What we're hearing: A top House Republican aide says haste was the cause of the "ridiculous, tone-deaf unforced error" when the GOP attempted in trying to cripple the Office of Congressional Ethics. Democrats in the Congressional Black Caucus also hate the OCE, seen by members as a "black hole."
That same Republican aide says:
We needed to build bridges to the other side.
The GOP will now quietly do precisely that — and revisit the issue later, with Trump and Democrats onboard.
Why it matters: Trump's tweet lambasting the original vote made it clear to members that they had handed the president-elect a club he could use any time they tried to buck him. But members recognize that folding in the face of the tweet makes them look weaker and him stronger as they begin their messy marriage.
