Office of Congressional Ethics
The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), established by the
Overview
The OCE's mission is "to assist the House in upholding high standards of ethical conduct for its Members, officers, and staff and, in so doing, to serve the American people"; within that framework it strives to foster transparency by keeping the public informed of its activities.[1] With its online presence, it aims to “give the public a 'window' into ethics enforcement in the United States House of Representatives.”[2] The office is governed by an eight-person Board of Directors, composed of members who are private citizens and cannot serve as members of Congress, or work for the federal government.[1]
The OCE lacks subpoena power and must complete each review in a relatively short period of time—approximately three months at most. The OCE review process requires approval of the board at each step. In order to open a preliminary review, lasting no longer than 30 days, there must be "reasonable cause to believe allegations," according to the OCE.[3] In order to proceed to a second phase, or further review, there must be "probable cause to believe allegations."[3] The second phase must be completed within 45 days, with the possibility of a 14-day extension.[4] Following completion of the second-phase review, the OCE board votes to refer a matter to the House Ethics Committee with a recommendation for or against further review by the committee. The recommendation comes in the form of a report which must be released to the public, unless the OCE recommendation was against further review.
Consequently, the OCE has published nearly two dozen reports on members believed to have violated House rules—leading to cheers from government watchdog groups and to calls by some in Congress for gutting the office, which requires reauthorization at the beginning of each new Congress. "The extent and level of ethics scrutiny the OCE has brought is unprecedented in the House," according to The Hill newspaper, in a Sept. 8, 2010 article on the future of the office.[5]
At least 20 of the OCE's referrals on sitting members of the House of Representatives were published on its website in its first Congressional session of operation—a demonstration, according to The Washington Post, that the office "has taken its mission seriously."[6]
Although the office does not have subpoena power, it has played a significant role in 2010 investigations concerning alleged ethics violations by Rep.
History
The OCE was created by House Resolution 895 of the
The office's launch and first two years were led by Leo Wise, who prior to joining the OCE, earned top honors at the
The OCE opened dozens of reviews, based on publicly available information, submissions from the public, press accounts and other sources of information. This included the multiple ethical and criminal violations stemming from, among others, disgraced lobbyist
Wise announced in October 2010 that he was leaving the OCE to join the office of the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland following what OCE Chairman David Skaggs termed an "extraordinary job 'standing up' and managing OCE operations during its first two years."[12]
Calls to eliminate the office have come from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
On January 2, 2017, one day before the
The 119–74 vote reflected the frustration of many lawmakers who questioned the non-partisanship of the OCE. In a statement, Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) defended pushing the rules amendment because it "builds upon and strengthens the existing Office of Congressional Ethics by maintaining its primary area of focus of accepting and reviewing complaints from the public and referring them, if appropriate, to the Committee on Ethics."[29]
House Republicans reversed their plan to gut the OCE less than 24 hours after the initial vote, under bipartisan pressure from Representatives of both parties, their constituents and the President-elect,
After regaining a majority in the House of Representatives during the 118th United States Congress, House Republicans announced plans to change OCE rules, with the set of changes including "reinstat[ing] two four-year term limits for board members, which haven’t been enforced since 2014. It also could require the board to hire the office’s staff for the entire session within 30 calendar days of the rules package passing. Any new hires would require the approval of at least four board members." According to Forbes, "the term limits would immediately remove three of the four Democratic members from the office’s board, but none of the four Republican board members would be dismissed. (Although members of each party chose the board’s members, they are supposed to perform their duties independently of their affiliation.) It could be difficult to fill the newly vacated spots within 30 days, which might leave the board with just five members. That would, in turn, make it harder to hire new employees, as four votes would be required to extend a job offer. The change also would leave Republican-appointed members with almost total control of staffing decisions. Even at full strength, hiring personnel sometimes take months."[32] The Guardian stated that "though seemingly innocuous, the changes appear to have been drafted to strike at the principal vulnerabilities of OCE and defang its investigative powers for at least the next two years."[33] Various government watchdog groups, like Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and Accountable.US, pushed back on the GOP move.[34]
Board of directors
- Mike Barnes, chair former Democratic congressman from Maryland
- Paul Vinovich, co-chair and former Republican congressional staffer
- Clerk of the House of Representativesand former Republican congressional staffer
- Leon Acton Westmoreland, former Republican congressman from Georgia
- Bill Luther, former Democratic congressman from Minnesota
- Lorraine C. Miller
Former board members include:
- David Skaggs, co-chair and former Democratic congressman
- Belinda Pinckney, retired United States Army brigadier general
- Karan English, former Democratic congresswoman
- Robert Hurt
References
- ^ a b "About". Office of Congressional Ethics. oce.house.gov. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "Welcome to the New Online OCE". Office of Congressional Ethics Blog. June 1, 2010. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
- ^ a b "Process". Office of Congressional Ethics. oce.house.gov. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
- ^ "Learn". Office of Congressional Ethics. oce.house.gov. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
- ^ Crabtree, Susan (September 8, 2010). "House GOP leaders dodge questions on the future of ethics office". The Hill. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ^ "Resolution threatens power of Office of Congressional Ethics". The Washington Post. June 4, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ^ "Someone New is Watching". The New York Times. April 1, 2010.
- ^ Melanie Sloan (October 13, 2010). "26 Sitting Lawmakers Corrupting the Halls of Congress". The Huffington Post.
- ^ "New York Times Profile on the Office of Congressional Ethics". New York Times. March 17, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ Lawrence, Jill (November 10, 2006). "Sweep gives Dems power to put plans into action". USA Today. usatoday30.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ a b Schouten, Fredreka (October 15, 2010). "House ethics chief Leo Wise resigns". USA Today. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ^ Lipton, Eric (March 29, 2010). "Ethics Report Faults Ex-Congressman". The New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ^ Lipton, Eric (March 22, 2010). "House Ethics Office Gains, Dismissals Aside". The New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ^ Newton-Small, Jay (August 5, 2010). "The Ethics Watchdog Making Democrats Squirm". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on August 7, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ^ Smith, Sylvia A. (October 3, 2010). "Ethics upgrade cleaning House". Journal Gazette. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
- ^ "Not Too Much Ethics, Please". The New York Times. August 4, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ^ "Reform Coalition Urges Speaker Pelosi to Back Office of Congressional Ethics Against Challenges". [press release]. The Campaign Legal Center. June 9, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ^ "Don't Kill the Office of Congressional Ethics". Sunlight Foundation. September 13, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ Deirdre Walsh and Daniella Diaz. "House GOP guts ethics panel". CNN. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ Espo, David (October 6, 2006). "Pelosi Says She Would Drain GOP 'Swamp'". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 15, 2016. Pelosi used the phrase draining the GOP swamp in 2006 to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation."
- ^ "Pelosi Statement on Republicans Destroying Office of Congressional Ethics in Rules Package - Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi". Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "Chuck Schumer on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ Garcia, Eric (October 18, 2016). "A History of 'Draining the Swamp'". Roll Call. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
- ^ "Show your support support for Donald Trump". www.donaldjtrump.com. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
- ^ "Reagan still draining the swamp (March 12, 1983)". Chicago Tribune. No. March 12, 1983. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
- ^ Allison, Bill (November 10, 2016). "Trump Rhetoric Fails to Damp K-Street Hopes of Renaissance". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
- ^ Cassata, Donna. "House GOP votes to gut independent ethics office". Pilotonline.com. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
- ^ "House Republicans Back Down on Bid to Gut Ethics Office". The New York Times. Washington, DC. January 3, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
- National Public Radio, Susan Davis & Brian Naylor, January 3, 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- ^ Everson, Zach. "House Republicans, Back In Charge, Move To Undercut Ethics Office". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
- ^ "House Republicans aim to rein in ethics body preparing to investigate their party". the Guardian. 2023-01-05. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
- ^ "'Disaster for Everyone Except Corrupt Politicians': House GOP Votes to Gut Ethics Office". www.commondreams.org. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
External links
- OCE Official Site
- Committee on Standards of Official Conduct official site