House ethics committee staff director resigns

The staff director of the House ethics committee, William O’Reilly, is resigning his post, leaving the staff without a top leader as it heads into a new chapter.

His effective resignation date is not yet clear.

{mosads}Calls left for O’Reilly and committee Chairwoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) were not returned.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) are still looking for people to serve on the board of a new outside entity called the Office of Congressional Ethics. The new entity is to review outside complaints filed by lawmakers. The panel was supposed to be filled by last week, but leaders have had difficulty finding members willing to serve.

O’Reilly came to the committee in January 2006 from the law firm Jones Day. He took over a committee that had been essentially inactive because of partisan bickering.

The committee announced several long-anticipated probes in May 2006. A few months later, it launched a probe of alleged improper sexual advances by then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) toward underage congressional pages.

The committee found that some who knew about the situation chose to “remain willfully ignorant” rather than deal with the matter.