Pappas Calls on Speaker Johnson to Appoint Office of Congressional Conduct Members, Ensure Integrity in the House

This week Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) led a group of his colleagues in calling on Speaker Mike Johnson to make his appointments to the bipartisan board of the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC), formerly known as the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). Democrats have submitted their appointees, but the work of the OCC remains stalled due to Johnson’s failure to appoint Republican members, despite at least two former GOP members of the board agreeing to return. 

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “This delay, which is now entering its fourth month of the 119th Congress, not only undermines the integrity of this body but threatens to erode the trust that the American people place in our capacity to hold ourselves accountable.”

They continued to highlight how Johnson’s delays are compounding repeated efforts to weaken the board, negatively impacting the ability of our institutions to hold elected officials to the highest possible ethical standards, writing, “This pattern of obstruction is not new. Since OCC’s inception, it has faced repeated attempts to weaken or dismantle it. For instance, the most recent rules package adopted at the start of the 119th Congress has made it even harder for the OCC to function by requiring the board to be fully seated before staff could be reappointed. These changes, layered atop the current delay, have made the situation exponentially more difficult.”

They closed by calling on Johnson to take immediate action: “To rectify this oversight, we urge you to move swiftly to appoint the Republican members of the OCC board when Congress returns for this work period.”

Read the full letter here.