More than three months into the 119th Congress, House leaders have not yet appointed board members of the Office of Congressional Conduct, hamstringing the ethics office and its mission.
Failure to appoint the board of the OCC — an independent, nonpartisan office that reviews allegations of misconduct against House lawmakers and staff — is alarming on its own, according to some transparency advocates. But they also see a larger trend during the second administration of Donald Trump, as other ethics and accountability bodies come under fire.
“It shows this tone that’s been set in the executive branch that officials don’t have to prioritize ethics. You see that across all three branches,” said Kedric Payne, vice president and general counsel at Campaign Legal Center and a former employee of the OCC (which was known as the Office of Congressional Ethics until lawmakers renamed it in January).
