WASHINGTON — House Republicans, facing a storm of bipartisan criticism, including from President-elect Donald J. Trump, moved early Tuesday afternoon to reverse their plan to kill the Office of Congressional Ethics.
It was an embarrassing turnabout on the first day of business for the
new Congress, a day when party leaders were hoping for a show of force
to reverse policies of the Obama administration.
The
reversal came less than 24 hours after House Republicans, meeting in a
secret session, voted, over the objections of Speaker Paul D. Ryan, to
eliminate the independent ethics office. It was created in 2008 in the
aftermath of a series of scandals involving House lawmakers, including
three who were sent to jail.
Mr.
Trump criticized House Republicans on Tuesday for their move to gut the
office, saying they should focus instead on domestic policy priorities
such as health care and a tax overhaul.
In
a pair of postings on Twitter, Mr. Trump called the Office of
Congressional Ethics “unfair,” but he said focusing on it now was a case
of misplaced priorities. He appended the hashtag “DTS,” an apparent
allusion to his promise to “drain the swamp” in Washington.
My comment: So now there is new news. They put back the ethics office as Trump was furious. Question is why was he furious? Did he all of a sudden become ethical? I THINK NOT. Here's what I think was the method to his madness. He wanted a neutral ethics office as the Republicans have PLENTY on him and hold PLENTY of grudges so he did not want to be beholden to even the Party of which he is a part. Just a guess. It was NOT because all of a sudden he saw god! OR in the alternative perhaps that analysis of mine does not hold credence. Maybe in the end he knew it simply did not look good especially in view of his dubious ethical conduct and his myriad of conflicts of interest!
My comment: So now there is new news. They put back the ethics office as Trump was furious. Question is why was he furious? Did he all of a sudden become ethical? I THINK NOT. Here's what I think was the method to his madness. He wanted a neutral ethics office as the Republicans have PLENTY on him and hold PLENTY of grudges so he did not want to be beholden to even the Party of which he is a part. Just a guess. It was NOT because all of a sudden he saw god! OR in the alternative perhaps that analysis of mine does not hold credence. Maybe in the end he knew it simply did not look good especially in view of his dubious ethical conduct and his myriad of conflicts of interest!
