Washington: House Republicans, facing a storm of bipartisan criticism, including from President-elect Donald Trump, have reversed their plan to kill the Office of Congressional Ethics. It was an embarrassing turnabout on the first day of business for the new Congress, a day when party leaders were hoping for a show of force to reverse policies of the Obama administration.
The reversal came less than 24 hours after House Republicans, meeting in a secret session, voted to eliminate the independent ethics office, over the objections of Speaker Paul Ryan.
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The Obama administration says it is "disheartening" that House Republicans planned to gut an independent congressional ethics board just a day after the plan was proposed.
Trump criticised House Republicans on Tuesday for their move to gut the office, saying they should focus instead on domestic policy priorities such as health care and a tax overhaul.
In a pair of postings on Twitter, Trump called the Office of Congressional Ethics "unfair", but he said focusing on it now was a case of misplaced priorities. He appended the hashtag #DTS, an apparent allusion to his promise to "drain the swamp" in Washington.
The comments constituted a public break by Trump with rank-and-file Republicans, who overrode their top leaders on Monday in a vote to significantly curtail the power of the ethics office, which was set up in 2008 in the aftermath of corruption scandals that sent three members of Congress to jail.
Democrats and ethics watchdog groups were also sharply critical of House Republicans, adding to the pressure that led them to reverse course.
The controversy over the office that investigates lawmakers' alleged misconduct was starting to overshadow the opening of the 115th Congress, normally a day of glad-handing as politicians bring family members to the floor to join the festivities.
"We have got just a tremendous number of calls to our office here and district offices concerned about this," said Representative Walter Jones, a North Carolina Republican.
![Ford's move came after president-elect Donald Trump attacked rival General Motors.](/web/20170104091642im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/l/i/6/6/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtli3d.png/1483488805260.jpg)
The change was to be part of a broader House rules package that the House plans to approve Tuesday as members open the 115th Congress.
The reversal doesn't mean the effort to change the ethics office is dead. Representative Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, said leadership promised a bipartisan solution by August to resolve some lawmakers' concerns about the ethics office. "I think people just did not want this story on opening day," he said.
![Members of the House of Representatives, some joined by family, gather as the 115th Congress gets under way in ...](/web/20170104091642im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/l/i/5/m/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtli3d.png/1483488805260.jpg)
Monday night's vote on the amendment, proposed by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, had come amid broader calls from Trump for steps to fight corruption in Washington, including term limits on lawmakers and restrictions on lobbyists.
"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," Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said in a statement. "Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress."
![Representative Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on Tuesday.](/web/20170104091642im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/l/i/5/n/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtli3d.png/1483488805260.jpg)
The other task of the day for Congress was to elect the House Speaker.Â
Ryan won resounding re-election with 239 votes - clearing the 218 needed - with only one Republican voting for someone else. But his relationship with the incoming president will face a test as he carves out his own agenda for Republicans in Congress.
![Congress is likely to give many Trump policies the green light, while pausing others for debate.](/web/20170104091642im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/l/5/4/o/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtli3d.png/1483488805260.jpg)
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This is the kind of thing that most of us only dream about. I know -- because I used to dream about it. The people have given us unified government," Ryan will tell House members later Tuesday, according to speech excerpts released by his office.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ryan had defended the ethics office change in a statement that insisted it would still "operate independently".
![Former vice president Dick Cheney, left, with his daughter, newly-elected Representative Liz Cheney.](/web/20170104091642im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/l/i/5/l/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtli3d.png/1483488805260.jpg)
'Abuse' of Process
Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to the president-elect, said earlier Tuesday she hadn't discussed the vote with Trump, who used the anti-corruption slogan on the campaign trail yet has been silent so far on the House measure. But she said it could be compatible with his rhetoric.
"One thing they're trying to curb is the abuse of the process," Conway said on MSNBC, adding that much depends on the new ethics office that will be created. She said that constituents' concerns could still be addressed.
The vote prompted protests from government watchdog groups, including those who had pushed for creation of the OCE in 2008. Those groups had said at the time that the Ethics Committee wasn't diligent enough in policing and punishing member wrongdoing on its own.
Project on Government Oversight Executive Director Danielle Brian condemned the change in a statement that said, "Ethics watchdogs like OCE need to be strengthened and expanded -- not taken out back and shot in the middle of the night."
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and frequent Trump critic, said on Fox News Radio he stands "with Trump. I mean, it's the dumbest frickin' thing I've ever heard." He added, "This is not the message the House needs to send".
New York Times, Bloomberg
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