Several outside watchdog groups Wednesday urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to rebuff efforts by members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to curb the powers of an independent office that investigates House members.
In a letter released this afternoon, Democracy 21, Common Cause and Public Citizen and others urged Pelosi to continue her “strong support” for the Office of Congressional Ethics “and to oppose the predictable efforts by some members to cripple the office.”
The action comes after Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, and 19 other CBC members recently sponsored a resolution that would bar the office from releasing its investigative reports or launching investigations on its own without first receiving a sworn statement from someone “asserting personal knowledge” of an ethics violation.