Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday announced his picks for the new GOP-led House Ethics Committee: Republicans who lied to the public about the results of the 2020 presidential vote and tried to throw the election to its loser, Donald Trump.
“House Republicans are working to restore integrity, accountability, and transparency to the halls of Congress,” said McCarthy, who also to the ethics panel for violating congressional rules by defying subpoenas for testimony and documents relating to the attack.
Now, the ethics panel is not only led by Republicans who have little incentive to investigate their party leader, but it is overseen by Guest, who fueled the lie that led to the insurrection. In other words, this committee is unlikely to hold any Republicans accountable for their role before, during or after the riot.
The Office of Congressional Ethics, a bipartisan watchdog whose past work has led to resignations and criminal charges for members of both political parties, would normally be well positioned to review potential violations by McCarthy and other Republicans. Its mandate includes looking at violations of “law, rule, regulation, or other standard of conduct” by House members.
But House Republicans, in one of their first acts in the new Congress, voted nearly unanimously to cripple the ethics office.
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