The U.S. House Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Before the 112th Congress, it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
The House Ethics Committee has often received criticism. In response to criticism, the House created the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), an independent non-partisan entity established to monitor ethical conduct in the House.
Contents
Members
The committee has an equal number of members from each party, unlike the rest of the committees, which are constituted with the majority of members and the committee chair coming from the party that controls the House. This even split has limited its power by giving either political party an effective veto over the actions of the committee. Members may not serve more than three terms on the committee, unless they serve as chair in their fourth term.
Members, 119th Congress
Resolutions electing members: H.Res. 117 (Chair), H.Res. 125 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 213 (R), H.Res. 214 (D), H.Res. 979 (Knott)
Past committee rosters
118th Congress
Resolutions electing members: H.Res. 79 (D), H.Res. 80 (R), H.Res. 84 (chair)
117th Congress
Resolutions electing members: H.Res. 9 (chair), H.Res. 10 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 62 (D), H.Res. 63 (R), H.Res. 95 (R)
116th Congress
Sources: H.Res. 31 (chair), H.Res. 32 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 113 (R), H.Res. 125 (D), H.Res. 148 (D)
115th Congress
Sources: H.Res. 6 (R), H.Res. 56, H.Res. 127 (D), H.Res. 685 (R)
114th Congress
Sources: H.Res. 6 (R), H.Res. 30, H.Res. 71 (D)
113th Congress
Sources: H.Res. 6 (R), H.Res. 7, H.Res. 42 (D)
112th Congress
Source:
Resolutions (H.Res. 6 and H.Res. 62) electing members to certain standing committees of the House of Representatives.
Function
The Ethics Committee has many functions, but they all revolve around the standards of ethical conduct for members of the House. Under this authority, it:
Agrees on a set of rules that regulate what behavior is considered ethical for members (rules relating to gifts, travel, campaign activities, treatment of staff, conflicts of interest, etc. are typical)
Conducts investigations into whether members have violated these standards
Makes recommendations to the whole House on what action, if any, should be taken as a result of the investigations (e.g. censure, expulsion from the House, or nothing if the member is found not to be violating a rule)
Provides advice to members before they (the members) take action, so as to avoid uncertainty over ethical culpability.
History
The House Committee on Ethics was established in 1967. Before its creation, the House relied on inconsistent methods for disciplining members, often using ad hoc committees or direct floor actions, but the Ethics Committee introduced a standardized framework for self-discipline, reflecting the growing relevance of matters concerning ethics since the 1960s.
As a result of the criminal investigation of Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), and lobbyist Jack Abramoff, there was pressure on the Ethics Committee to take action to admonish members involved in their activities. However, action was slow and the responsibility for impeding its progress was attributed to then-Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Dennis Hastert. When the committee did admonish Tom DeLay for a third time, Hastert removed three Republicans from the panel, including chair Joel Hefley, (R-CO). Hastert had his own personal ethical problems, such as when he failed to take action when warned about Mark Foley's sexual relationships with young congressional pages. The new chair, Doc Hastings (R-WA), acted to rein in the panel, leading to a Democratic boycott and preventing a quorum. The stalemate lasted three months until Hastings backed down. By then the committee was left broken and unable to take action in the DeLay case, the full Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal, or other cases such as that of ranking Ethics Committee Democrat Jim McDermott (D-WA), who revealed violations by Newt Gingrich without authorization to the press.
On November 16, 2010, Charles Rangel (D-NY) was found guilty on 11 of the 12 charges against him by the adjudicatory subcommittee of the House Ethics Committee. They included solicitation of funds and donations for the non-profit Rangel Center from those with business before the Ways and Means Committee and the improper use of Congressional letterhead and other House resources in those solicitations; for submitting incomplete and inaccurate financial disclosures, for using an apartment as an office despite having Congressional dealings with its landlord and for failing to pay taxes on a Dominican villa.
On March 29, 2010, the OCE released a report dated January 28, 2010, that concluded Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) appeared to have improperly used his office staff to pressure Georgia officials to continue the exclusive, no-bid state vehicle inspection program that generated hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for his family's auto salvage business, Gainesville Salvage & Disposal.
Committee leadership
Former committee chairs and ranking members are below.