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.
More World News Videos
- Video duration
- 01:33
Secret voting to gut ethics regulations ...
Secret voting to gut ethics regulations 'revealing'
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.
Up Next
Strained relations
- Video duration
- 01:40
- Video duration
- 01:40
Strained relations
Strained relations
The Indonesians have suspended military co-operation with Australia over training posters deemed offensive and concerns Indonesian soldiers will be recruited in Australia. Courtesy ABC.
Up Next
Refugees aren't issues, they're people
- Video duration
- 01:36
- Video duration
- 01:36
Refugees aren't issues, they're people
Refugees aren't issues, they're people
The UNHCR brings a human face to the refugee debate through the stories of four former refugees. Vision courtesy UNHCR.
Up Next
Scientists track mysterious intergalactic signal
- Video duration
- 00:55
- Video duration
- 00:55
Scientists track mysterious intergalactic ...
Scientists track mysterious intergalactic signal
For the first time, scientists have pinpointed the source of a intergalactic fast radio burst, one of astronomy's most enigmatic phenomena, to a dwarf galaxy 2.5 billion light years from Earth.
Up Next
Melania Trump criticises social media
- Video duration
- 00:42
- Video duration
- 00:42
Melania Trump criticises social media
Melania Trump criticises social media
Speaking about the dangers of social media, Melania Trump campaigns for her husband Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Up Next
Survivor of 10,160m free fall dies aged 66
- Video duration
- 00:58
- Video duration
- 00:58
Survivor of 10,160m free fall dies aged 66
Survivor of 10,160m free fall dies aged 66
Former Serbian flight attendant Vesna Vulovic was the sole survivor of a 1972 plane crash was found dead at her home in Belgrade.
Up Next
World record at age 105
- Video duration
- 01:00
- Video duration
- 01:00
World record at age 105
World record at age 105
Setting a world record for cycling, French centenarian Robert Marchand is a star in his home country.
Up Next
Cop caught slamming school girl to ground
- Video duration
- 00:17
- Video duration
- 00:17
Cop caught slamming school girl to ground
Cop caught slamming school girl to ground
North Carolina authorities in the US say they're investigating a video posted on Twitter that shows a male police officer slamming a female high school student to the floor.
Secret voting to gut ethics regulations 'revealing'
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.
Related Content
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.
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.
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."
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.
"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".
'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
28 comments
New User? Sign up