Trump Says Congress Shouldn’t Prioritize Gutting ‘Unfair’ Ethics Watchdog

Melania Trump, right, looks on as her husband President-elect Donald Trump talks to reporters during a New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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President-elect Donald Trump wondered in a pair of tweets posted Tuesday morning if Congress should be focusing on weakening the Office of Congressional Ethics as its “number one act and priority.”

Trump called the OCE “unfair,” but questioned its prioritization compared to “tax reform, healthcare, and so many other things of far greater importance.”

Speaking to reporters on a conference call Tuesday morning, incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the tweets’ meaning was “pretty simple.”

“It’s not a question of strengthening or weakening,” he said. “I think it’s a question of priorities and the president’s belief is that with all that this country wants and needs to have happen this really shouldn’t be the priority.”

On Monday night, the House Republican Caucus voted to weaken the OCE’s independence and place it back under the authority of the House Ethics Committee, which is controlled by party leaders.

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Notable Replies

  1. Nope. This won’t do. Rump’s purpose is to sign legislation that the GOP wants then go back to attacking celebrities on Twitter. Ryan et al. are not happy today.

    For the GOP, this won’t do.

  2. Wink, wink.

    (And its not like the office would investigate his ethics. If he had any.)

  3. Moar Gaslightz!![1]

    [1]In Russian, газовое освещение

  4. Avatar for sandyh sandyh says:

    I thought their first act was to gut the ACA? They had to disband the Ethics Office so they could lie about this and think nobody would notice either action? The Nazis’ first action after taking over in Germany was to gut their Ethics Office, too?

  5. Avatar for sandyh sandyh says:

    Ryan is busy kissing Putin’s ass today.

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