Let’s be clear: House Republicans reversed course and decided to abandon ridiculous changes to their own ethics rules, not because of some sudden embrace of scruples, but because the alternative was politically unpalatable.
Republican leaders last night abandoned a proposal to loosen rules governing members’ ethical conduct, as they yielded to pressure from rank-and-file lawmakers concerned that the party was sending the wrong message.
The proposal would have made it more difficult for lawmakers to discipline a colleague for unethical behavior and would have allowed Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) to keep his post if he is indicted by a Texas grand jury that is looking into his campaign finance practices.
DeLay and Hastert did not, all of a sudden, develop a conscience. If they thought they could get away with gutting the House’s ethical code of conduct, they would have done so without hesitation. In other words, yesterday’s surprise move had nothing to do with a sense of propriety or a desire for principled government.
Republicans knew that House Dems were anxious to use these ethics changes against them as proof of a majority party that had been corrupted. DeLay simply decided to take the issue away from them before it caused further damage.
“We want to make sure the substance comes first, and that anything that would hamper or undermine our agenda needs to be nipped in the bud,” Jonathan Grella, a spokesman for Mr. DeLay, said.
DeLay’s office is so far gone, his staffers probably don’t realize how amoral this sounds. Gutting congressional ethics was simply a matter of practicality to GOP leaders. They didn’t take a stand for decency; they simply didn’t want Dem complaints “hampering” their agenda.
At this point, there are two points to keep in mind as this moves forward.
First, one of the proposed changes to the House ethics rules is still on the table.
Republicans voted to go ahead with another of their controversial ethics proposals and will ask the full House to approve a change that could curtail ethics committee investigations. Under the change, a Republican vote would be required before an inquiry can begin. The committee is evenly divided between the two parties, and under current rules a deadlock means an investigation begins automatically.
This continues to be a problem. If the proposed change is successful, it will mean far less power for the House Ethics Committee and weaker enforcement of the rules.
Second, DeLay is taking a pretty serious risk by protecting the rule that forbids lawmakers who are under indictment from serving in the leadership. After all, his own indictment is well within the realm of possibility. In fact, chances of it occurring went up in December.
Eight companies were indicted in Texas as part of the ongoing grand jury investigation into DeLay’s illegal fundraising schemes. Over the last three weeks, however, two of the companies have struck immunity deals with prosecutors in exchange for cooperation with the investigation. First, it was Diversified Collection Services.
A company accused in the campaign-finance investigation that has implicated associates of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay agreed to aid prosecutors in exchange for having charges against it dropped, court papers showed.
Under the deal, Diversified Collection Services will also develop internal policies to prevent any future violations of the Texas law against using corporate money for political purposes, according to a motion approved Thursday by a state judge.
The California-based company, which has offices in San Angelo, was accused of giving $50,000 to Texans for a Republican Majority, a GOP political action committee associated with DeLay, during the 2002 campaign. The election gave the party its first legislative majority since Reconstruction.
Last week, Sears struck the same deal.
Prosecutors have agreed to drop an illegal campaign contribution charge against Sears, Roebuck and Co. in exchange for the company’s cooperation with a state investigation of contributions to a Republican political action committee.
A Travis County judge signed off on the agreement today.
Sears was accused of making a $25,000 donation to Texans for a Republican Majority, a political action committee with ties to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, during the 2002 legislative campaign. The use of corporate money for political purposes is illegal in Texas.
Especially now that an indictment would mean giving up his Majority Leader post, he has every reason to be worried.