After Widespread Outrage, Republicans Ditch Effort to Gut Ethics Office

On Capitol Hill, Republican senators backed down Tuesday from a plan to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, following widespread outcry from the public. If the rule change had gone through, it would have been the very first move enacted by the new Republican-controlled Congress. But the effort quickly fell apart Tuesday, as lawmakers’ offices were inundated by calls from an angry public and President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter, calling the ethics office "unfair" but encouraging Republicans to "Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance!"