Today was a good day for open government in the United States. This morning, the U.S. House of Representatives was... View Article
Continue readingOffice of Congressional Ethics: Subpoena Steve Stockman
Citing Sunlight reporting, the Office of Congressional Ethics recommends that Rep. Steve Stockman be subpoenaed to testify about potentially illegal campaign contributions.
Continue readingStockman faces ethics inquiry over campaign finances
Rep. Steve Stockman is facing an ethics inquiry after a series of Sunlight reports on the Texas Republican's questionable campaign finance practices.
Continue readingAnother delay in ethics probes of Reps. Schock, Owens
Thanks to a parliamentary quirk and a slow start getting organized, the House Ethics Committee will not be releasing information today about the ethics probes into two members of Congress.
Continue readingHouse rules package has new ethics clauses, strange wrinkles
Fresh off taking the oath of office earlier today, the new members of the House of Representatives are about to vote to adopt a set of rules and orders this afternoon. There are a few ethics-related changes that are significant. There are also some unusual new wrinkles.
One welcome change for watchdog groups, including the Sunlight Foundation, is the continuation of the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, which has to be reauthorized by each Congress. The terms of four board members -- Yvonne Burke, Jay Eagen, Karan English and Allison Hayward -- expired at the end of the last Congress but ...
Continue readingWatch dog groups call for Congress, President to fill ethics posts
Government watchdog organizations went to Capitol Hill yesterday to remind the White House and congressional leadership--currently deadlocked in negotiations over avoiding the flscal cliff--that there's a void in some of the critical institutions that police ethics in Washington. 
Representatives from 10 government-accountabilty groups gathered to make sure that House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi maintain the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) by appointing new board members. They also emphasized that the president needs to take the lead in campaign finance reform by appointing new Federal Election Commission (FEC) commissioners.
Full disclosure: Though it did not participate ...
Continue readingWill the House’s Ethics Watchdog Be Silenced?
The future of the House of Representatives’ independent ethics watchdog is subject to speculation now that we’re again in appropriations season.... View Article
Continue readingSlew of lawmakers probed by OCE try to undercut body
This morning, the House voted on an amendment to slash the budget of Congress’s independent ethics panel by 40 percent.... View Article
Continue readingOCE Survives Vote to Slash Funding, But 100+ Reps Support Cuts
Moments ago, the House of Representatives defeated an amendment by Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) to slash 40% of the funding... View Article
Continue readingOCE in Limbo: House Legislative Appropriations Update #1
Less than an hour ago, the House of Representatives turned back an attempt by Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) to slash... View Article
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