Bill to scrap congressional ethics. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3249488-Goodlatte-OCE-Amendment-to-House-Rules.html But sure, lets bitch and moan about who is performing at Trump's inauguration. We are going to get so fucking raped with one side cheering it and the other side bitching about what Trump tweets. SAD
Yes I did. I sure don't see anything that strengthens ethics. Nothing that fits the cry to drain the swamp. Did you read it in the 2 minutes between mine and your posts?
Washington (CNN) House Republicans voted 119-74 Monday night in favor of a proposal that would gut Congress' outside ethics watchdog and remove its independence. Republican Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte's proposal would place the independent Office of Congressional Ethics -- an initial watchdog for House members but without power to punish members -- under oversight of those very lawmakers. House Speaker Paul Ryan and other top GOP leaders opposed the change to ethics rules, but rank-and-file members disregarded their views and voted to approve the new structure for ethics reviews going forward, according to a senior House GOP leadership source familiar with the closed door discussion. The proposal would bar the panel from reviewing any violation of criminal law by members of Congress. http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/polit...hics-oversight-of-ethics-committee-amendment/ House Republicans gut their own oversight The Office of Congressional Ethics would be weakened and lose its independence. In one of their first moves of the new Congress, House Republicans have voted to gut their own independent ethics watchdog — a huge blow to cheerleaders of congressional oversight and one that dismantles major reforms adopted after the Jack Abramoff scandal. Despite a warning from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Republicans on Monday adopted a proposal by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) to put the Office of Congressional Ethics under the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee. The office currently has free rein, enabling investigators to pursue allegations and then recommend further action to the House Ethics Committee as they see fit. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/house-republicans-gut-their-own-oversight-233111
Reduces bogus accusations. The committee always was the hound guarding the rooster house. I wouldn't trust CNN's take on much.
Here are multiple outlets reporting this. None are saying this is a good thing. https://news.google.com/news/story?...ved=0ahUKEwjUzYX-9KTRAhUSxGMKHT3_C98QqgIIJTAA If this was such an honorable thing they wouldn't be doing it on a holiday when most people aren't paying attention to the news.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/gop-votes-to-defang-outside-ethics-panel/article/2610727 I'll summarize. Over 1/2 the complaints were never filed with the ethics committee. Meaning there was no there there. The new rules still allow outside groups to file complaints. The charges won't be made public as before. The senate has no similar rule. The democrats did another close the gate after the bull left the coral. Under the old rules, Jack Abramoff was busted and sent to prison. The new rule prevents nothing.
This congress wants to do it, not wait until the next one. Obama is getting in all the worst things he can at the same time. Welcome to D.C.
Why not just quote the article you just linked instead of making up some babbling summary? From your link. House Republicans on Monday quietly voted to strip the independent power from an outside ethics panel established eight years ago following a string of corruption scandals, a move they made just hours before the start of the 115th Congress, ... The provision's most important feature changes the OCE from an independent entity to a body that falls under the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee, a 10-member, bipartisan committee of lawmakers that rarely hands out serious punishment. Come on Denny, this is the top thing, first on the list, that needed to be done this year? All of the problems we're facing as nation and weakening the ethics laws is what is done first?
This congress wanted to do it. Republicans controlled the house for 6 years and could have done this any time. The old committe had no power to do anything but refer to the ethics committee, that rarely hands out serious punishment.
As long as you're quoting my link: The OCE is currently able to review complaints, but can't determine guilt or dole out punishment. Instead, the office can decide whether to refer a matter to the House Ethics Committee, which has the authority to investigate and potentially issue punishment ranging from a letter of reprimand to expulsion.
Okay, that would make perfect sense and I would completely agree with it if this were to strengthen the powers of the OCE. But this doesn't. This isn't "Draining the swamp" this is making it easier for the swamp scum in both parties to breed.
It's preventing abusive partisan attacks. Over 1/2 were bullshit. 18 of 35. All those 18 accused were dragged through the mud, for no good reason. PUBLICLY. I'm all for throwing the book at the crooks. The Democrats' plan did none of that.
And here's why they did it now. https://www.bna.com/office-congressional-ethics-n73014449218/ The Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent investigatory unit that screens ethics allegations against House lawmakers and has faced controversy in the past, is set to be reauthorized when the new Congress convenes in January.
So instead of making it easier to investigate ethics violations we make it harder? 435 members in the House and only 17 committed an ethics violation?!?
Read your own link. Leaders from both parties and independent watch dog groups wanted to keep what we have now. Now we don't even have that.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/watchdogs-ethics-process-is-grindingly-slow/article/2609472 For example, neither the office nor the committee has subpoena power. The panel must note when it has received a referral, but it can repeatedly extend the review period, effectively shelving complaints. In fact, that seems to be what the committee most often does, sometimes with the result that lawmakers leave Congress before any action is taken. Former Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., resigned from Congress this summer before the panel's investigative subcommittee completed its work. Fattah was convicted in June of racketeering, bribery and other crimes. ... Whitaker said the OCE office is unnecessary. "You've added a whole other step in the process," he said. "The OCE provides a valuable nonpartisan review of ethics complaints in the House, but I'm not convinced that that extra step is worth it at the end of the day," he said, adding that committee staff could do what the OCE does. Three other referrals have languished before the committee as long as the one regarding McMorris Rodgers. The committee has extended its reviews of allegations lodged in 2014 against Reps. Luis Gutierrez and Bobby Rush, both Democrats from Illinois, and Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.
So what? People of both parties voted to kill the committee. When does "minority rule" in congressional votes?
