Only since the 1960s has each chamber systematically undertaken self-discipline related to conduct. This report examines the creation and evolution of the House and Senate ethics committees and the formalization of the House and Senate ethics processes. Subsequently, the Senate created the Select Committee on Standards and Conduct in 1964, and the House established the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct in 1967. The Senate has not established a comparable office. The Committee on Ethics was initially created in 1967, as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, with the adoption of H.Res. In 2008, the House created the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to serve as an external review body for ethics complaints against Members, officers, and employees of the House. House Committee on Ethics

In the 114 th Congress, the Committee on Ethics is comprised of 10 Members, five from each party. The new adopted rules
changed the way individuals who are not Members of the House file complaints with the committee by requiring them to have a Member certify in writing that the information was submitted in good faith and warrants consideration by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct; decreased the size of the committee to 10 members from 14; established a 20-person pool of Members (10 from each party) to participate in the work of the committee as potential appointees to any investigative subcommittee that the committee might establish; required the chair and ranking minority Member of the committee to determine within 14 calendar days or five legislative days, whichever comes first, if the information offered as a complaint meets the committee's requirements; allowed an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the committee or approval of the full House to refer evidence of violations of law disclosed in a committee investigation to the appropriate state or federal law enforcement authorities; provided for a nonpartisan, professional committee staff; and allowed the ranking minority Member on the committee to place matters on the committee's agenda. 113th Congress

At the beginning of the 113 th Congress (2013-2014), the House amended the process for releasing an Office of Congressional Ethics report to the Committee on Ethics and made modifications to the Code of Conduct to clarify the hiring of relatives of Members and employees, retention of oaths (or affirmations) by the Clerk of the House and the Sergeant at Arms, and the use of official funds for personal and charter aircraft, when it adopted the rules for the 113 th Congress ( H.Res. 895 . The first OCE board members were appointed in July 2008. Senate

Initially created in 1964, the Senate Committee on Standards and Conduct was renamed the Select Committee on Ethics in 1977.
The Constitution vests Congress with broad authority to discipline its Members. Only since 1967, however, have both houses established formal rules of conduct and disciplinary procedures whereby allegations of illegal or unethical conduct may be investigated and punished.
In 1964, the Senate established its first permanent ethics committee, the Select Committee on Standards and Conduct, which was renamed the Select Committee on Ethics in 1977. In 1967, the House first established a permanent ethics committee, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which was renamed the Committee on Ethics in 2011. A year after being established, each chamber adopted rules of conduct. Previously, Congress had dealt case by case with misconduct and relied on election results as the ultimate arbiter in questions of wrongdoing.
In 2008, with the adoption of H.Res. 895, the House created the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to review allegations of impropriety by Members, officers, and employees of the House and, when appropriate, to refer "findings of fact" to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The OCE board of directors comprises six board members and two alternates. Current Members of the House, federal employees, and lobbyists are not eligible to serve on the board. The OCE was reauthorized at the beginning of the 113th Congress. The Senate has not established a comparable office.
This report describes the evolution of enforcement by Congress of its rules of conduct for the House and Senate and summarizes the disciplinary options available to the House Committee on Ethics and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.
For additional information, please refer to CRS Report RL30650, Senate Select Committee on Ethics: A Brief History of Its Evolution and Jurisdiction, by [author name scrubbed]; CRS Report 98-15, House Committee on Ethics: A Brief History of Its Evolution and Jurisdiction, by [author name scrubbed]; CRS Report R40760, House Office of Congressional Ethics: History, Authority, and Procedures, by [author name scrubbed]; and CRS Report RL31382, Expulsion, Censure, Reprimand, and Fine: Legislative Discipline in the House of Representatives, by [author name scrubbed].