Trump shames Congress not to gut ethics watchdog

Trump called out his fellow Republicans for proposing to curb the powers of the independent ethics panel as their first move of the year.  Monday night, House Republicans voted 119-74 during a closed-door meeting in favor of Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s proposal, which would place the independent Office of Congressional Ethics under the control of those very lawmakers.  The proposal would have made it almost impossible for the ethics group to investigate House members for wrongdoing.  The full House was set to vote on the plan Tuesday, part of a larger package of House rules changes.  After Trump’s tweets, the House reconsidered, and left the ethic committee in place.