Last night, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives acted on whether to hold House members ethically responsible for their actions. As Business Insider reported:
House Republicans voted to gut the House Ethics Committee, and George Santos said it was 'fantastic'
Santos was probably not the only representative who was happy with the vote. I would think that West Virginia’s Alex Mooney also liked the decision by the House, as he has at least two ethical cases before the committee. For instance:
Mooney has certainly kept the committee busy:The House Ethics committee is having a very busy day -- and has issued statements on their investigations into 3 House GOP members
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) May 23, 2022
- Madison Cawthorn
- Alex Mooney
- Ronny Jackson
Read the releases --> pic.twitter.com/JFxbSFC6tu
The Office of Congressional Ethics has released data indicating that more than a fifth of all matters it referred to the House Ethics Committee last year were regarding U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, https://t.co/RSBTPMxTbW. https://t.co/izQbL0er7H
— Charleston Gazette-Mail (@wvgazettemail) April 21, 2022
But now, Mooney's ethical problems are probably a thing of the past:
Republicans just voted to gut the House ethics committee, which was expected to investigate George Santos and other Republicans.
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) January 10, 2023
And what about the election of the Speaker of the House?
Despite reservations, in the long process to elect the Speaker, Congressman Mooney consistently voted for Kevin McCarthy even though he suggested that he might not. Here is CNN’s Manu Raj early in the process:
Not everyone is in the “Only Kevin” camp. Rep. Buddy Carter told me he will stick with McCarthy through 150 ballots if necessary. But others may defect. Rep. Alex Mooney said of backing KM: “I take it one vote at a time. . I’m planning to stay that way today. But we'll see.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 4, 2023
But as WV Metro News would later report, Mooney voted for McCarthy on every ballot. Metro’s headline:
Round after round, West Virginia’s Mooney and Miller vote Kevin McCarthy for speaker
I wonder if there was anything that McCarthy could have promised Mooney to keep his vote?
If you’re interested, here is Hoppy Kercheval’s interview with Mooney. (Don't worry, Kercheval didn't ask Mooney any difficult questions.)
The House failed to elect a speaker while Kevin McCarthy failed to gather the necessary votes to be sworn in. @RepAlexMooney discusses this news with @HoppyKercheval. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nEhk6 pic.twitter.com/bjIJzbvyUx
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) January 4, 2023
I like Citizens for Ethics take on this:
If the first thing you do in power is take out the the office that can investigate your wrongdoing, well, that says a lot about what you're planning on doing in power
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) January 10, 2023
