Congress Misfires With Attacks on Nonpartisan Ethics Office (1)

Like the Coyote and the Road Runner in a Looney Toones episode, lawmakers frequently try to kill the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, but their plans always backfire.

In a June 13 US House Administration Oversight Subcommittee hearing, members tried to discredit OCE with allegations that it’s unnecessary and political, but instead the hearing proved OCE is undeniably effective and nonpartisan.

OCE’s Superpower

Congress established OCE in 2008 to conduct independent ethics investigations of House members and refer evidence of potential violations to the House Ethics Committee for further action.

OCE’s superpower is that it’s required to conduct investigations under a tight deadline and publicly release its findings of misconduct. OCE benefits voters, who have a right to know if their elected officials comply with ethics laws. But the oversight hearing revealed that some lawmakers are not fans of efficient and transparent investigations into their conduct.

Senate Is No Comparison

Typically, any oversight hearing is expected to present evidence that the entity under review hasn’t performed its mission. In this case, the committee tried to show that OCE is duplicative of the House Ethics Committee. Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), for example, argued OCE isn’t needed because the House already has an ethics committee, and the Senate only has an ethics committee and no OCE.

Ironically, the best argument in favor of the OCE is the documented ineffectiveness of the Senate Ethics Committee. From 2021 to 2022, OCE found evidence of a violation in 65% of its cases, while terminating or closing 35% of investigations.

In stark contrast, the Senate Ethics Committee found evidence of a violation in 2% of its investigations and dismissed or terminated 63%. Further, despite receiving over 1,500 complaints since 2007, the Senate Ethics Committee has never once voted to issue a disciplinary sanction.

Loudermilk also argued that OCE is ineffective because it is political. This criticism falls flat in the face of the raw numbers—OCE has found evidence of an ethics violation in a total of 104 cases, perfectly split between Democratic and Republican members.

Swings And Misses

Congress’ self-inflicted wound from the hearing is the latest in a history of attacks on the office. The first serious threat to close OCE came in 2010, but it resulted in heavy criticism from incoming Speaker John Boehner, and as a result members reversed course.

One year later, a Democrat who faced investigation tried to cut OCE’s budget by 40%, but only succeeded in galvanizing support for the office and subjecting certain members to criticism for voting to weaken it.

Another swing and miss happened in 2017 when a new Republican House majority was shocked to be publicly admonished by President-elect Donald Trump when they moved to close OCE. And, just months ago, the new Republican majority introduced rules that were intended to weaken the office, but the public outcry resulted in the fastest ever reappointment of OCE’s board.

Congress Could Further Fortify OCE

This saga continued with this oversight hearing—as part of the unintended consequences it made the case for strengthening the office instead of weakening it.

First, Congress should codify OCE into law so it’s no longer subject to threats that can change the rules with a simple resolution.

Second, Congress should give OCE the power to subpoena third parties so lobbyists and other witnesses can’t stonewall investigations.

Next, OCE should be authorized to immediately publish its investigation reports involving non-cooperating lawmakers, which should decrease the growing trend of members of Congress refusing to cooperate with OCE investigations.

Finally, to ensure nonpartisanship in OCE board member appointment, the majority and minority leaders should be required to agree on a board member’s appointment.

By publicly grilling OCE, the hostile House members unwittingly highlighted key metrics for OCE’s more than 15-year history. It has received over 50,000 complaints from the public, found enough evidence to investigate 242 of those cases, and determined there was potential misconduct in 104 of those cases.

This hearing showed once again that OCE serves members of Congress and the public by dismissing frivolous complaints, investigating cases with merit, and remaining nonpartisan throughout the process.

Indeed, the oversight hearing was a success—but maybe not in the way its organizers hoped.

(Seventh paragraph changed to reflect that the Senate Ethics Committee found evidence of a violation in 2% of its investigations)

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

Author Information

Kedric Payne is vice president, general counsel, and senior director for ethics for the Campaign Legal Center.

Write for Us: Author Guidelines