Here Are 6 Things House Republicans Want Ethics Investigators To Stop Doing

In a surprise vote, the GOP proposed major changes to the independent Office of Congressional Ethics on Monday night.

1. The OCE should no longer be independent. Instead, it will be under the House's Committee on Ethics, which is run by members of Congress. An earlier version of the amendment read that OCE would be "subject to the authority and direction" of the committee, but that language was later softened.

2. The office will no longer be able to accept anonymous tips from whistleblowers.

3. The ethics office must stop any investigation if the House ethics committee tells it to.

4. The ethics office cannot investigate any tips on misconduct that took place before Jan. 3, 2011.

5. The office can no longer talk about its findings — or even hire a spokesperson.

6. The OCE cannot investigate any criminal cases or turn allegations of corruption over to law enforcement.

UPDATE

An earlier version of the amendment read that the OCE would be "subject to the authority and direction" of the committee, but that language was later softened to say that it would be "subject to oversight" by the committee. This post has been updated to reflect that change.

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