Pelosi willing to listen to members’ concerns about House ethics office

House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she is listening to concerns from members
about the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) but would not say if she supported
changes to its authority.

“I’m
always listening to what members have to say,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters
Friday. “As with all of our rules, we’ll subject it all to review as we present
a new package at the beginning of next year.”

{mosads}Pelosi
late last month met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) about
the ethics office, which Democrats created two years ago to bolster the ethics
of the lower chamber.

Some
legislators have complained that when the House ethics committee rejects an OCE
recommendation to investigate a member, the OCE findings are sometimes made
public and tarnish the lawmaker’s reputation.

While
amending the OCE is being considered, making such changes now would be
politically difficult because Republicans are citing Democratic ethics scandals
in their effort to retake control of the House.

Pelosi
said Democrats were not considering watering down the office. “Nobody’s talking
about doing that,” she said.

The
Speaker said Democrats had created the office to respond to the “criminal
syndicate” that had been run out of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s
office, quoting a Washington Post characterization.

CBC members and Pelosi discussed a plan to begin a dialogue
over the next few months about changing the OCE’s rules following the midterm
elections. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), a former prosecutor who was elected in a
2009 special election after the death of then-ethics committee Chairwoman
Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio), volunteered to lead the effort.

Democrats have touted their record on ethics, pointing out
that they have been willing to come down on their own members and that
Republicans opposed creating the office in the first place.