Ethics issues could return to the House floor next week with a debate on a plan, months in the making, to create an independent ethics commission.
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.), who chaired the task force that crafted the proposal, said he has been told to be prepared for a vote on the floor next week. If that occurs, he expects it to pass, despite criticism from Republicans and some ethics groups.
{mosads}“If it comes to the floor, it will pass and pass with significant numbers,” Capuano said. “There are some people who just don’t like it, and I understand that. There are others who don’t think it goes far enough and want to change it. But generally people are supportive.”
The lawmaker also said, “We still don’t know where Republicans are on it.”
Republican leaders appear inclined to oppose it.
“There was a bipartisan effort on ethics, but the Democrats walked away from that process,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).
Under Capuano’s plan, a six-member board would oversee the new Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). The six members would be appointed jointly by the Speaker and minority leader. If the two leaders can’t agree after 90 days, they would be named separately.
The commission would screen ethics allegations made against House members and pass those with merit along to the House ethics committee.
Many watchdogs and political observers regard the existing ethics panel as a paper tiger that did nothing to prevent several wide-ranging corruption scandals involving House members in recent years.
GOP lawmakers are particularly unhappy with a provision that would allow any two members of the OCE to initiate an investigation into charges against a member, arguing that it would enable partisan witch-hunts.