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{"id":26820,"date":"2026-08-11T12:02:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T12:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-why-millers-ethics-probe-may-be-a-bust\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T12:02:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T12:02:43","slug":"capitol-agenda-why-millers-ethics-probe-may-be-a-bust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-why-millers-ethics-probe-may-be-a-bust\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol agenda: Why Miller\u2019s Ethics probe may be a bust"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The House Ethics panel dealt the final blow derailing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/08\/05\/rep-chuck-edwards-drops-re-election-bid-after-ethics-panel-recommended-censure-01025134\" target=\"_blank\"><u>GOP Rep.\u00a0Chuck Edwards\u2019\u00a0re-election<\/u><\/a> campaign last week, but don\u2019t expect the same scenario to happen to Rep. Max Miller.<\/p>\n<p>Miller, an Ohio Republican, is officially on the ballot this fall after pressure campaigns failed to push him out amid domestic abuse allegations he denies. The GOP is now coming to terms with Miller as their candidate, with members of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/08\/10\/white-house-max-miller-pressure-campaign-01031353\" target=\"_blank\"><u>the White House political team<\/u><\/a> telling Republicans in the state to tamper down calls for Miller to drop out last week as it became clear he was immovable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey basically told us to back off,\u201d said one Ohio Republican involved in the conversations, \u201cand let the voters decide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/08\/05\/mike-johnson-max-miller-domestic-abuse-01025050\" target=\"_blank\">told POLITICO<\/a> he plans to withhold judgment on whether Miller is fit for office until the Ethics Committee works through its process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201dWe have to allow this process to play out. It\u2019s just begun,\u201d Johnson said last week.<\/p>\n<p>But neither voters nor Johnson should expect to get any clarity on the claims against Miller from the bipartisan House panel and its non-partisan staff charged with investigating member misconduct. The panel\u2019s probe \u2014 instigated by Miller\u2019s self-filing last week \u2014 is highly unlikely to be completed before the committee\u2019s traditional pre-election 60-day blackout period, which begins in early September.<\/p>\n<p>That delay is politically convenient for Miller as well as for Johnson, who is already grappling with a razor-thin margin that would be further eroded if Miller faced pressure to step down.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Johnson didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Ethics Committee declined to comment on the probe\u2019s timing, as the panel traditionally does not comment on open investigations.<\/p>\n<p>In last week\u2019s case involving Edwards, it was the Ethics panel&#8217;s detailed report finding the North Carolina lawmaker engaged in \u201cpersistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers\u201d that was the final straw to end his reelection campaign. Edwards announced he\u2019d drop out following public outcry and pressure from fellow Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>North Carolina party leaders picked Jennifer Balkcom last night to replace Edwards on the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>But Edwards\u2019 probe was months in the making, and the pace of Ethics Committee investigations varies widely. Some inquiries have <a href=\"https:\/\/rollcall.com\/2019\/12\/19\/mcmorris-rodgers-reproved-by-ethics-committee-for-inappropriate-use-of-funds\/\" target=\"_blank\"><u>spanned multiple<\/u><\/a> Congresses, including an investigation into the campaign activity of former Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.<\/p>\n<p>The launch of other investigations have galvanized public pressure more rapidly. Former Rep. Tony Gonzales, who was being investigated earlier this year for having a sexual relationship with a staffer, resigned shortly after the panel ramped up its scrutiny as an expulsion vote also loomed.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Gonzales was facing a primary battle. Johnson also said he would let the process \u201cplay out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b><i>What else we\u2019re watching:\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>\u2014 CASSIDY BLASTS TRUMP\u2019S VACCINE ORDER:\u00a0<\/b>Sen. Bill Cassidy<b>\u00a0<\/b>pushed back Monday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/08\/10\/trump-childhood-vaccine-executive-order-01031314\" target=\"_blank\">on Trump\u2019s executive order<\/a> directing federal agencies to reduce the number of recommended vaccines children get and spread the shots over more appointments. \u201cThis executive order is wrong. The President does not have the expertise to make these changes,\u201d Cassidy <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenBillCassidy\/status\/2086906268669624512?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"><u>posted on X<\/u><\/a>. \u201cBreaking up vaccines will mean children have to get more shots to get the same protection, not fewer shots. It will increase hesitancy and make children less safe.\u201d The move comes months ahead of the midterm elections on an issue that <a href=\"https:\/\/fabrizioward.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/vaccine-attitudes-tcd-survey-memo-12-03-25.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><u>Trump\u2019s own pollsters<\/u><\/a> have warned is unpopular, but that the president has long shown a personal interest in.<\/p>\n<p><b>\u2014 DEMS BRACE FOR WALL STREET CRYPTO PLANS:<\/b> SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/08\/11\/democrats-brace-wall-street-regulators-crypto-plans-01031371\" target=\"_blank\">may soon get a glimpse<\/a> of the challenge they could face if Republicans lose control of either chamber or both in November. The Wall Street regulators are readying new cryptocurrency rules after lawmakers punted on a digital assets bill before heading home for recess. The Clarity Act setback has put the SEC and CFTC in position to drive crypto policymaking. But they risk a backlash from the left as lawmakers fear they\u2019re too cozy with the industry. <\/p>\n<p><i>Meredith Lee Hill, Erin Doherty, Cheyenne Haslett, David Lim, Sophie Garnder and Declan Harty<\/i> <i>contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The House Ethics panel dealt the final blow derailing GOP Rep.\u00a0Chuck Edwards\u2019\u00a0re-election campaign last week, but don\u2019t expect the same scenario to happen to Rep. Max Miller. Miller, an Ohio Republican, is officially on the ballot this fall after pressure campaigns failed to push him out amid domestic abuse allegations he denies. The GOP is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26820\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}