Rep. Jason Smith: House needs to strengthen ethics committee, but not now

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith said he joined House leadership in opposing a plan by some Republicans to bring an ethics board under lawmakers’ control.

Smith said GOP lawmakers met privately Monday to discuss the idea of reforming the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE).

Smith said Thursday he and other Republican leaders in the House opposed the move, but initially, changes to the OCE were included in a package of House operating rules to be brought up for a vote.

After President-elect Donald Trump registered his criticism Tuesday morning on Twitter, House Republicans held an emergency meeting and scrapped the ethics provision.

The House approved the revised GOP-written rules package Tuesday by a vote of 234 to 193. Smith voted with the majority.

Smith said Thursday the initial ethics measure never was brought to the House floor. He termed it “an internal, family discussion.”

The Salem, Missouri, Republican said this was the wrong time to bring up the ethics issue.

He said there are more important issues for Congress to address right now, including tort and tax reform and securing the border.

“We need to focus on turning this country around,” he said.

But the 8th District congressman said he and other lawmakers want to see some changes in the future on how ethics-violation cases are handled in the House.

Smith said the House needs to strengthen its ethics committee and merge the OCE into that committee.

“I think there is a lot of duplication,” he said.

He added ethical issues need to be investigated.

“I want people to be able to file complaints against members of Congress if they believe they have done unethical stuff,” Smith said.

The Office of Congressional Ethics is designed to serve as the chamber’s independent ethics watchdog by reviewing allegations against House members and staff. It is governed by an eight-person board of private citizens who don’t work for the government.

Formed by House Democrats in 2008, the OCE has “no authority,” Smith said.

The office’s only role is to refer allegations of ethics violations by House members to the House Ethics Committee, he said.

Smith said many lawmakers, particularly Republicans, are “very upset” with the OCE.

He estimated 70 percent to 80 percent of referrals for alleged ethical violations have involved “conservative” lawmakers. The OCE has opened more than 150 cases on members of Congress that never have resulted in any findings of wrongdoing, according to Smith’s office.

House Republicans have argued the OCE has become a mechanism for liberals to target conservative lawmakers.

But Smith said any potential changes to how cases of alleged ethics violations are handled should be discussed openly and involve bipartisan support.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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