The Hill News

The ethics case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) may see some action in the near future, following the hiring of a new staff director for the House Ethics Committee.

On Monday committee chairman Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) and ranking Democrat Rep. Linda Sanchez (Calif.) announced that the panel had unanimously selected Daniel Schwager to fill the 4-month long vacancy. The committee heads said they were working to fill other vacancies on the panel as well.

The case against Waters stalled last year. Shortly afterward, two of the committee’s lawyers â€" Morgan Kim, the former deputy chief counsel and director of investigations and enforcement, and committee counsel Stacy Sovereign â€" were placed on administrative leave. Charges surfaced that they improperly handled the probe into Waters’s case.

“After a challenging end to the 111th Congress, the committee is anxious to move forward with the business of the 112th Congress and is c! onfident that Dan will serve the committee with integrity and without bias,” said Bonner in a statement.

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