Congressional ethics investigators could soon be silenced

[WestVirginiaRebel]

CNN:

Washington (CNN) -- Inside an ordinary office building six blocks from the Capitol, investigators sift through evidence of possible violations against ethics and laws committed by the nation's elected representatives.

This is the Office of Congressional Ethics, also known as the OCE.

It is one of the most important watchdogs in Washington. That's because the OCE is the only quasi-independent government body whose sole mandate is to formally investigate members of Congress.

But it could soon be silenced by the very people it investigates.

"What is outrageous about it is that you see members of Congress on both sides saying they have zero tolerance for unethical conduct," said Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor who now directs Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

"But then behind closed doors they are quietly trying to kill the one body in Congress that is seriously going after unethical members."

Sloan's public interest group monitors ethics and legal violations by members of Congress. And, like many other citizen watchdog groups in Washington, CREW is worried that the OCE could soon die through purposeful inaction by Congress.

The ethics office -- which gets its mandate and funding from Congress -- must be reauthorized by this Congress, which soon adjourns, or early on by the new Congress.

What's more, at least four of the OCE's board members are approaching the end of their terms, and new members must be selected and appointed for the organization to continue with its work.

No investigations or reports or real work can be done by the office until their board is in place.

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Too good at its job to be allowed to continue?