{"id":18542,"date":"2017-01-03T05:48:22","date_gmt":"2017-01-03T05:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=18542"},"modified":"2017-01-03T05:48:22","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T05:48:22","slug":"house-republicans-move-slash-powers-ethics-watchdog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/house-republicans-move-slash-powers-ethics-watchdog.html","title":{"rendered":"House Republicans move to slash powers of ethics watchdog"},"content":{"rendered":"
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House Republicans move to slash powers of ethics watchdog<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

One day before the new Congress convenes, House Republicans voted Monday night to rein in an independent ethics office that investigates potential wrongdoing by lawmakers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The move guts a major piece of an ethics overhaul Congress undertook after several high-profile scandals sent lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others to federal prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

The independent Office of Congressional Ethics, launched in 2008 to address concerns that the lawmaker-run House Ethics Committee failed to adequately police members of Congress, now would be subject to oversight by the House Ethics Committee, under the proposed rules package adopted by Republican lawmakers. The new rules also would bar investigators from reviewing anonymous complaints against lawmakers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Office of Congressional Ethics, known as OCE, would be renamed the \u201cOffice of Congressional Complaint Review.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The independent ethics office, which has had the power to launch investigations and publicly release reports detailing the results of their probes, has long clashed with the ethics panel and the lawmakers it has investigated.<\/span><\/p>\n

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., opposed the move to limit OCE’s powers during Monday night’s gathering.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who crafted the OCE rules, said the change was needed to grant better \u201cdue-process rights for individuals under investigation.” He said it still maintains OCE\u2019s \u201cprimary area of focus of accepting and reviewing complaints from the public and referring them, if appropriate, to the Committee on Ethics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Rules amdt approved by House GOP strengthens Office of Cong Ethics & improves upon due process rights. Does nothing to impede OCE\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

— Bob Goodlatte (@RepGoodlatte) January 3, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n