On March 11, Congress took the unusual step of establishing a new Office of Congressional Ethics. It will have an independent board to look into allegations of ethical misconduct. This is something members of Congress have resisted for years and, despite the litany of recent scandals, came within one vote of maintaining the status quo.
The ethics enforcement process in Congress is clearly broken and has been for some time. If not for whistleblowers and the U.S. Justice Department, none of the scandals we have read about in the last few years would have come to light. Those like Rep. Rahm Emanuel deserve significant credit for taking a step none of their predecessors have dared to take.
Emily Miller, staff attorney, Illinois Public Interest Research Group
