Rep. Sanchez to be ranking Democrat on House Ethics panel

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has tapped Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) as the new ranking member on the House Ethics Committee.

Sanchez replaces Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) who left the
top Democratic slot after a turbulent tenure as chairwoman. Lofgren agreed to
serve temporarily until Democrats could find a successor but had asked to step
down as soon as possible.

Sanchez, who became known for her tenacity while chairing a Judiciary
subcommittee, is a fellow Californian and loyal supporter of Pelosi’s. She will
serve opposite Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), the top Republican on the panel for the
last two years. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) tapped Bonner as chairman earlier
this month.

{mosads}Sanchez is no stranger to the ethics committee’s investigative power.

She and her sister, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), were the subject of ethics committee scrutiny in 2009 for potentially violating House rules for improperly sharing staff. Linda Sanchez put three of her sister’s legislative aides on her payroll after an embezzlement scheme left Loretta Sanchez’s office short of funds.

Stan Brand, a lawyer for the sisters, said at the time that they had sought an opinion from the ethics committee in late 2006 or 2007 about the employee transfer. The ethics committee appeared to never have opened a formal inquiry into the matter and no action was taken.

Democrats have been struggling to find a replacement for
Lofgren and were having a difficult time convincing someone to take the job after
a rocky few yeas for the panel. They also wanted someone tough but fair to
counter Bonner, who at first worked well with Lofgren until last summer when he
publicly criticized her.

The usually secretive ethics committee’s last two years were
unusually busy as the panel wrestled with the investigations and public trials of
Democratic Reps. Maxine Waters (Calif.) and Charles Rangel (N.Y.), whom the
House ultimately censured in December.

Partisan tensions flared openly last summer when Bonner, in
a public statement, accused Lofgren of stalling the trials until after the midterm
elections for political purposes.

The messy public spectacles involving Waters and Rangel
played out in the final months of a difficult and ultimately devastating
campaign for Democrats.

Sanchez’s impartiality will be tested as the panel struggles
to deal with the fallout over the Waters case. The ethics committee indefinitely
delayed Waters’s public trial after it discovered new evidence and subsequently
put the lead attorney and an assisting attorney on administrative leave.

Late last year, the panel considered hiring outside
counsel to handle the Waters case in order to restore credibility to the investigation.
Early this year, the panel must decide whether to hire an outside counsel or
proceed on its own.

This story was updated at 3:42 p.m.