House GOP Guts Ethics Panel

“House Republicans voted Monday night in favor of a proposal that would weaken Congress’ outside ethics watchdog and remove its independence,” CNN reports.

Politico: “The office currently has free rein, enabling investigators to pursue allegations and then recommend further action to the House Ethics Committee as they see fit. Now, the office would be under the thumb of lawmakers themselves.”

“The proposal also appears to limit the scope of the office’s work by barring them from consider anonymous tips against lawmakers. And it would stop the office from disclosing the findings of some of their investigations, as they currently do after the recommendations go to House Ethics.”