Watchdog Groups

(Fox News) - Groups that monitor government actions are balking at a feature of proposed new ethics legislation that would allow them to file ethics complaints — but require them to make their own donor lists public.

The Hill newspaper reports groups such as Public Citizen and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group are denouncing the plan — calling it a step backwards.

But lawmakers say watchdog organizations that demand greater transparency from Congress should be willing to submit to the same scrutiny.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had set a May 1 deadline for the ethics proposal — but the opposition from the watchdogs may continue to delay the completion of the bill.