Sure, it's to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. If they are recusing themselves now, did they look the other way before all of this mess too? There was legislation legislation favorable to Enron passed that lead to the company being able to freeze the 401k's of their employees. What else was done?
Sure the administration is saying they did not intervene at the end of the company's existance, but then it was too late. Seems that their political connections on both sides helped them to create an enviroment where it was much easier to 'cook the books' and do whatever other unethical practices they wished, free from scrutiny.