A government watchdog group on Tuesday called for the removal of GOP Sen. Ted Stevens from his Senate committees, less than 24 hours after the FBI and IRS raided the senator’s Alaska home in connection with a public corruption probe centered in the state.

Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., urging him to ask Stevens to recuse himself from his committees: Appropriations; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Rules and Administration, and Joint Library.

Stevens is the ranking Republican on the Commerce Committee, and he is a former chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

“We don’t make this request lightly,” Alexander wrote. “But the standard for holding a powerful committee position should not hinge on the absence of a criminal conviction. Even the appearance of using public office for personal profit undermines public confidence in Congress.”

A federal grand jury is investigating issues related to work done on Stevens’ Girdwood, Alaska, house by Veco Corp., and contractors hired by the company, according to recent reports by the Anchorage Daily News.

It is not clear whether the Senate Ethics Committee is scrutinizing Stevens.

“The Ethics Committee never comments on whether or not it has received a complaint against a member of the Senate,” said Natalie Ravitz, spokeswoman for Ethics Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.