BREAKING: House Republicans pull proposal that would gut independent ethics panel after Trump tweets criticism https://t.co/49GtqUWVWE pic.twitter.com/Kgatwv8FFa
— CNN (@CNN) January 3, 2017
In a surprising move, House Republicans have made an about face after their vote to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics. The decision came after a public outcry, and even president-elect Donald Trump criticized them over Twitter (although he was mainly lambasting their prioritization of the move). And before the entire House (including Democrats) could come together for a final vote, Republicans pulled the proposal.
During a closed-door discussion on Monday night, the House GOP held the swift vote to do away with the watchdog that monitored for corruption. It was a decision that was widely panned, for Congress would be left unchecked. In order to quell uneasiness regarding the decision — and following Trump’s tweets — Speaker Paul Ryan (who was opposed to Monday night’s vote) issued a statement to stress that the ethics office is in need of reform:
“After eight years of operation, many members believe the Office of Congressional Ethics is in need of reform to protect due process and ensure it is operating according to its stated mission. I want to make clear that this House will hold its members to the highest ethical standards and the Office will continue to operate independently to provide public accountability to Congress.”
But it appears the GOP is relenting on their hasty decision, as it held an emergency closed-door meeting on Tuesday to apparently reverse the move before the entire House voted. In a span of 24 hours, the 115th Congress is off to a rousing start.