Your Independent Office Of Congressional Ethics Vote Checklist
By KRISTIN SALAKY AND ANNIE REES Published JANUARY 3, 2017, 1:34 PM EDT
Backlash was swift after it was revealed Monday night that incoming House Republicans voted to put the Office of Congressional Ethics under the authority of the House Ethics Committee, which has a Republican chair, during a closed-door meeting.
Republicans abruptly changed course Tuesday morning after that public outcry (as well as a tweet from the President-elect chastising the caucus for not having its priorities straight, rather than for weakening the "unfair" OCE), withdrawing the rules change that would have gutted the independent ethics watchdog.
The vote on the rules change, proposed by House Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), was private, so Josh asked TPM readers to call up their representative's office and write in with what they learned about their congressperson's vote. A few clear categories quickly emerged: the obvious "yes" or "no" vote, as well as those members who were absent. But many readers were also told that staff had no idea how their representative voted, or refused to disclose their representative's vote, citing the privacy of the closed-door meeting.
Thank you so much to the TPM readers who called their representatives and relayed the information below. You can email talk@talkingpointsmemo.com with any new insight into how your representative voted.
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