McMorris-Rodgers, Reichert would have supported ethics office limits

WASHINGTON, D.C. — UPDATE: After the limits on the House ethic offices were canceled, a spokeswoman for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said the congresswoman did not support the rule change to limit the House ethics office and worked Tuesday morning with other House leaders to successfully scrap the plan.

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Two Republican lawmakers from Washington told KIRO 7 they would have voted to limit the Office of Congressional Ethics, an issue that divided the GOP on Capitol Hill before party leaders abruptly abandoned plans to gut the watchdog office.

Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris-Rodgers said she would have supported the ethics changes only as part of larger a package of rules necessary if they had come up for a vote Tuesday as part of a package of rules governing the House.

She said she abstained from an initial vote on the question Monday night because she was presiding over the meeting of Republicans.

Congressman Dave Reichert, also a Republican, told us he, too, favored adding new restrictions to the ethics office.

"To have one agency totally responsible for fair and transparent investigations, I think, has not been working and the effort here is to bring an additional oversight level," Reichert said.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler did not immediately get back to us.

Democrats from the state, including Reps. Denny Heck and Derek Kilmer, told KIRO 7 they opposed adding new restrictions to the ethics office, established in 2008 when their party was in control of the House.

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