Who polices the police? When it comes to the United States Senate, the answer involves a carefully guarded, deliberately obscure architecture that operates entirely differently from the rest of the federal government. This episode of pplpod examines how the Senate polices itself through the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, an institution that appears straightforward on the surface but conceals remarkably fascinating structural details about power, accountability, and institutional self-preservation. You'll find the physical headquarters in Hart Senate Office Building, Room 220, but the real power lies in the rulebook governing how senators answer—or avoid answering—for ethical violations. By exploring the committee's structure, procedures, and historical decisions, we uncover t ...