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The OCE lacks subpoena power and must complete each review in a relatively short period of time—approximately three months at most. The OCE review process requires approval of the board at each step. In order to open a preliminary review, lasting no longer than 30 days, there must be "reasonable cause to believe allegations," according to the OCE.<ref name="process">{{cite web |url=https://oce.house.gov/learn/process |title=Process |publisher=Office of Congressional Ethics. oce.house.gov |access-date=January 1, 2017}}</ref> In order to proceed to a second phase, or further review, there must be "probable cause to believe allegations."<ref name="process"/> The second phase must be completed within 45 days, with the possibility of a 14-day extension.<ref name="learn">"[https://oce.house.gov/learn Learn]". Office of Congressional Ethics. oce.house.gov. Retrieved January 3, 2017.</ref> Following completion of the second-phase review, the OCE board votes to refer a matter to the House Ethics Committee with a recommendation for or against further review by the committee. The recommendation comes in the form of a report which must be released to the public, unless the OCE recommendation was against further review.
Consequently, the OCE has published nearly two dozen reports on members believed to have violated House rules—leading to cheers from government watchdog groups and to calls by some in Congress for gutting the office, which requires reauthorization at the beginning of each new Congress. "The extent and level of ethics scrutiny the OCE has brought is unprecedented in the House," according to The Hill newspaper, in a Sept. 8, 2010 article on the future of the office.<ref>{{cite news |title=House GOP leaders dodge questions on the future of ethics office |first=Susan |last=Crabtree |newspaper=The Hill |date=September 8, 2010 |url=
At least 20 of the OCE's referrals on sitting members of the House of Representatives were published on its website in its first Congressional session of operation—a demonstration, according to ''The Washington Post'', that the office "has taken its mission seriously."<ref>{{cite news |title=Resolution threatens power of Office of Congressional Ethics |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 4, 2010 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060304464.html |access-date=November 1, 2010}}</ref>
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House Republicans reversed their plan to gut the OCE less than 24 hours after the initial vote, under bipartisan pressure from Representatives of both parties, their constituents and the President-elect, [[Donald Trump]].<ref name="NYT_reversal_OCE">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/us/politics/trump-house-ethics-office.html |title=House Republicans Back Down on Bid to Gut Ethics Office |date=January 3, 2016 |access-date=January 3, 2016 |work=The New York Times |location=Washington, DC}}</ref> In addition to negative Trump [[Twitter|tweets]], criticism was widespread including from [[Judicial Watch]], the [[Project on Government Oversight]], former Representative [[Bob Ney]], who was convicted of receiving bribes, and [[Jack Abramoff]], the lobbyist who provided such bribes.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2017/01/03/508043376/after-trump-tweets-criticism-house-gop-drops-weakening-of-house-ethics-office After Backlash, Including From Trump, House GOP Drops Weakening Of Ethics Office], ''[[National Public Radio]]'', Susan Davis & Brian Naylor, January 3, 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.</ref>
After regaining a majority in the House of Representatives during the [[118th United States Congress]], House Republicans announced plans to change OCE rules, with the set of changes including "reinstat[ing] two four-year term limits for board members, which haven’t been enforced since 2014. It also could require the board to hire the office’s staff for the entire session within 30 calendar days of the rules package passing. Any new hires would require the approval of at least four board members." According to [[Forbes]], "the term limits would immediately remove three of the four Democratic members from the office’s board, but none of the four Republican board members would be dismissed. (Although members of each party chose the board’s members, they are supposed to perform their duties independently of their affiliation.) It could be difficult to fill the newly vacated spots within 30 days, which might leave the board with just five members. That would, in turn, make it harder to hire new employees, as four votes would be required to extend a job offer. The change also would leave Republican-appointed members with almost total control of staffing decisions. Even at full strength, hiring personnel sometimes take months."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Everson |first=Zach |title=House Republicans, Back In Charge, Move To Undercut Ethics Office |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2023/01/03/house-republicans-back-in-charge-move-to-undercut-ethics-office/ |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> [[The Guardian]] stated that "though seemingly innocuous, the changes appear to have been drafted to strike at the principal vulnerabilities of OCE and defang its investigative powers for at least the next two years."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-05 |title=House Republicans aim to rein in ethics body preparing to investigate their party |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/05/house-republicans-office-congressional-ethics-santos-january-6 |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> Various government watchdog groups, like [[Campaign Legal Center]], [[Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington|Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)]] and Accountable.US, pushed back on the GOP move.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Disaster for Everyone Except Corrupt Politicians': House GOP Votes to Gut Ethics Office |url=https://www.commondreams.org/news/house-gop-guts-ethics-office |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=www.commondreams.org |language=en}}</ref>
==Board of directors==▼
▲== Board of directors ==
*[[David Skaggs]], co-chair and former Democratic congressman ▼
The [https://oce.house.gov/about/board-and-staff current membership]
*[[Michael D. Barnes | Mike Barnes]], chair former Democratic congressman from [[Maryland]]
*Paul Vinovich, co-chair and former Republican congressional staffer
*[[Karan English]], former Democratic congresswoman▼
*[[Karen L. Haas]], former [[Clerk of the House of Representatives]] and former Republican congressional staffer
*[[Leon Acton Westmoreland]], former Republican congressman from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
*[[
*Lorraine C. Miller
Former board members include:
*Belinda Pinckney, retired [[United States Army]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]]
▲*[[Karan English]], former Democratic congresswoman
*Robert Hurt
==References==
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