It's official: Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) is resigning next Tuesday, Sept. 6, after being chastised by the House Ethics Committee.

Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) tried to cut the budget of the Office of Congressional Ethics, after he didn't like how they investigated him and his office.

Remedial action is necessary if the U.S. Senate has any interest in becoming relevant again to our nation's political discourse. While certainly no cure for what ails the body, a first step toward building back the institution's credibility is to strengthen the Senate's ethics process.