During a closed House Republican lawmakers meeting Monday night, a package of rule changes was drawn up, including a plan to place the independent Office of Congressional Ethics under the control of those very same lawmakers instead of leaving it a bipartisan panel.
The plan was proposed by Virginia’s very own lawmaker, Representative Bob Goodlatte. Goodlatte’s proposal would have barred the panel from reviewing any violation of criminal law by members of Congress, requiring any complaints to be turned over to the House Ethics Committee or an appropriate federal law enforcement agency instead.
An angry Tweet from then future president changed GOP lawmakers’ minds. President-elect Trump tweeted: “With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog” their “number one act and priority.”
In a second Tweet, Trump added: “Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS” For those who may not know this, #DTS means “Drain the Swamp.”
An emergency meeting was held before noon today and GOP lawmakers reversed their decision to remove the ethics office, taking the proposal out of a package of rules to be voted on later today. CNN News is reporting this swift action on Trump’s part is a sure sign of how he intends to wield the power of the presidency and for that matter, his Twitter account, in leading the country.
CBS Local in New York is reporting that a Trump spokesman said the President-elect’s concerns are more about timing than the issue itself. Earlier on Tuesday, before the Trump Tweet, House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was against the proposal on Monday night, downplayed the issue, saying in a statement that the ethics office would remain independent.
But whatever the complaints by some GOP and Democrat lawmakers who were opposed to gutting the ethics office, it is now all water under the bridge as our new Congress gets back to doing its job of dismantling what was accomplished over the last eight years.
