Today in Political Ethics: Foxes Unsure About How Best To Run Henhouse

Politics Features Republicans
Today in Political Ethics: Foxes Unsure About How Best To Run Henhouse

The first act House Republicans took in 2017—without warning or debate—was to cripple the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). GOP lawmakers held a surprise closed-door vote last night in which the measure passed overwhelmingly, in spite of objections from speaker Paul Ryan and majority leader Kevin McCarthy. Then this morning Donald Trump tweeted that the proposal was a bad idea. Then Paul Ryan defended the proposal. Then house leadership pulled the proposal.

Does it seem strange that after shouting about the need to “drain the swamp” for several months, the first thing Republicans try to do is shutter the only independent Congressional ethics investigator? It does. Does any of that first paragraph make sense? No? Well, maybe your problem is that you think any of this is about ethics reform. It’s not. It’s a power struggle. What’s the most ethical excuse for a power struggle? Ethics! The metaphor writes itself.

First, what the OCE does: It was established in 2008 to work independently of the Congressional Ethics Committee. But this new rule would have renamed the group, stripped it of its independence, and make it subject to Congressional oversight. It would take away the OCE’s power to publicize the details of its investigations, giving Congress the power to keep everything secret. The House Ethics Committee could essentially close any case at any time without having to reveal any details to the public. Congressional corruption investigations would, once again, be controlled by the very people being investigated.

So why gut the OCE? Some Republicans accuse the group of being “overzealous” in its pursuits. Lawmakers complain that anonymous accusations from the public can’t be traced, and defenses against accusations can be costly. They complain that the OCE is allowed to publish the details of its investigations regardless of how Congress decides to act. Some Republicans say the committee even deprives members of Congress of due process.

Basically, they don’t like the OCE because it does its job.

And last night it seemed like Ryan stood up for the right thing when this proposal came in basically out of nowhere. He was fighting for ethics, even though he lost that fight.

To make matters weirder, Trump counsel Kellyanne Conway, queen of the drained swamp, defended the proposed rule change this morning on Good Morning America. She didn’t say Trump endorsed the vote and hadn’t yet discussed it with him, but she did observe that Republicans have a “mandate for them to make significant change.” She also indicated she didn’t think the measure would pass the full floor vote scheduled for today—a vote on a new rules package, of which this measure is one part.

And then Trump comes along and tweets it down!

“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,” he said over the course of two tweets. “Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS.”

But note that Trump didn’t actually stick up for the OCE and the important, if sometimes brutal, work it does to hold members of Congress ethically accountable. No: Trump actually called the OCE “unfair.” Instead, he was calling out congressional Republicans for not prioritizing what he wanted them to prioritize.

Allow me to mix my metaphors like DJ Trump: This is not an argument about how to drain the swamp. This is an argument about how to run a henhouse.

This becomes quite clear when Paul Ryan switches sides just hours after Trump’s tweet. Last night he fought the vote to kill the OCE, but now he defends the vote: “After eight years of operation, many members believe the Office of Congressional Ethics is in need of reform to protect due process and ensure it is operating according to its stated mission.”

Then, after all of this, the Republicans pulled the measure entirely.

What the hell just happened here?

In this case, Paul Ryan got the memo a little too late. He was caught up short and embarrassed on both sides of this thing. First his own caucus voted against him—in its very first vote—and he was powerless to stop them. But then Trump busts a tweet and suddenly everyone falls in line.

Thing is, Ryan realized too late what the actual OCE proposal was all about. Here’s what Bob Goodlatte, the congressman who proposed the new rules, said of them last night: “There should be no entity in the entire federal government that doesn’t have review by some committee of the Congress… every agency of the government whether it’s executive, legislative or judicial should have a committee that reviews its work.”

The whole idea was to set the precedent that no government entity is independent except for Congress. It was tin-eared to use ethics reform as the first venue, but it was the first opportunity available. Ryan either didn’t catch on, or thought it was the wrong battle to pick. Either way, he was shown to be impotent. Ryan is being led from behind, and tweeted down from the front.

The massive amount of confusion and public fighting over this seemingly arcane vote will alarm Republicans. No one is in charge.

Like we saw in Iraq, victory is only the start of our troubles. In fact, D.C. is starting to look a lot like Iraq after the invasion. It’s ungovernable. There are deep divides between sides, and deep divides within sides. There’s a power vacuum. Republicans have no compass, be it practical, leadership, or—pointedly here—ethical. This is the first in what will certainly be many months of fighting for control of party and policy, fighting that will at best annoy everyone in America and at worst paralyze Washington completely.

Victory doesn’t mean much if the costs are this high. Doesn’t matter if you win the war if you lose the peace.

And speaking of costs, what a time to de-fang the ethics watchdog: Just as corporate taxes and major infrastructure spending come to the table. When foxes run henhouses, they go bankrupt pretty quickly.

Share Tweet Submit Pin