How does the House Ethics Committee work?

The House Ethics Committee played an important role in the post-election drama for Donald Trump. Its investigation of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) — Trump’s first nominee for attorney general — turned out to be a pivotal reason for Gaetz’s withdrawal from consideration.

The committee was created in 1967 “to enforce standards of conduct for members, officers and employees” of Congress’ lower branch, the House Ethics Committee said in a history on its website. (The impetus was a scandal involving Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (D-N.Y.), which ultimately caused him to lose his seat.) The Constitution gives the House the authority to discipline its members, but the chamber had “no uniform or consistent mechanism for self-discipline until the 1960s.” Before that, allegations of misconduct were pursued in an “ad hoc manner by special committees.”

How does the committee make decisions?

Investigations of misconduct begin in the Office of Congressional Ethics, said CBS News. The office has six non-House members — private citizens — who are given a limited time frame (30 days) to conduct investigations, and can do so only if two of the six members find a “reasonable basis” for inquiry. After the first 30 days, three members of the OCE must determine there is “probable cause” a violation took place for the inquiry to continue. Eventually, if four members agree, the report is referred to the House Ethics Committee. Why is that important? “The OCE doesn’t have subpoena power,” said CBS. The committee does.

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