http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/weeks-before-trump-takes-office-the-pain-is-getting-real-w458960
"Amid the can't-look-away spectacle of the Trump campaign and now transition, the rottenness of everyday GOP politics hasn't had a moment in the spotlight in months. Republicans in Congress evidently thought they could take advantage of Trump's command of center stage to pull a fast one, stage right. In a secret vote on a national holiday, conducted after weeks of shadowy meetings, House Republicans voted to hogtie and gag the independent ethics office that has worked to uncover congressional corruption in the decade since the Jack Abramoff scandal. In the first act of the new Congress, a GOP majority voted for an amendment to strip the Office of Congressional Ethics of its independence, ban it from taking anonymous tips, prohibit it from taking its findings to law enforcement and stop it from communicating to the American people. The author, Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, then dishonestly tweeted that the amendment "does nothing to impede OCE's work." The Monday night vote to gut congressional ethics was a bad look for a party that swept to power in November on promises to "drain the swamp." Amid constituent uproar – congressional phone lines reportedly blew up – and a bit of eye-rolling from the president-elect on Twitter ("do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog... their number one act and priority," Trump snarked), Republicans in Congress abruptly axed Goodlatte's amendment. The episode exposed anew the weak leadership of House Speaker Paul Ryan. Ryan reportedly opposed the initial vote, then issued a Tuesday morning press release defending the amendment before flip-flopping again just hours later."
