Government: Lawmakers Seek to Gut Ethics Office

The Office of Congressional Ethics, a powerful symbol of Democrats’ promise to “drain the swamp” in Washington, is in danger of having its power stripped after the midterm elections.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have led the charge, airing complaints about the aggressive, independent panel in a private session with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last month, and they’ve drafted a resolution that, if approved, would severely curtail the panel’s power.

But there’s hot competition between the CBC and the official House ethics committee over who has less regard for the Office of Congressional Ethics, also known as the OCE. And the rest of the House doesn’t appear to be far behind in its disdain. Privately, Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and even some congressional leaders, acknowledge that there’s a strong sentiment to change rules that empower the office to publicize investigations and wreak havoc on lawmakers’ political lives.

The threat to the OCE’s independent authority was underscored Wednesday when a group of government watchdog groups released a letter to Pelosi, calling on her to keep the office intact.

“To date, the OCE has made important progress in restoring the shattered credibility of the House ethics enforcement process,” wrote six groups, including the League of Women Voters, The Campaign Legal Center and Public Citizen.

Under current rules, the OCE can initiate investigations into lawmakers and aides based on news reports or complaints — even anonymous ones — from the public. It can recommend that the House ethics committee, a bipartisan panel composed of members, undertake its own investigation into a matter. If the OCE makes such a recommendation and the ethics committee dismisses the complaint, the OCE can release its full report to the public.

Under the OCE’s rules, it may “refer information to state and federal authorities in the event that information indicates a crime has occurred or is about to occur.”

For more, see Lawmakers Seek to Gut Ethics Office by Jonathan Allen & John Bresnahan, June 10, 2010, at politico.com.