The House Republicans have shut down the ethics process again. Seems like the GOP leadership in the House will do anything in their power to have an ethics committee in place, which will never be indepedent without any any kind of credibility for conducting a thorough investigations against other Congressional members (like DeLay). First they changed the rules. Then they fired the staff. Now, their own Chairman is trying to unilaterally replace the non-partisan professional staff with his handpicked team of Republican operatives. No wonder the ethics process has completely stalled again. Here is the breaking news from
the Roll Call this afternoon:
Reps. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), the chairman and ranking member of the ethics committee, have deadlocked over Hastings' proposal to give more authority over committee operations to his top aide, Ed Cassidy. Hastings believes an enhanced role for Cassidy at the panel, one that would essentially make him co-staff director with Mollohan's staffer on the committee, Colleen McCarty, will help the committee run more effectively and make the panel more useful in assisting Members and staff.
Mollohan, however, has rejected Hastings' proposal, charging that it violates committee rules which say the panel's staff must be non-partisan, and he and the four other Democrats on the panel have refused to allow it to move forward beyond its initial organization until the issue is resolved.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) tried to break this impasse by introducing a privileged resolution this afternoon directing the panel to appoint a non-partisan staff immediately. Pelosi's resolution was rejected on a straight party line vote of 219 to 199. So, by voting against this resolution, the House Republicans are basically indicating their preference for having a partisan staff in charge of the Ethics Committee, that'd be responsible for any investigation of DeLay.
As a result, now the ethics process is in shambles again possibly stalling any potential investigation of DeLay for months. This is yet another reason why the Ethics Committee needs to have
an indepedent, outside counsel in place, who will be able conduct a credible investigation into all allegations against DeLay, operating outside his spehere of influence, without any conflict of interest.
