Yesterday, the House approved legislation to create an independent ethics committee to investigate the alleged misdeeds of congressional lawmakers. Trouble was, in order for Democratic leaders to gather the support to pass a procedural vote that allowed the bill to move, they first had to extend the allowable timetable for that vote. As Jonathan Weisman reported in the Washington Post this morning:

A parliamentary maneuver before the final vote was defeated by a single vote, and only after Democratic leaders held the vote open an extra 16 minutes to twist enough arms to secure passage.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (S.C.) leaned hard on his fellow Congressional Black Caucus members, persuading Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), Sanford B. Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.) and Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.) — to switch their votes.

Republicans angrily accused Democrats of defying their new ethics rules, which prohibit the holding open of votes for the purpose only of changing the outcome.

Indeed, a statement of principles (pdf) issued by House Democrats at the start of last year proclaimed that the new majority would not extend votes simply to produce a desired result.

Floor votes should be completed within 15 minutes, with the customary 2-minute extension to accommodate Members’ ability to reach the House Chamber to cast their votes. No vote shall be held open in order to manipulate the outcome.

Still, the 159 Republicans and 23 Democrats who voted against final passage have little to fear: The independent-panel concept is dead on arrival in the Senate, where members have killed similar proposals in the past. As Weisman reported:

Senate ethics committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and the panel’s ranking Republican, Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.) released a statement last night making clear that they have no intention of following the House’s lead.

“The Senate voted overwhelmingly to reject proposals to create an outside investigative body because we have confidence in our Ethics process,” Boxer and Cornyn said.

Guess it’ll take a few more indictments before anyone but lawmakers will be empowered to police lawmakers.