Congressional Ethics Committees: How Does Congress Investigate Their Own Behavior?

Ethical questions around conflicts of interest, leaks of classified information, and ties to Russia have dogged the current administration and the Trump campaign for months. More recently, those questions have spilled over into Congress, with the investigation of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA). Nunes has temporarily recused himself from his committee’s investigations into the Trump administration’s ties to Russia over allegations that he inappropriately divulged classified intelligence to the White House and the press. While Nunes has denied any wrongdoing, those allegations are being investigated by the House Committee on Ethics.

But what is the House Committee on Ethics?

The House Committee on Ethics, more commonly referred to as the Ethics Committee, establishes rules of conduct for House members around campaign expenses, official travel and gifts, financial conflicts of interest, outside employment, protection of classified information and any other details stipulated by the House Code of Official Conduct. They also investigate any allegations of breaches in conduct, and if breaches are confirmed, recommend action.

The Ethics Committee is also responsible for training all new House members and staff about the ethics rules, and receiving and approving all financial disclosure forms for members and staff. Committee staff process forms from all House congressional offices approving travel and gifts and field ongoing ethics questions.

Each year the committee prepares a report summarizing their activities for the previous year, which is made publicly available.

The Ethics Committee is the only committee in the House that has an equal number of members from each party, though the chair is always from the majority party. This even split, which is meant to keep the committee’s work bipartisan, has also allowed one party to shut down the work of the committee for extended periods.

Concerns about the committee’s protection of House members engaged in unethical conduct led to the formation of the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) in 2008. The OCE Board of Directors is made up of six private citizens who are not currently members of Congress or federal employees. The OCE staff investigate House member’s conduct based on public complaints, information and press reports, and have a limited time (no longer than 90 days) to complete their inquiries. The Board then chooses whether or not to refer the case to the House Ethics Committee for adjudication.

The OCE’s power is limited due to having no right to subpoena witnesses, but it is required to issue a public report on any investigations referred to the House Ethics Committee for review. Over the years OCE has issued dozens of reports, not all of which have led to Committee investigations. But it has provided public accountability and a window into ethics issues in the House.

Recently the OCE came under fire from House Republicans, who voted to place it fully under the umbrella of the Ethics Committee. The Office has pursued investigations of House members much more zealously than the Ethics Committee, and removing its independence would likely have changed that. The vote raised resistance from Democrats, Republican leadership and the White House, which ultimately led to the effort being scuttled within days.

The current House Ethics Committee did not meet until March 22, nearly three months after the current Congress was seated. In addition to the investigation of Rep. Nunes, they have recently deferred their investigation into Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) upon request from the Department of Justice. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) are also currently under committee investigation and the committee will consider whether to take up investigations into Reps. Luis Gutierrez and Bobby Rush, both Democrats from Illinois, and Rep. Markwayne Mullin, (R-OK), which were initiated in 2014.

The Senate has their own ethics committee, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, which has a similar charge and structure to the House committee related to the Senate Code of Official Conduct. It also produces an annual report, which summarizes the committee’s work and is a matter of public record. There are currently no investigations into misconduct by senators.

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-- Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons)