The move had been motivated , in part, by complaints from House Republicans that the office had been too zealous in its pursuit of ethical violations by members of Congress. Upon hearing this news and reflecting on the fact that congressional Republicans spent several years and millions of taxpayer dollars and several years investigating Benghazi, “irony” reportedly keeled over and died.

On Monday night, as most Americans were enjoying the end of a long holiday weekend, House Republicans showed their true colors. In a secret vote — and with no public deliberation — they approved a measure that would have gutted Congress’s Office of Congressional Ethics and basically removed its independence as a watchdog.

In case you were holding out faint hope that a Donald Trump administration and Republican-dominated Congress would not be an ethical dumpster fire, the events of the past 24 hours have hopefully disabused you of that Pollyannish notion.

But as quickly as Congress sought to shed any reasonable accountability for its actions, a backlash soon developed. Social media were ablaze with denunciations of the GOP’s move. Capitol Hill switchboards lit up with calls from angry constituents, and even President-elect Trump weighed in against it. By midday Tuesday, the GOP’s ethics proposal was dead, as the party’s leadership pulled the proposal from consideration.


It’s important to understand what did and did not happen here. Congressional Republicans acted in the same manner as they pretty much always have when they control Congress — they overreached. This time it was to feather their own nest. Soon it will be to repeal Obamacare, privatize Medicare, or whatever other politically unpopular idea strikes their fancy. But make no mistake: This Congress has little interest in ethical oversight, of either its own actions or those of the next president. They have little interest in ensuring that Trump isn’t personally profiting from the presidency or in making sure that he isn’t in violation of the Constitution the moment he takes office. Indeed, House Republicans have even made clear they aren’t even going to bother with conducting oversight of President Trump, not more than a month after pledging to spend four years investigating Hillary Clinton if she were elected president.


This time, however, Republicans got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, but it would be a mistake to view the reversal as recognition that they made a blunder. According to House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy (who opposed the ethics measure), “This wasn’t the best time to go forward” with it.

President-elect Trump took the exact same position.

in a series of tweets Tuesday morning, he said, “With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it . . . may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, health care and so many other things of far greater importance!”

So Mr. Drain the Swamp thinks an ethics watchdog is “unfair” but that moving forward on this now is bad timing. Yet neither he nor McCarthy appears to be bothered at all by the actions themselves — ones that would make it nearly impossible for independent ethics investigations of congressional wrongdoing.

For those of us who have followed the actions of Republicans in Congress and the executive branch over the past 15 years, none of this is a surprise. Bending ethics rules and violating democratic norms are par for the course. Indeed, the main reason the Office of Congressional Ethics existed is because of congressional scandals in the ’00s, most famously one involving Jack Abramoff, which implicated several key Republicans, including former House Majority Leader Tom Delay. If you’re seeking a more contemporary example or norm and rule-bending just look at what Republicans did in North Carolina last month to undermine a new Democratic governor — and maintain GOP rule there.


Anyone who voted for Republicans in November with the expectation they would drain the swamp should perhaps wake up to reality. In an election in which the GOP standard-bearer regularly assailed the lack of ethics and transparency of his opponent, voters have empowered a political party with no interest in transparency or ethics. Today’s reversal by the House Republicans is welcome news, but this is only just the beginning of the ill wind emanating from Republican-controllled Capitol Hill.

Michael A. Cohen’s column appears regularly in the Globe. Follow him on Twitter @speechboy71.