Conway: GOP has 'mandate' to gut congressional ethics office

The move by Republicans in Congress to gut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics will cut down on “overzealousness,” incoming counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday morning, while leaving in place a “mechanism” with which to address ethical complaints.

Although Conway stopped short of saying the GOP move came with the blessing of the president-elect, she told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Republican majorities in the House and Senate mean “there's a mandate there for them to make significant change.” She said she had not spoken to President-elect Donald Trump about the move.


“Let's make clear that you're still going to have an Office of Complaint Review. In other words, it’s not like we’re taking away everything,” Conway told “Good Morning America” anchor George Stephanopoulos. “Look, there's a very ambitious agenda to push forward. The Republicans have been given the majority in the House and the Senate, most of the governorships, they've won over 1,000 state legislative seats under President Obama's watch. So there's a mandate there for them to make significant change.”

House Republicans voted Monday night during a closed-door meeting to dramatically cut back the powers of the Office of Congressional Ethics, which would put the currently-independent watchdog under the control of the very lawmakers it is supposed to police. The plan, proposed by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), would give the office a new name, the Office of Complaint Review, and would "provide protection against disclosures to the public or other government entities," essentially keeping secret any accusations against members of Congress. The proposal would also bar the restructured office from considering anonymous tips.

Conway admitted that the proposal, which still must be approved by Congress with a vote on Tuesday, amounted to gutting the office but told Stephanopoulos that “gutting it doesn't mean there won't be a mechanism.” She said that the move by House Republicans was not inconsistent with Trump’s campaign pledge to “drain the swamp” because it leaves in place some means of policing Congressional ethics while cutting down on the “overzealousness in some of the processes over the years.”

The plan passed its secret-ballot vote Monday night despite opposition from House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Conway seemed less than certain of its success once it is put to a public vote on the House floor on when the 115th Congress kicks off on Tuesday morning. She told NBC’s “Today” that Trump has not yet expressed an opinion on the issue but that “when he feels the urge to weigh in on something he certainly does.”

“I think it caught some people by surprise because it was done, you know, through a blind ballot,” she said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday. “But again, the House, the full House has to vote on this today. The Democrats and others who object, they’ll have an opportunity to be heard.”



McCarthy: I opposed House oversight changes 'at this time' On Tuesday, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' that the GOP decision to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics should have been 'something both parties should take up at the same time.'

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Kellyanne Conway