WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday rolled back Republican-backed ethics rule changes after Democratic criticism.
By a 406-20 vote, the lower house of Congress approved the move, announced ealier in the day by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
Hastert said he wants to "step back" from the changes despite their intent to make the process fairer for all, in order to allow the body's ethics process to move foward.
Democrat and other critics say the rules changes were designed to protect Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, from mounting ethics charges and refused to let the House Ethics Committee convene, saying the new rules would make the ethics process an inherently partisan endeavor.
"We need to move forward with an ethics process" said Hastert, noting there are GOP members, such as DeLay, who need a functioning committee to clear their names.
Ethics panel ranking Democrat Allan Mollohan of West Virginia, who has led the Democratic charge against the changes, expressed optimism about the move.
"This is a very positive step on the part of the speaker," said Mollohan.
