Government Ethics Office Rejects Trump Attempt To Block Disclosure Of Its Ethics Waivers
The Office Of Government Ethics just sent a blistering letter to the Trump administration about its attempt to block the disclosure of ethics waivers to former lobbyists that are joining the administration.
“The unusual nature of your letter highlights OGE’s responsibility to lead the executive branch ethics program with independence, free from political pressure. Accordingly, OGE declines your request to suspend its ethics inquiry and reiterates its expectation that agencies will fully comply with its directive by June 1, 2017. Public confidence in the integrity of government decisionmaking [sic] demands no less,” OGE Director Walter Shaub Jr. wrote in a letter to OMB Director Mick Mulvaney.
Trump’s Office of Management and Budget head Mick Mulvaney had asked Shaub to end his directive to agencies to disclose the ethics waivers, questioning whether the Office of Government Ethics had the legal authority to demand the documents.
In his letter to Mulvaney, Shaub slammed the Trump administration saying that his office does have the legal authority to view the documents and generally oversee the executive branch’s ethics practices.
Shaub also said that Congress supports giving the Office of Government Ethics access to the waivers, citing a 2009 letter from Sen. Chuck Grassley urging the Obama administration to disclose to the public waivers granted to former lobbyists.
In the letter, Shaub notes that Grassley’s call for the waivers to be disclosed in 2009 prompted OGE to begin the practice of posting the waivers on its website for the public to view.
“OGE is exercising its authority and independence appropriately. OGE’s April 28, 2017, directive is supported by ample legal authority and compliant with applicable procedures,” Shaub wrote at the end of his lengthy Monday letter to Mulvaney. “I want to assure you that a request from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget is not something that I decline lightly.”
Watchdog Group Suing Trump Administration To Release Ethics Waivers
The watchdog group American Oversight is suing the Trump administration in order to obtain the ethics waivers given to lobbyists who have joined the Trump administration.
The waivers are required when political appointees are working directly on policies or issues for which they had advocated during their lobbying work. Donald Trump has hired dozens of lobbyists into his administration and is attempting to release the waivers given to them.
