In a surprising move, House republicans attempted to gut an independent ethics watchdog on Monday night only to reverse course on Tuesday afternoon. Even President-elect Donald Trump spoke out against the move, echoing similar sediments as President Obama and the White House.
White House speaks out
If they were successful, House Republicans would have stripped investigative power from an independent commission that was put together in 2008 by House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi. The move by Republicans would have shifted power to the House Ethics Committee, giving congressional members the ability to potentially investigate themselves.
On Tuesday morning, Donald Trump took to his Twitter account to speak out against the move, while calls flooded the House switchboard. After it was announced that Republicans were backing off their attempt to weaken the watchdog, the White House offered their thoughts, as reported by The Hill on January 3.
While addressing reporters on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was asked what President Obama thought about the previously mentioned Republican effort in Congress. Earnest said "It is rather revealing that the first step taken by congressional Republicans in the new Congress was to vote in secret to gut ethics regulations." When asked if Donald Trump should get credit for the Republican change of heart on the issue since it occurred not longer after the president-elect's tweet, Earnest responded that it was "not immediately obvious" that it had any direct impact.
House Republicans reversed their plan to gut an ethics office, after intense criticism from Donald Trump and others https://t.co/uEKFLtkwaM
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 3, 2017
In an attempt to elaborate further on the upcoming Donald Trump administration, Josh Earnest questioned whether or not the billionaire real estate mogul would take a stand against Republicans in Congress if they try to gut other programs, in particular dealing with clear water acts and Wall Street reform.
"I think the real question for the president-elect is 'Will he stand up to them then?'" Earnest rhetorically asked those in attendance.
Moving forward
In less than three weeks, Donald Trump will be sworn into the White House and officially become the 45th President of the United States. While it's unknown at this time if Trump will continue his criticism of his fellow Republicans after Inauguration Day, it appears President Obama and other Democrats aren't convinced that it will happen.
