Under-the-radar change to congressional ethics watchdog may weaken it

The following article by Elise Viebeck was posted on the Washington Post website February 8, 2017:

Speaker of the House Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) speaks during a news conference after the weekly House Republican caucus meeting. (Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency)

In early January, House Republicans’ effort to weaken an independent ethics monitor was thought to have failed after then-President-elect Donald Trump intervened with a pair of tweetsquestioning the GOP’s priorities and timing.

But in fact, one change to the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) slipped through shortly afterward at the behest of Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), little noticed by anyone but the OCE itself and good-government groups that fear it could undermine the office’s work. Continue reading “Under-the-radar change to congressional ethics watchdog may weaken it”