Rules & Regulations

Dear Ms. Grundmann:

The Committee on Ethics (“Committee”) submits the following comments to the Executive Director of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (“OCWR”) in response to the Proposed Rules published in the Congressional Record on April 9, 2019 (the “Proposed Rules”).

The Committee commends OCWR for working to promptly implement changes mandated by the recent reforms to the Congressional Accountability Act (“CAA,” or the “Act”). As the Committee stated in the 115th Congress when calling for passage of the CAA Reform Act, the Committee takes allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and other violations of workplace rights extremely seriously. As amended by the Reform Act, the CAA seeks to ensure that the Committee receives information regarding allegations of harassment and reprisal by current Members and senior staff. The changes to the CAA reflect Congress’s recognition that the Committee plays an essential role in holding Members and staff accountable for violations of workplace rights.

Many of the procedural regulations proposed by OCWR further the goals of accountability and transparency that are at the heart of the amended CAA. However, some of the Proposed Rules may detract from those goals. To the extent any of the Proposed Rules would prevent or inhibit the Committee from obtaining the information it needs to investigate alleged violations of workplace rights and other misconduct by current House Members and staff, the Committee urges OCWR to revise such rules.

The Committee also recognizes that there are certain gaps created by the Act that are best addressed by clarifying regulations from OCWR. With new procedures inevitably comes new potential for bad actors to find unintended loopholes or otherwise abuse the process. OCWR is well positioned to prevent such abuse by adopting procedural regulations that ensure the goals of the CAA Reform Act are served where the Act creates gaps or ambiguities that could otherwise be exploited.