ALSO CAMPAIGN FINANCE
by Sharon Rondeau
(Feb. 6, 2019) — The House Oversight & Reform Committee, formerly the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, is holding a hearing Wednesday morning titled “Strengthening Ethics Rules for the Executive Branch” relating to a proposed bill, HR1.
The hearing began at 10:00 a.m. EST and will include five witnesses from groups outside of the federal government. The witnesses did, however, make politically-charged statements.
Since winning control of the chamber in November, Democrats have pledged to conduct investigations and oversight of the executive branch, and specifically, whether or not there are conflicts of interest given President Trump’s former business interests in the Trump Organization.
“H.R. 1 was introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes on January 3, 2019. The bill includes a package of reforms to clean up corruption, fight big money in politics, and make it easier for American citizens to vote. The bill has 227 cosponsors and is endorsed by more than 65 organizations,” the committee website reads.
The bill proposes making Election Day a holiday for federal workers.
Live streaming is available here.
At 11:18 a.m. EST, Rep. Mark Meadows vigorously questions witness Walter Shaub, Jr., who claimed that Trump “refused to eliminate his conflicts of interest” in regard to Trump Organization properties. “I do now believe that the Office of Government Ethics is going to have to do the job…” Shaub said.
Meadows accused Shaub of having changed his position on the subject after giving testimony on the same matter approximately two years ago, Meadows said.
At 11:30, Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said that North Carolina has a discriminatory voting policy which targets African-Americans. Cummings became emotional when speaking about alleged voter intimidation in the South.