Ethics panel rebukes W.Va. Rep. McKinley over business name

WASHINGTON – The House Ethics Committee is scolding West Virginia Rep. David McKinley for disregarding House rules by failing to change the name of his self-titled engineering firm after joining Congress.

McKinley, a Republican, owned McKinley & Associates, an engineering and architecture firm in his home state, before his election to Congress in 2010. After the election, he asked the ethics committee whether he needed to change the firm’s name. The panel said yes.

Instead, McKinley sold his interest in the firm with the name intact.

On Wednesday, the bipartisan ethics panel said that McKinley violated a House rule that prohibits lawmakers from allowing their names to be used by firms that provide professional services for a fee.

The rebuke is considered mild and ends the inquiry.