By Ed O'keefe and Sean Sullivan
A top ethics official (click here) warned Saturday that plans to confirm Donald Trump’s top Cabinet choices before background examinations are complete are unprecedented and have overwhelmed government investigators responsible for the reviews.
The concerns came on the eve of the Trump administration-in-waiting’s first big test, with as many as seven nominees for Cabinet positions — many of them already the subject of questions about their qualifications — scheduled to visit Capitol Hill in the coming days for confirmation hearings....
President - Elect Donald Trump stood up to the Senate and House when they presented a bill that would significantly weaken ethics laws. Could it be the USA will finally have a government that is not corrupted by hubris and abuse?
January 4, 2017
By Fredreka Schouten and Erin Kelley
Washington — After public denunciations (click here) from watchdogs and criticism from President Donald Trump. House Republicans on Tuesday reversed course and dropped plans to gut an independent agency that polices potential ethical wrongdoing by lawmakers.
The controversy over GOP plans to sharply curtail the powers of the Office of Congressional Ethics overshadowed the opening day of Congress, where Republicans control both chambers and soon will welcome a Republican president for the first time in eight years.
The about-face came a day after House Republicans met behind closed doors and moved to rein in the office, approved by Congress in 2008 as an independent arm to investigate lawmakers after scandals sent three lawmakers and high-flying lobbyist Jack Abramoff to prison.
"House Republicans made the right move in eliminating this amendment that should never have seen the light of day," said David Donnelly, president and CEO of Every Voice watchdog group, on Tuesday. "Not one voter went to the polls in November hoping Congress would gut ethics oversight."
The reversal came after Trump took to Twitter to slam the timing of House Republicans' move, saying lawmakers should focus on other priorities....
Candidate Trump primarily ran on his own money. It was one of the reasons Republican voters were attracted to him. Republican voters were tired of all the crony politics. They wanted a candidate that did not answer to anyone other than the people.
It was somewhat of a shock to hear a Republican, and a President-Elect no less, call the US House and Senate to task to end the corruption in removing ethical standards from the legislative process. It was a glimmer of hope for a presidency people were willing to see as misguided and mired with the establishment.
Perhaps, the President - Elect should add a few people temporarily to the ethics office on his first day in office to move through the nomination process without delay. One of the reason this is necessary is because his nominations have not worked in government before and has no established record for security checks.
