United States House Committee on Ethics

Committee information

• Date created: April 13, 1967
• Members: Ten in the 118th Congress (2023–2024)
• Subcommittees: subcommittees formed as needed

Role

The United States House Committee on Ethics is a committee in the House of Representatives responsible for investigating and enforcing the rules of conduct among its members and employees. The committee is unique among government committees in that its membership consists of equal representation from each party and most of its daily work is done by a nonpartisan staff. The committee oversees regulations regarding financial disclosure, gifts, outside income, travel, and other issues. It can also advise House members of potential conflicts and investigate allegations of ethics violations. The committee has the power to report any potential criminal acts uncovered in its investigations to the appropriate authorities.

The committee structure of the House and Senate is set up to divide the tasks of government and assign them to specialized bodies that review and craft legislation. Most Congressional committees operate in this manner. Each committee is responsible for a segment of the federal government or a specific issue. Most permanent committees—also called standing committees—have the authority to review and draft legislation and recommend it to the full House or Senate for a vote. Temporary panels known as select committees can be created through an act of legislation. These committees typically investigate issues and must be renewed to continue after their allotted time expires. In most cases, committees are further divided into subcommittees to handle even more specific aspects relating to their full committee’s jurisdiction. As of the 118th Congress, which began its session in January 2023, the Senate had sixteen permanent committees and the House had twenty. Combined, both chambers had more than two hundred committees and subcommittees.

The House Committee on Ethics breaks from the standard committee structure in that it does not draft legislation and has no permanent subcommittees. The committee has jurisdiction over all bills, resolutions, and members in matters pertaining to the official code of conduct of the House of Representatives. The committee establishes, interprets, and enforces House rules concerning ethical conduct. Some of the most common ethical issues encountered by House members are policies on gifts and travel, campaign finance, outside employment, proper treatment of staff members, and financial disclosures. According to the rules of the House, the Committee on Ethics has the authority to undertake five broad actions in regards to the conduct of the members and employees of the House of Representatives.

One of the committee’s main responsibilities is to investigate alleged violations of the official House code of conduct, the rules of the House, or state or federal laws. This process can begin if the committee receives a complaint about a House member from another member of the House or from a credible outside source. The committee can also begin an investigation on its own initiative or if it is directed to do so by a resolution from the full House. House members or employees who have been convicted of a felony by an outside court are also subject to investigation by the committee.

If the committee does investigate a member of the House, it has the option of recommending action on the matter in accordance with the official code of conduct. This action can range from dismissing the allegations to recommending the case to the full House for possible disciplinary measures. The full House can decide to vote on potential punishments for the individual, which can be as severe as censure—a formal, public reprimand by the House—or expulsion from Congress. Other possible disciplinary actions include a private reprimand, a fine, or a denial or limit on House privileges.

If the committee discovers evidence of a criminal offense during the course of an investigation, it has the ability to report that information to state or federal law enforcement authorities. Before a report can be issued, however, it must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Ethics Committee or by a simple majority of a House vote.

Another major task of the Ethics Committee is to advise members of the House and their staffs if their actions could violate any code-of-conduct rules. The committee can also issue general guidelines on ethics matters if necessary. House members and staff can request an opinion informally at any time in person, by phone, or by e-mail. However, for the advice to be accepted by the committee as legally binding, it must be requested in writing, and the committee must issue a written formal opinion in return. Outside sources can also seek advice from the committee, but the committee will only offer a formal opinion to House members and staff.

Members or staff worried about the legality of accepting or giving gifts can ask for a written waiver to the House gift rule. The committee will accept and review such requests and issue a waiver if it deems it warranted. The committee will not pre-approve requests for gifts or travel from outside sources.

History

The US Constitution provided both the House and Senate with a means to establish rules and discipline their members. For example, Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution states that Congress may “punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.” Other than that, the Constitution was vague on specifics for a disciplinary process or standards of punishment. The first congressional action involving a conduct violation occurred in 1798, when Matthew Lyon of Vermont was accused of “gross indecency” for spitting tobacco juice at Roger Griswold of Connecticut. A few weeks after the incident, Griswold attacked Lyon with his cane on the House floor. The House voted on the fate of the representatives and defeated a measure calling for their expulsion, 73 to 21.

For much of the nation’s first two hundred years, Congressional rules on conduct were informal and examined on a case-by-case basis. The House and Senate investigated conduct violations when they felt them warranted but rarely issued punishments as severe as expulsion. Apart from the Civil War period (1861–1865) when some members of Congress were expelled for supporting the Confederacy, only three representatives and one senator had been expelled as of 2025. Several others resigned before disciplinary action was completed.

A move toward establishing uniform ethics rules began in the 1950s after Sherman Adams, chief of staff to President Dwight Eisenhower, was accused of accepting gifts from a businessman under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. As a result of the incident, Congress established the Code of Ethics for Government Service in 1958. The code was viewed as a guideline to be used by members of the House and Senate and their staffs. After the Senate established an ethics committee in 1964, calls increased in the House for a similar committee there as well.

In the wake of misconduct allegations against Adam Clayton Powell, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, the House created the Select Committee on Standards and Conduct in 1966. The mission of the committee was to issue recommendations concerning the “proper standards of conduct by members of the House and by officers and employees of the House.” The select committee existed between October and December 1966 but reported that it did not have enough time to carry out its directive adequately. During the next Congress—which began its session in 1967—more than one hundred resolutions calling for a permanent ethics committee were introduced in the House.

On April 13, 1967, the House passed a resolution establishing the permanent Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The twelve-member committee issued its first report in 1968, calling for the creation of an official code of conduct and financial disclosure rules for all House members and employees. The committee also recommended a complete review of existing campaign finance laws. In 1977, the House code of conduct was amended to include financial disclosure rules for the first time. The House also placed limits on gifts, travel, and outside income.

House rules on ethics were amended several times in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1989, ethics reform legislation set new standards for the entire federal government. This law established an office within the committee to offer guidance and advice for House members and staff concerning ethics issues. The committee’s membership was expanded to fourteen, though that number was reduced to ten in 1997. That same year, the House provided the committee with a twenty-person staff made up of ten Democrats and ten Republicans. The staff’s duties were to aid the committee in its daily operations and serve on investigative subcommittees as needed.

In 2008, the House established the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent office within the House that accepts complaints of ethics violations from the public. After reviewing the allegations, the office decides whether to recommend them to the full committee for further investigation. In 2011, the House voted to change the name of the committee from the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to the Committee on Ethics.

Subcommittees

The House Committee on Ethics remained comprised of ten members as of the 118th Congress. Unlike other Congressional committees, which reflect the overall party ratio of the full House, the Ethics Committee is made up of five Democrats and five Republicans. It is the only House committee not weighted in favor of the majority party. The committee’s staff had increased to twenty-seven members in 2019 but still maintained its bipartisan makeup. The staff consists of administrators, attorneys, investigators, clerks, and assistants.

The Ethics Committee has no permanent subcommittees, though subcommittees can be impaneled on a case-by-case basis. Most of these subcommittees are created to act in an investigative manner, reviewing evidence and testimony before reporting their findings to the full committee. Others perform in an adjudicatory capacity and hold hearings to determine if an alleged violation amounts to clear evidence of wrongdoing. Subcommittees can also be assigned to oversee other functions at the discretion of the full committee. The membership of all subcommittees must be evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans. By rule, investigative subcommittees are comprised of four members, two each from the majority and minority parties.

During the 118th Congress, which was in session from 2023 to 2025, the committee handled more than 800 written requests for formal advisory opinions. The committee also handled more than 4,300 travel requests and received more than 38,000 phone calls, e-mails, in person meetings requesting informal ethics advice. Twenty-nine cases were referred to the committee by the Office of Congressional Ethics.

The committee investigated forty-one separate matters—some of which were carried over from the 117th Congress (2021–2023). The committee issued five reports to the full House, resolved twenty issues publically, and resolved twelve issues confidentially. The Ethics Committee impaneled three investigative subcommittees. The conduct violations reviewed by the subcommittees included campaign finance violations, sexual misconduct, bribery, money laundering, and charges of fraud. Of the nineteen representatives who were investigated, one was expelled from Congress, and two resigned or chose not to run for reelection.

Bibliography

“Committee History.” Committee on Ethics, 2019, ethics.house.gov/about/committee-history. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.

“Enforcement of Congressional Rules of Conduct: A Historical Overview.” EveryCRSReport.com, 23 Feb. 2015, www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL30764.html. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.

“Representative Roger Griswold of Connecticut Attacked Matthew Lyon of Vermont on the House Floor.” United States House of Representatives, history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1700s/Representative-Roger-Griswold-of-Connecticut-attacked-Matthew-Lyon-of-Vermont-on-the-House-Floor/. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.

Spieler, Matthew. The U.S. House of Representatives: Fundamentals of American Government. Thomas Dunne Books, 2015.

Straus, Jacob R. “House Committee on Ethics: A Brief History of Its Evolution and Jurisdiction.” Congressional Research Service, 8 Mar. 2011, crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/98-15. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.

“Summary of Activities One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.” U.S. Government, 2 Jan. 2025, ethics.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Committee-Report.pdf. Accessed 8 Jan. 2025.