"In their 1st act of the new year, House Republicans held a secret meeting & a secret vote to essentially kill the Office of Congressional Ethics. The surprising vote came on the eve of the start of a new session of Congress, where emboldened Republicans are ready to push an ambitious agenda on everything from health care to infrastructure, issues that will be the subject of intense lobbying from corporate interests. The house GOP move would take away both power and independence from an investigative body, and give lawmakers more control over internal inquiries. Trump recently insisted that his effort to “drain the swamp” is still on , and he could prove it by calling on members of his party to leave the Office of Congressional Ethics alone. On the other hand, Trump probably doesn’t want to start a war with the body that’s supposed to hold him accountable for ethics violations. "
At www.nytimes.com
