Asshole GOP wants to gut ethics office.

[Asmodee]

Like it really matters in the long run.  All the checks and balances Congress has set up for itself amount to nothing more than political bullshit to throw back and forth anyway.  Remember when they had to make a law to specifically address insider trading in Congress, something that's already illegal for all Americans?  Apparently "all Americans" didn't include Congress, so they had to pass a special law just for them in 2012.  Then in 2015, when the SEC started an insider trading investigation, Congress quickly moved to block the investigation, claiming lawmakers and their staff are constitutionally protected, essentially, from legal ethics investigations.  All this vote would have meant is that they didn't have to shut down investigations on a case-by-case basis, which they do now, and could instead just not deal with them in the first place.

There is no accountability, no matter what checks and balances are in place, and there never will be.  Did Nixon go to prison for Watergate?  No.  He got a presidential pardon.  Did Pope Satan get investigated for his role in the molestation scandal?  No.  He got presidential immunity.  Did Bush Jr. even get investigated for his role in violating the terms of the Geneva Convention?  No.  They didn't even bother with an investigation.  Nothing short of dick pics can ruin a politician's career these days.