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Whatever shall Paul Ryan and his rogue ass crew ever do?
Ethics committee: Brenda Jones can keep Detroit job while in Congress
WASHINGTON – It looks as though Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones may be able to keep that job while serving — briefly — in Congress, though there has been no final decision.
Jones on Tuesday shared with the Free Press informal guidance she received from the U.S. House Ethics Committee staff, which said her position in Congress "does not appear incompatible" with her job on City Council.
There were a couple of caveats, however.
First, the guidance is based on Jones — who this month was elected to serve out the short remainder of former U.S. Rep. John Conyers' term — not receiving a salary from the city while she is a member of Congress.
And second, it takes into account the fact that Jones and Detroit's corporation counsel "anticipate the Detroit City Council will be in recess during the entire time you would serve in the House.
It's also far from clear exactly how Jones' seating in Congress will turn out with a final decision likely to come down to the House speaker, a couple of committees, the parliamentarian and a possible vote by the entire House of Representatives.
The document, which was written by Sarah Myers-Mutschall, the ethics committee's counsel, noted, that neither state nor federal law appear to prohibit a member of Detroit's city council from serving in Congress under those circumstances but that "even a small change in facts may give rise to an incompatibility."
While it wasn't clear exactly when the guidance was written, it became more significant this week as the state Board of Canvassers met Monday to certify her election to the partial term, which ends Jan. 3.
Jones is expected to be sworn in just as soon as that certification is transferred to the House leadership and Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. On Monday, AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said once the certification is received, the whole House will vote on whether to seat her, though "any member can object to the member-elect holding two offices and it can be referred to the House Committee on Administration, which has jurisdiction over such matters."
If that were to happen, however, it's likely that the Ethics Committee guidance would be taken into account.
The strange circumstances of Jones' election to Congress came about after Conyers, caught up in allegations he mistreated women on his staff, resigned last December and Gov. Rick Snyder decided to have a successor be picked on Nov. 6 — the day of the regular general election — for the next two-year term.
While former state Rep. Rashida Tlaib won the election to the new term in a six-person field that included Jones, Jones won the partial term in a somewhat smaller four-person field. That led to the question of whether Jones would want to give up her council seat for such a short-term position.
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