Accountability in Washington D.C.?

​In recent weeks two significant events have taken place in Washington D.C. They are significant for advancing what has been sorely lacking: accountability and personal responsibility. Last month the Supreme Court adopted a code of ethics for the first time, and on Friday the House of Representatives expelled one of its members for ethics violations and engaging in criminal conduct. 

Code of Ethics for the Supreme Court: The Supreme Court is the only branch of the federal government that is unelected and unaccountable to the American people. Therefore, it must be above reproach and its actions and deliberations should be transparent. As I wrote in May, unreported gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas have brought into question the integrity of the Court.

On November 13, 2023 the Supreme Court announced that it had issued an ethics code for its justices. Until then, justices were not bound by any formal code of conduct.  It has been a long time coming, and is evidence that the Court is listening to the American people and the Congress. The code is not perfect, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

The main complaint against the new code is that it has no enforcement mechanism, and is therefore toothless. It is doubtful that if the code had previously been in place, it would have curbed the behavior of Justice Thomas. But the adoption of the new code of ethics is an acknowledgment by the Court that it is not above scrutiny, and is willing to hold its members accountable, even though it took a little public pressure to do so.   

All nine justices signed on to the new rules.  Follow this link for a full reading of  the new code of ethics.  ​

House Expels George Santos: On December 1, 2023 the House of Representatives voted to expel Republican George Santos, Representative of New York’s 3rd congressional district. About 73% of the members present voted for Santos’ expulsion, exceeding the two-thirds threshold required. This is only the sixth time in the history of the House of Representatives that a member has been expelled.

The list of Mr. Santos’ misdeeds is long and predate his time in Congress. He lied to voters about his background, education and work experiences. But what really got him into trouble were his numerous violations of campaign finance laws and fraud. Mr. Santos is currently facing 23 federal criminal counts based on these allegations.  What sealed Mr. Santos’ fate in the House was a scathing 56-page report released by the Ethics Committee in November, detailing the evidence of his wrong doing.  

The fact that the House of Representatives could get a super majority of its members to come together in support of anything, much less the expulsion of one of its own, is pretty remarkable. It is even more remarkable when you consider that the expulsion of George Santos reduces the Republicans majority in the House to just three votes. Clearly not all Republicans were in favor of this outcome, with 114 voting against expulsion. But 105 Republicans put politics aside by voting to rid the House of Representatives of a member who should have never been there.

Within the next week or so, New York Governor Kathy Hochul will announce the date for a special election to fill the vacate seat for New York’s 3rd congressional district. The election will take place sometime in late February or early March. George Santos’ criminal trial for the 23 criminal counts is set to begin in September of 2024. 



​It is odd to think that the expulsion of a member of Congress could give me hope, but it does. I am encouraged that some members of Congress are still capable of doing the right thing even when it isn’t in their political interest to do so. Let’s hope that this is the beginning of a new trend. 

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Thanks,
Armchair American