This just keeps hanging out there. Part of the package in the complete evisceration of the House ethics rules, which the Republicans planned but then pulled back from passing, was canning Joel Hefley (R-CO) as Chairman of the Ethics Committee.
Hefley oversaw the serial admonishments of Rep. Tom DeLay. He disagreed with the DeLay Rule. And he thought the ‘reforms’ the House GOP caucus finally backed off passing were a bad idea. “This is not the way to effect meaningful reform. Ethics reform must be bipartisan and this package is not bipartisan,” said Hefley.
So now the DeLay rules gone. And the ethics ‘reforms’, or most of them, are gone. But Hefley, well … the grammatical symmetry doesn’t work perfectly, but he’s still gone too.
But there’s a hold up, says the Post. No, there’s no question that Hefley’s out of there. But they can’t make it official yet because Denny Hastert can’t decide who to replace him with. “Hefley has fallen out of favor with GOP leaders and is not trusted by them to handle ethics cases that Democrats might bring against Republican lawmakers, according to aides,” says the Post.
And the Post continues …
One Republican official called Hefley’s ouster “a defense measure.” Aides said they did not know when the new chairman would be announced. By midweek, Hastert’s staff had compiled a list of about 40 candidates.
A list of 40 candidates, eh? Sounds like they want someone really, really, really reliable. Defense measure, indeed.
