House Republican leaders waited until the day of the State of the Union, which is known to get a little media attention, to put the final touches on their scheme to turn the House Ethics Committee into a toothless, partisan operation.<\/p>\n
Former committee Chairman Joel Hefley (R-Colo.) was fired by Hastert & Co. for not having enough<\/i> tolerance for congressional corruption. Yesterday, the leadership unveiled<\/a> the new-and-weakened Ethics Committee, crafted to make things easier for the ethically-challenged House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay.<\/p>\n Republican officials have spent months taking steps to ensure DeLay’s political survival in case he is indicted by a Texas grand jury investigating political fundraising, and House leadership aides said they needed to have the ethics committee controlled by lawmakers they can trust.<\/p>\n Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), who clashed with DeLay so often that they barely spoke and was considered wayward by other leaders, was replaced yesterday with Rep. Richard Hastings (R-Wash.). Hastings has carried out other sensitive leadership assignments and is known as a favorite of Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), who made the decision.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To be fair, Hastings has been on the Ethics Committee and even endorsed the panel’s previous condemnations of DeLay. Does that mean he’s a good choice? Absolutely not. Hastings supported<\/a> the infamous “DeLay Rule,” he’s never shown a hint of independence, and he’s even had some ethical lapses of his own<\/a>.<\/p>\n But even more ridiculous are the new members of the Ethics Committee chosen by Hastert and DeLay for their party loyalty. Republican leaders put on the committee two new members who have donated to a DeLay legal fund: Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R-Tex..) and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). Smith gave DeLay $10,000, making him among the seven largest donors among congressional members, and Cole gave $5,000, according to an analysis of disclosure records by the watchdog group Public Citizen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As if it weren’t bad enough to give Hastings a promotion to committee chair, the leadership picked two of the least appropriate choices possible to fill the vacancies. Indeed, Lamar Smith is best known for being the author<\/i> of the infamous “DeLay Rule,” and Tom Cole’s claims to fame were a) his assertion that a vote for John Kerry was analogous to a vote for Osama bin Laden<\/a> and b) his argument that Social Security needs to be privatized or the terrorists win<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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