Pelosi names new slate of Ethics panel Democrats

Sanchez succeeds Rep. Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), who chaired the panel for the last few years during a turbulent period, and the new members replace Reps. G.K. Butterfield (N.C.), Kathy Castor (Fla.), Ben Chandler (Ky.) and Peter Welch (Vt.).

Butterfield had called on GOP and Democratic leaders to appoint a whole new slate on both sides of the aisle to restore the panel’s integrity.

“We need a complete reconstitution of the committee from top to bottom in order to restore confidence in the committee,” he told The Hill.

Butterfield also repeatedly said he no longer wanted to serve on the panel, which puts lawmaker in the difficult position of policing their peers.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) reappointed the same members who served in the last Congress, elevating Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) to chairman and reappointing GOP Reps. Mike Conaway (Texas), Charlie Dent (Pa.), Gregg Harper (Miss.) and Michael McCaul (Texas) to the panel.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Executive Director Melanie Sloan had echoed calls for an entirely new panel and denounced the decision to reappoint the same members of Congress to the panel.

“We’re only two days into the new Congress and already the House leadership has demonstrated it does not take ethics seriously,” she said.