White House press secretary Josh Earnest tore into House Republicans on Tuesday for seeking to help those in power “escape accountability” by voting to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, a move that was ultimately reversed amid widespread criticism from leaders within both parties.

“I think that it is rather revealing that the first step taken by congressional Republicans in the new Congress was to vote in secret to gut ethics regulations,” Earnest told reporters during the daily White House briefing just as swearing-in ceremonies for the 115th Congress were underway. “These are ethics regulations … put in place by Democrats in response to ethical scandals plaguing congressional Republicans.”