Watchdog names Office of Congressional Ethics as ‘Top Ethics Violator of 2023’

A government watchdog has named the Office of Congressional Ethics its “Top Ethics Violator of 2023.”

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, which is right-leaning, identified the repeated failure of the OCE to act on violations of ethics rules, particularly the usage of government resources for political campaigning, as the reason for the award.

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“The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) has failed in its duty to hold Members of Congress accountable,” FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold said. “Its complete inaction in numerous cases of Members abusing official taxpayer-funded resources for political purposes functions as an endorsement of violating basic ethics rules — and it’s simply not too much to ask for enforcement when violations openly appear in places as public as social media platforms. The OCE’s continued failure to act will only result in further erosion of public trust in Congress and those bodies intended to hold them accountable.”

FACT filed complaints against 10 different members of Congress over violations of this rule, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), and Cori Bush (D-MO).

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The runner-ups for the biggest ethics violators award were Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), and political consulting firm La Machine.

“FACT’s other notable ethics violations (committed by Sen. Warnock, Rep. Moore, Rep. Bowman, and La Machine) involve illegal payments to politicians, disrupting the democratic process, and foreign nationals influencing our politics — all among the more serious violations,” Arnold added. “In 2024, we look forward to the relevant ethics bodies moving quickly to investigate these cases and apply any applicable penalties.”