White House swipes at House GOP for ethics moves

by Jordan Fabian - 01/03/17 2:18 PM ET

The White House took a swipe at House Republicans Tuesday for a scrapped plan to weaken its independent ethics watchdog, a move that cast a shadow on the first day of the new Congress.

Republicans backed off the proposal after coming under intense pressure, but White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the issue is a sign of what’s to come under GOP rule.

“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 said.

The changes would have put the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) under the oversight of the House Ethics Committee.

{mosads}Earnest tied the plan to Republicans’ stated goals of rolling back President Obama’s policies on Wall Street banks and environmental regulations.

“I’m confident that we’re going to see congressional Republicans do the work of their donors on Wall Street,” he said.

Republicans decided to reverse course on the ethics watchdog hours after President-elect Donald Trump published a series of tweets questioning the GOP’s priorities, given other major issues like healthcare and tax reform that are on the table.

“That’s not draining the swamp,” Earnest said, referring to one of Trump’s campaign slogans.

Earnest questioned whether Trump deserved credit for the reversal, saying it was “not immediately obvious to me” whether the president-elect took issue with the timing of the announcement or the changes themselves.

Earnest also said the real test for Trump would come if or when Republicans attempt to repeal Wall Street reforms or air and water policies.

“I think the real question for the president-elect is: Will he stand up to them then?” the spokesman asked.

Tags Donald Trump