WASHINGTON, DC – Government watchdog Accountable.US condemned a brazen effort by MAGA House conservatives to shield its members from accountability for ethics violations – a move that can only be assumed to be in anticipation of more problematic behavior from its members including embattled Rep.-elect George Santos.

At Issue: A provision quietly slipped into the House Republican Rules package to be voted on January 3rd would effectively kick out most existing Democratic-appointed board members of the bipartisan Office of Congressional Ethics and erect onerous new barriers for hiring new staff.

It’s telling that one of the very first actions of the incoming MAGA Republican-led House will be to kneecap a bipartisan office that oversees Congressional ethics. This is about protecting their ethically-challenged Members like fraudster George Santos or Jan 6 subpoena-defying Jim Jordan from accountability – or perhaps in anticipation of a new wave of corruption allegations and ethics violations from other MAGA extremists. There is certainly no good reason to make it easier for members to get away with ethics violations, which only invites bad behavior. It sends a clear message that the MAGA House is more interested in sweeping any corruption amongst their ranks under the rug and performing political stunts against the Biden administration than they are doing anything constructive on behalf of the American people.”

Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US

Last month, Accountable.US filed an ethics complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics requesting an investigation into Representative-elect George Santos for his repeated lies, misrepresentations, and the numerous red flags surrounding his finances. Since then, Santos has fallen under legal scrutiny over massive loans to his campaign committee and faces an investigation from the Nassau County, New York District Attorney, a Republican.

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