http://thehill.com/homenews/house/31...thics-watchdog

House Republicans have moved to adopt a proposal weakening the outside ethics watchdog for Congress, removing its independence.

The House Republican Conference on Monday adopted Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte's (R-Va.) amendment to the larger rules package being voted on Tuesday, the first day of the new Congress.

The amendment puts the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) watchdog under the oversight of lawmakers through the House Ethics Committee.

The ethics office would be renamed the Office of Congressional Complaint Review, according to a summary of the amendment released by Goodlatte's office.

It would bar the office from considering anonymous tips about potential ethics violations and prevent disclosures about investigations.

The ethics office was established as an independent, non-partisan entity by Congress under then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in 2008.

Pelosi slammed the House GOP move Monday night, saying, "Republicans claim they want to ‘drain the swamp,’ but the night before the new Congress gets sworn in, the House GOP has eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions."

"Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress," the House Democratic leader said in a statement.

Pelosi described the OCE as "essential to an effective ethics process in the House, providing a vital element of transparency and accountability to the ethics process" and said House Republicans moved to "weaken ethics and silence would-be whistleblowers.”

Goodlatte defended the amendment in a statement, arguing it "builds upon and strengthens the existing Office of Congressional Ethics by maintaining its primary area of focus of accepting and reviewing complaints from the public and referring them, if appropriate, to the Committee on Ethics."

"It also improves upon due process rights for individuals under investigation, as well as witnesses called to testify," he continued. "The OCE has a serious and important role in the House, and this amendment does nothing to impede their work."