House Republicans ditch plan to gut independent ethics watchdog after huge public backlash

According to various breaking news reports, House Republicans held an “emergency conference” this Tuesday and rescinded their proposal to gut an independent oversight committee.

From The Hill:

The new Congress hadn’t even formally gaveled in on before GOP leaders held an emergency conference meeting to discuss the blowback against the party’s vote Monday evening to gut the chamber’s independent ethics watchdog.

President-elect Donald Trump mildly criticized the measure on Tuesday morning.

“With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance!” Trump tweeted with the hashtag #DTS, an acronym for “drain the swamp.”

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) both came out against the changes, which sought to weaken Office of Congressional Ethics. The OCE was created in 2008 in response to a series of ethics scandals which resulted in three GOP lawmakers going to prison.

Featured image: Congressman Robert W. Goodlatte (YouTube)

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.

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