Summary
The Ethics in Government Act (EIGA) designates the Committee on Ethics as the “supervising ethics office” for the House of Representatives and charges the Committee with duties and responsibilities for Financial Disclosure Statements (Title I) and for Outside Employment (Title V) with respect to Members, officers, and employees of the House of Representatives.
Senate counterpart: Select Committee on Ethics
Chair: Michael Guest, Mississippi (R)
Ranking Member: Susan Wild, Pennsylvania (D)
Chief Counsel, Staff Director: Thomas Rust
Meeting Location: 1015 Longworth House Office Building (LHOB), Washington, DC 20515;
Phone: 202-225-7103
Featured Video: House Ethics Committee 02/02/21
OnAir Post: Ethics Committee
News
Press Releases and committee reports can be found here at the committee website.
MID-WEEK ETHICS DUMP — The House Committee on Ethics is looking into separate complaints filed against four House lawmakers, the panel announced Tuesday.
The inquiries into Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.), Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) are all being extended by the committee, which is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. The extensions are a relatively passive move, not signaling dismissal of the cases or a ramp-up to impanelling an investigative subcommittee. All four cases were referred to the committee from the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics on July 23
The cases were investigated by the nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics, which concluded that in each case there was a substantial reason to believe that a violation had occurred. The OCE is a fact-finding office and, unlike the Ethics Committee, cannot discipline members or issue subpoenas.
About
Jurisdiction
The jurisdiction of the Committee on Ethics is derived from authority granted under House Rules and federal statutes. The scope of the Committee’s jurisdiction under the various authorizing rules and statutes is given below.
House Rule X, clause 1(g)
The Committee on Ethics has jurisdiction over all bills, resolutions and other matters relating to the Code of Official Conduct adopted under House Rule XXIII.
House Rule XI, clause 3
With respect to Members, officers, and employees of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Committee on Ethics is authorized to undertake the following actions:
A) Recommend administrative actions to establish or enforce standards of official conduct.
B) Investigate alleged violations of the Code of Official Conduct or of any applicable rules, laws, or regulations governing the performance of official duties or the discharge of official responsibilities. Such investigations must be made in accordance with Committee rules .
C) Report to appropriate federal or state authorities substantial evidence of a violation of any law applicable to the performance of official duties that may have been disclosed in a Committee investigation. Such reports must be approved by the House or by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Committee.
D) Render advisory opinions regarding the propriety of any current or proposed conduct of a Member, officer, or employee, and issue general guidance on such matters as necessary.
E) Consider requests for written waivers of the gift rule (clause 5 of House Rule XXV)
House Rule XXV, clause 5(h)
All provisions of the gift rule are to be interpreted and enforced solely by the Committee on Ethics. The Committee is authorized to issue guidance on any matter contained in the rule.
Ethics in Government Act (5 U.S.C. app. 4 § 101 et seq.; adopted as House Rule XXVI)
The Ethics in Government Act (EIGA) designates the Committee on Ethics as the “supervising ethics office” for the House of Representatives and charges the Committee with duties and responsibilities for Financial Disclosure Statements (Title I) and for Outside Employment (Title V) with respect to Members, officers, and employees of the House of Representatives.
The statute also charges the Committee with duties and responsibilities with regard to (1) the Financial Disclosure Statements of candidates for the House, and (2) the Financial Disclosure Statements and outside employment of officers and employees of certain legislative branch agencies, including the Library of Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Government Printing Office, Architect of the Capitol, United States Capitol Police, and United States Botanic Garden. However, the Committee has delegated much of its authority with regard to the officers and employees of those entities to the heads of those entities.
Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act (5 U.S.C. § 7342)
The Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act (FGDA) designates the Committee on Ethics as the “employing agency” for the House of Representatives and charges the Committee with administering the provisions of the FGDA with respect to Members, officers, and employees of the House of Representatives.
Gifts to Superiors (5 U.S.C. § 7351)
The Committee on Ethics is designated the “supervising ethics office” for the House of Representatives for 5 U.S.C. § 7351 which prohibits Members, officers, and employees of the House of Representatives from giving gifts to an official superior or receiving gifts from employees with a lower salary level.
Committee authority with regard to the employees of certain legislative branch entities has been delegated to the heads of those entities (see the section on the Ethics in Government Act above).
Gifts to Federal Employees (5 U.S.C. § 7353)
The Committee on Ethics is designated the “supervising ethics office” for the House of Representatives for 5 U.S.C. § 7353 which prohibits Members, officers, and employees of the House of Representatives from soliciting or receiving gifts.
Committee authority with regard to the employees of certain legislative branch entities has been delegated to the heads of those entities (see the section on the Ethics in Government Act above).
Source: Committee website
Members
Republican Members (Majority)
Chair: Michael Guest, Mississippi
David Joyce, Ohio
John Rutherford, Florida
Andrew Garbarino, New York
Michelle Fischbach, Minnesota
Democratic Members (Minority)
Ranking Member: Susan Wild, Pennsylvania
Veronica Escobar, Texas
Mark DeSaulnier, California
Deborah K. Ross, North Carolina
Glenn Ivey, Maryland
History
The U.S. House Committee on Ethics, created in 1967, is unique. The Committee is the only standing committee of the House whose membership is evenly divided between each political party. The Committee includes five members of each party. Also, unlike other committees, the day-to-day work of the Committee on Ethics is conducted by a staff that is nonpartisan by rule.
Under House rules, the Committee has the jurisdiction to administer travel, gift, financial disclosure, outside income, and other regulations; advise members and staff; issue advisory opinions and investigate potential ethics violations. Ethics rules and regulations have grown substantially since the 1960s.
Questions about ethical conduct and the enforcement of ethics rules have been around since the establishment of the first Congress. In 1798, Representative Matthew Lyon of Vermont spat on Representative Roger Griswold of Connecticut during a vote. The entire House heard evidence in the case of “disorderly behavior” and a motion to expel Lyon fell two votes short of the two-thirds majority needed.
The Constitution authorizes the House to discipline its members. However, the House had no uniform or consistent mechanism for self-discipline until the 1960s. Some allegations of misconduct were investigated in an ad hoc manner by special committees, and some issues went directly to the floor of the House.
Questions about official misconduct and the need for a source of reliable, accessible information led to the creation of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct in 1967. At the start of the 112th Congress, in 2011, the name was changed to the Committee on Ethics.
Under House Rule X, the Committee is authorized to enforce standards of conduct for members, officers and employees; to investigate alleged violations of any law, rule or regulation; and to make recommendations to the House for further action. The Committee has sole jurisdiction over the interpretation of the Code of Official Conduct.
The House has added to or changed its rules of conduct several times. In 1977, the House adopted the first financial disclosure rules and limits on outside income, gifts, the franking privilege and foreign travel. Rules were also modified by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, which included a ban on honoraria, among other statutory changes.
An Office of Advice and Education, with its own director who reports to the chief counsel, was established within the Committee in 1990 under the Ethics Reform Act. The office is responsible for providing information and guidance to Members and staff, responding to requests for advisory opinions and conducting annual ethics training.
An Ethics Reform Task Force’s recommendations were adopted by the House in 1997, which mandated a nonpartisan staff for the committee, and reduced Committee membership from 14 to 10 while creating a pool of 20 members who could serve on investigative subcommittees as needed.
In 2008, the House created the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), an independent entity within the House to accept complaints of wrongdoing from the public, review such allegations and submit recommendations to the Committee on Ethics.
The Committee’s responsibilities for training, guidance and investigations have grown in recent years. During the 113th Congress, the Committee started or continued fact-gathering in 89 separate investigations, resolved 58 matters without forming an investigative subcommittee, and created four investigative subcommittees. The Committee filed 10 reports with the House totaling nearly 1,900 pages on various investigative matters.
At the beginning of the 115th Congress, Representative Susan W. Brooks of Indiana was appointed Chairwoman and Representative Ted Deutch of Florida was appointed as Ranking Member of the Committee.
A more detailed history of the Committee is available in the Congressional Research Service report below. It includes discussion of the Committee’s jurisdiction and procedures, changes in ethics standards, and a list of all members who have served on the Committee.
Source: Committee website
Contact
Locations
Ethics Committee
1015 Longworth House Office Building (LHOB)
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-7103
Fax: 202-225-7392
Web Links
- Government Site
- House Telephone Directory
- Select Committee on Ethics
- OnAir Post: Ethics Committee
- Chair, Michael Guest
- Ranking Member, Susan Wild
- Wikipedia
More Information
FAQs
Source: https://ethics.house.gov/faqs
See website for more information on these topics.
Committee Members
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Committee Events
Committee Jurisdiction
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