President-elect Donald Trump blasted a move by House Republicans to effectively weaken the independent Office of Congressional Ethics that investigates lawmakers’ alleged misconduct.

“With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be, their number one act and priority,” Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning. “Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance!’ He closed his tweet with “#DTS,” a reference to his campaign promise to “drain the swamp” of corruption in Washington.

Trump was reacting to a move House Republicans made behind closed doors Monday night, when the caucus voted to approve an amendment to a broader House rules package that would make the office “subject to oversight” by the House Ethics Committee and significantly restrict its powers. The House will vote Tuesday on the rules package as members open the 115th Congress.

The approval of the amendment, proposed by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, comes amid broader calls from Trump for steps to fight corruption in Washington, including term limits on lawmakers and restrictions on lobbyists.

“Republicans claim they want to ‘drain the swamp,’ but the night before the new Congress gets sworn in, the House GOP has eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions," Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said in a statement. "Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress."

House Speaker Paul Ryan defended the change in a statement Tuesday that insisted the ethics office will still “operate independently.”

“The evenly divided House Ethics Committee will now have oversight of the complaints office,” said Ryan of Wisconsin. He said the House panel would exercise that oversight only to "ensure the office is properly following its rules and laws," and said he’s instructed the House committee not to "interfere with the office’s investigations or prevent it from doing its job."

David Fuller's view

Commenting on Trump’s tweets has already become an international blood sport and the President-elect has yet to be sworn in.  Is this good for democracy?  Yes, if it increases interest and involvement in the political process.  No, if it permanently lowers the standards of political decorum, not that they were very high before Trump’s tweets. 

Meanwhile, I’ll credit Trump for his timing and propriety with the two tweets above.  Yes – DTS.   

  (Stop Press: New Republican Congress reverses ethics move after outcry, from the BBC)