effectiveness in holding lawmakers accountable. Before the OCE was created, the House Ethics Committee was a “black box of inaction,” Lisa Gilbert, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, said in a statement. “Following an election in which disdain for corruption in Washington was a defining issue—for the Republican presidential candidate, no less—it is an outrage that House Republicans are planning to undermine one of the modestly effective moves in recent years to reduce corruption,” she said. Some worried the change would make it easier for lawmakers to skirt ethics rules. “If the 115th Congress begins with rules amendments undermining OCE, it is setting itself up to be dogged by scandals and ethics issues for years,” Norman Eisen and Richard Painter, chairman and vice chairman respectively of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit legal watchdog group, said in a statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Montana Bengal| Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/house-ethics-panel-jack-abramoff-233126 Quote Jack Abramoff slams GOP over House ethics changes Jack Abramoff, the disgraced former lobbyist whose felony crimes eventually helped lead to the creation of the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, ripped House Republicans for their move to gut the independent watchdog. Abramoff, who emerged from prison as a self-styled ethics reformer, told POLITICO that the House GOP package adopted on Monday is “exactly the opposite of what Congress should be doing.” “While there seems to be little question that some of the procedures of the Office of Congressional Ethics can and probably have created collateral political problems for innocent Members of Congress, moving to diminish oversight is exactly the opposite of what Congress should be doing,” said Abramoff, who served 43 months in month after an influence-peddling scandal in the mid-2000s. The new House GOP package would put the oversight office under the jurisdiction of the lawmaker-run House Ethics Committee, where lawmakers have historically been reluctant to aggressively police their colleagues. President-elect Donald Trump also hit lawmakers for the move on Tuesday, tweeting that: “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.” POLITICO reported on Monday that the effort to gut the OCE was led, in part, by lawmakers who have been investigated by the office in recent years. The House GOP changes appear to limit the scope of the OCE’s work by preventing it from considering anonymous tips against lawmakers. It would also prevent the now-independent ethics office from disclosing its findings publicly, as it does currently after it refers cases to the House Ethics Committee. Abramoff said House Republicans were not heeding the message of the 2016 election, when Trump promised to “drain the swamp.” That is the same line that then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi used when she created the Office of Congressional Ethics in 2008, after the Abramoff scandal that also saw former Rep. Bob Ney pled guilty of corruption charges and jailed. “President-elect Trump has called for reform, and made specific proposals to reduce corruption in Washington,” Abramoff said. “Congress should take his lead and offer real reform, not rip off the bandage of the OCE. I guess some people in Washington still don’t get what happened in November.” The former lobbyist took particular aim at Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the Virginia Republican who proposed the new changes to the ethics structure. Goodlatte and Abramoff have a history, however. In 2000, Goodlatte had pushed a companion bill to an anti-gambling measure that Abramoff sought to defeat and was ultimately part of the influence-peddling scandal. “Congressman Goodlatte’s assertion that his amendment merely 'improves upon due process for individuals under investigation' is laughable,” Abramoff said. “When did Congress last concern itself with due process for individuals under investigation that aren’t Members of Congress? Take it from me, they don’t!” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Montana Bengal| Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 Quote Alex MoeVerified account@AlexNBCNews In their emergency conference meeting, House Republicans have now scraped plans to gut the OCE - withdrawn by unanimous consent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted January 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 Was just about to post about that. These guys must continue to be watched, #CrookedGOP http://thehill.com/homenews/house/312496-house-gop-scraps-plan-to-gut-ethics-watchdog-after-emergency-meeting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincyInDC Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 Ethics, Schmethics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted January 4, 2017 Report Share Posted January 4, 2017 Credit where it's due, Trump opposed this move and they backpedaled. My opinion of him is unchanged but given the circumstances I'm looking for any hint of a silver lining. I like that the Republican establishment hates him as much as the Dems. Unfortunately the things they agree on are potentially the most damaging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted January 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2017 Trump opposed the timing of the move, not the move itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted January 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted January 4, 2017 Report Share Posted January 4, 2017 7 hours ago, Jamie_B said: Trump opposed the timing of the move, not the move itself. Even the Sun shines on a dog's ass etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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