Tiffany Muller
01/12/23
Kevin McCarthy’s fight to become speaker of the House of Representatives was full of drama, name-calling, and major internal disagreements about how Congress should be run. While the full details of everything McCarthy capitulated on are not yet known, there’s one issue no Republican seemed to have any problems with: weakening a key office that oversees the ethical behavior of members of Congress and their staffs.
The rules package passed on Monday night has two key provisions that good government advocates fear will significantly weaken the little-known Office of Congressional Ethics, a stand-alone oversight body separate from the member-run House Ethics Committee.
Pledging to take on a “culture of corruption,” House Democrats created the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) in 2008, following a series of Republican scandals that led the majority leader to resign in disgrace, members of Congress to be indicted and eventually plead guilty to corruption charges. Superlobbyist Jack Abramoff exposed the world to how badly the system had been corrupted by corporate lobbyists and big money.
Created alongside the passage of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act that strengthened federal ethics rules, the agency’s aim is to ensure—in a nonpartisan way—that members of Congress and their staffs are held accountable for violating their oaths of office.
It’s overseen by an eight-person board composed of four directors selected by Democrats and four selected by Republicans. The OCE reviews complaints about wrongdoing, and when appropriate, refers matters to the House Ethics Committee for action.
Because of its nonpartisan makeup, the agency has provided needed oversight over both parties since its inception. Its quarterly reports record the many anti-corruption investigations they’ve conducted over the years.
Now, Republicans want to gut the OCE and make it harder to conduct investigations into political corruption.
First, they’ve created new “term limits” for the board of directors, which will immediately remove three of the four Democratic nominees from the committee while leaving Republicans in place. It could take months for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to identify and appoint their replacements, hamstringing the OCE’s ability to get to work in the 118th Congress.
Second, the rules package says that all hiring for the OCE for the 118th Congress must be done within 30 days of passage of the rule. This is simply not enough time to thoroughly assess candidates for such important positions and could prevent future hirings when people change jobs.
That’s why End Citizens United, along with 24 other anti-corruption organizations, sent a letter to Republicans last week demanding they rescind these changes. Unfortunately, Republicans remain committed to undermining the office.
Republicans have downplayed the changes and publicly have been fairly quiet about why exactly they’re making them, but it is no secret that members of both parties have been annoyed by the agency’s investigations over the years.
And this is not the first time Republicans have tried to take down the OCE. In 2017, the last time Republicans had control of the House, they tried to eradicate it all together but relented after significant public pushback.
This year, they have a much smaller majority and losing even one member to an ethical indiscretion could prevent them from passing their agenda. Based on week one of the 118th Congress, that’s something to be worried about.
Serial liar—and Republican representative—George Santos is already facing multiple Federal Election Commission, Department of Justice, and ethics complaints. Wealthy donors were caught threatening members of Congress over their speaker votes. Outside groups were making shady deals to protect McCarthy.
Americans are tired of corruption. They’re tired of backroom deals and politicians doing what’s best for their donors and careers. They want a Congress that’s open, accountable, and transparent.
Republicans have made it clear that’s not them. The Republican majority’s very first vote was to weaken accountability and oversight and open the door for more political corruption. It sets a terrible precedent for the next two years.
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