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.”
“I know that there’s a lot of talk about ethics and revolving doors, but the revolving door that we see right now is the continual challenge on the part of congressional Republicans to skirt responsibility for their ethical violations,” he said. “I suspect this is not going to be the first time that we see congressional Republicans in this Congress seeking to help people in positions of power and influence escape accountability when it comes to the interests of the American people.”
Earnest suggested the incoming Republican Congress will “do the work of their donors on Wall Street” by gutting reform legislation such as the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and allowing big banks “to escape accountability for a bunch of financial transactions that we know are not in the public interest and actually put taxpayers at risk.”
“Another thing we know congressional Republicans are likely to do is to go to their donors in the oil industry and say, ‘hey, we can help you escape accountability for polluting the air and water and land that the American people treasure and in some cases depend on for our sustenance,'” Earnest surmised.
The House GOP conference voted 119-74 in a closed-door meeting Monday night to advance a measure proposed by Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte that would have reduced transparency surrounding OCE investigations and placed it under the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee. The provision, which House Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy had originally opposed, was later removed from the House rules package during an emergency meeting and vote Tuesday afternoon.
The meeting had took place just moments after President-elect Trump tweeted his disapproval of Monday’s vote, and suggested that Republican lawmakers ought to be focused primarily on issues like tax reform and healthcare.
Earnest declined to say whether Trump had opposed the actual provision to gut ethical requirements or was simply upset with Hill Republicans’ priorities. The White House spokesman said Trump will face further questions about his commitment to curbing corruption and ethical misconduct in Washington if congressional Republicans begin to do the work of their donors.
“I think the real question for the president-elect is will he stand up for them then,” Earnest told reporters.
