Kellyanne Conway insists gutting the independent ethics office in no way contradicts Trump's pledge to 'drain the swamp'

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway insisted Tuesday on Today that House Republicans' vote to strip an independent ethics office's power is not at all at odds with President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to "drain the swamp" of Washington, D.C. Though Conway wasn't able to say whether the new office would be totally independent of Congress, the very body the office is tasked with policing, she was confident the arrangement would solve some existing problems.
For starters, Conway said, the office would "cut down on the overzealousness" the Office of Congressional Ethics has displayed in investigating "consumer complaints." Conway claimed that the OCE, which was created in 2008, has made "100 complaints," though the official tally of complaints the office has forwarded to the House Ethics Committee is actually 68.
While the new office will still allow constituents to make consumer complaints, Conway said those complaints will no longer be allowed to be made anonymously. "Many of these people, members and their staffers who have been under investigation, have complained about their due process rights being violated and being compromised," Conway said. "So they need protections as well." As the process is set up right now, the OCE can release its findings to the public even if the House Ethics Committee decides not to pursue a complaint against a member.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Conway said the full Congress will have a chance to vote on the issue Tuesday. On Monday, House Republicans voted 119-74 in favor of gutting the independent ethics panel.
Catch Conway's full defense of the vote below. Becca Stanek
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
June 28 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include stupid wars, a critical media, and mask standards
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Palestine Action: protesters or terrorists?
Talking Point Damaging RAF equipment at Brize Norton blurs line between activism and sabotage, but proscription is a drastic step
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from