Why are the Republicans dismantling a major ethics committee?

Republicans in the US House of Representatives have voted to strip the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) of many of its powers as they prepare to take control of Congress.

In a secret party ballot, the GOP voted to add the amendment to a rules package to be voted on today.

Republicans currently control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, meaning the amendment is all but guaranteed to pass.

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What is the Office of Congressional Ethics?

Established by Democratic speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2008 in response to concerns about improper conduct between lobbyists and members of Congress, the OCE is an independent watchdog that seeks to improve transparency and hold elected representatives to high ethical standards.

However, if approved, the new measures will mean it cannot "employ a spokesperson, investigate anonymous tips or refer criminal wrongdoing to prosecutors without the express consent of the [House] Ethics Committee", the Washington Post reports.

The push for the new amendment "was led, in part, by lawmakers who have come under investigation in recent years", Politico adds.

Why do the Republicans want to neuter it?

According to the party, they don't. Judiciary committee chairman Bob Goodlatte claims the amendment "strengthens" the watchdog by refocussing it on its primary function: "accepting and reviewing complaints from the public and referring them, if appropriate, to the Committee on Ethics".

The OCE has drawn fire from both sides of the political aisle almost since its creation, with several politicians saying the House's own ethics committee, with its broader range of powers, means it is both unnecessary and ineffective.

However, a 2010 New York Times editorial argued "grumblers on both sides want to gut the ethics office" simply because it was guilty of "fulfilling its mission" - to shed light on Washington DC's dirty dealings.

What does this mean for the fight against corruption?

According to Norman Eisen and Richard Painter, ethics advisors to Barack Obama and George W Bush respectively, weakening the OCE's powers presents a "serious risk" to transparency.

In a joint statement to activist groups Citizens for Ethics, they accuse the Republicans of "returning the House to dark days when ethics violations were rampant and far too often tolerated" and say the new Congress is "setting itself up to be dogged by scandals and ethics issues for years".