McCarthy Proposes Gutting Office of Congressional Ethics in Bid for Speaker

[TomCADem]

Source: TIME

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spent the first two days of the new year trying to shore up GOP support for his bid to be Speaker by releasing a series of proposals aimed at winning over hard-right detractors who stand to torpedo his ascension.

The part of his proposed changes to House rules that drew the most attention was allowing just five House members to call for a vote at any time on ousting the Speaker; that would render McCarthy beholden to the most extreme members of his caucus, should he get on their wrong side. But buried in the text was another provision that could be highly consequential for the new Congress being sworn in on Tuesday: language that would effectively gut the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), as the independent panel faces pressure to investigate lawmakers who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Most significantly, McCarthy’s proposal would require OCE to hire its staff for the 118th Congress within 30 days of the resolution’s adoption, a requirement that sources familiar with the process tell TIME would make it exceedingly difficult for the office to have the resources it needs to conduct its investigations, given how long it takes to hire candidates for roles in the federal government. The proposal would also block OCE from hiring new employees over the next two years if someone leaves their position, sources say.

“Republicans get to take control of the House, and on their first day in Congress, they are not trying to take a hammer to the OCE—they’re being a little smarter about it—but they’re taking a scalpel to it,” a Hill source familiar with the ethics process tells TIME.

Read more: https://time.com/6243981/mccarthy-proposes-gutting-office-of-congressional-ethics-in-bid-for-speaker/

[Joinfortmill]

1. He's pathetic

[mahina]

17. This

⬆️⬆️⬆️

[dchill]

2. Mass consciousness of guilt?

[Captain Zero]

4. It would appear so, but if they submit to no ethics

for themselves how do we put absolutely ANY credence in their findings on investigations?

[dchill]

6. Not only do they HAVE no ethics, they don't understand them.

[electric_blue68]

10. Idk... I think they Do Understand but Ignore them more often than not. Maybe always? F ' em!

[Rebl2]

27. Right

[Deuxcents]

3. He doesn't qualify for Speaker. Nor does he deserve it.

There are questions about his part on J6 and his slithering like a snake giving away our values and oversight... this is The House of Representatives ! Not a high school class president election.

[Gaugamela]

5. Can anyone think of a reason that gutting the OCE would be a winning move for

MAGA extremists? Seems like a total non sequitur to me . . . .

[TigressDem]

7. NO

STOP THE INSANITY!

Certain laws should NOT be up for debate.


This BS that both sides lie so we don't need ethics committees --- really?

[IronLionZion]

8. Ethics really gets in the way of crimes

[Bluethroughu]

9. This is why the Congressional members taking part or giving aid to the

Seditious Conspirators should be indicted and removed immediately. They are not working for the people of the United States, they are working against it. They are traitors.

[Cha]

11. Of course.. ***** has NO ethics

[sakabatou]

12. Because ethics get in the way of Repuke unethical dealing and wheeling

[Ilsa]

13. "We don't need no stinkin' ethics rules!" nt

[Turbineguy]

14. Yes, that would make a lot of sense.

Maybe they should cut out what's left of his brain while they have that scalpel handy.

[ShazzieB]

24. They won't need to remove his backbone.

That's been missing for a while now.

[Initech]

15. These losers tried to overthrow their own government. They have no ethics.

[mahina]

16. Who is he dancing for?

I am guessing Gaetz Gym Jordan EmptyG

[SergeStorms]

18. I was hoping this was Borowitz.

Unfortunately, no, it wasn't. 😕

[Bev54]

19. Fine, then go straight to indictments.

[Mr.Bill]

20. I'm guessing none of these Neanderthals

fear anything the ethics committee can do anyway. If anything, if they were reprimanded by them, they would use it to raise money.

[madamesilverspurs]

21. Not to suggest

that he might be seeking to shelter certain members whose votes he needs, members who might otherwise be taken to task for activities around Jan6, members who would have no qualms demanding such price...


.

[SunSeeker]

22. K & R for exposure.

[Midnight Writer]

23. Hell, they got rid of ethics on The Supreme Court and White House, why not go for Congress, too?

[BumRushDaShow]

25. "they are not trying to take a hammer to the OCE..they're taking a scalpel to it,"

BULLSHIT. Any dicking around with Congressional ethics investigations IS a battering ram given the ones doing the trashing of this are the very insurrectionists who tried to overthrow the government.

[no_hypocrisy]

26. Can you get more obvious?

[ificandream]

28. The Dems should make tons of noise about the fact that Repughs hate ethics.

Maybe that will convert a few of their lemmings to see that they shouldn't be leading America.

[newdayneeded]

29. I'm so sick of these assholes

referring to themselves as patriots. They hate America! Period!

[Martin68]

30. LOL! Just the next logical step in the downward progression of the GOP.

[republianmushroom]

31. Kevin, this is shades of trump, but you know that.

[Evolve Dammit]

32. First thing 45 did was eliminate the WH Ethics group. Don't need that shit. Vile.

[Simeon Salus]

33. Because nothing says "law and order" more than defunding those policing the powerful

Everytime Repugs make it easier to get away with unethical behavior, they demonstrate their basic inability to govern.

They believe in defunding the IRS, the SEC, the FEC. If it's a white collar crime, they want to decriminalize and deregulate it.

[onetexan]

35. This!!☝️

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

34. What a sleaze ball