The decision to scrap the plan came less than two hours after Trump expressed his disapproval on Twitter, despite previously calling the ethics panel “unfair.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
“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! #DTS,” Trump said in two consecutive tweets.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
During a closed-door meeting, House Republicans had voted 119-74 in favor of a proposal put forward by Virginia Representative Bob Goodlatte. The move would have placed the nonpartisan office under the control of the House Ethics Committee, the very people it is meant to investigate.
The move faced extreme backlash from Democrats, as it would have barred the panel from reviewing any criminal violations by Congress, and would have given the House Ethics Committee the power to stop any investigation into misconduct.
"Republicans claim they want to 'drain the swamp,' but the night before the new Congress gets sworn in, the House GOP has eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions. Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress," Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Monday.
The full House of Representatives was expected to vote on the issue as part of a larger rules package on Tuesday, had it not been called off.
“It's a question of priorities” and Trump’s “belief that with all that this country wants … to have happen, this really shouldn't be the priority," Trump spokesman and incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) January 3, 2017
Though the issue may be dead for now, it does not appear to be fully going away, as Washington Post reporter Robert Costa tweeted that many Republicans are hoping to return to the issue, presumably after the heat dies down.
