New US ethics czar starts vetting incoming Trump officials

OGE Energy

05/01/2025 12:00

By Heather Timmons and Gabriella Borter
       WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The top U.S. ethics
official charged with preventing government workers' conflicts
of interest is about to take the hotseat in Washington, as
President-elect Donald Trump's new Cabinet and other appointees
declare their financial assets and prepare for their new jobs.  
    "We are in touch with the transition team and working with
them," said David Huitema recently when he sat down with Reuters
for his first official interview since being sworn in for the
job on Dec. 16. The inauguration will be Jan. 20.    
    Ethics experts say the director of the Office of Government
Ethics, or OGE, is in the spotlight during any presidential
transition, but Huitema faces special challenges ahead of
Trump's second term, evaluating a myriad of business ties for
Trump, his family and advisers.
        Experts pointed to the 
    short, rocky tenure
     of Walter Shaub, the last person to hold the job when Trump
entered the White House, and noted that several of Trump's
latest nominees have expressed disdain for the agencies they
will run. 
    After nine years as ethics chief at the U.S. State
Department, Huitema will spearhead the OGE's standard task of
helping scrutinize dozens of new Senate-vetted nominees and
thousands of political appointees for potential financial and
personal conflicts. 
    If he does his job well, chances are good Huitema could be
fired fairly promptly, Shaub warned in an open letter last
month. Huitema told Reuters he has faith in the intentions of
most new entrants to government.
    He shared his views on ethics education and maintaining the
public trust, but declined to answer specific questions about
the incoming administration. The ethics office only deals with
potential government employees, he noted. That means it will not
vet outside advisers like billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek
Ramaswamy, who Trump has asked to recommend cuts in government
spending. 
    
    Q: What does the OGE do, exactly? 
    
    A:  "The ultimate goal is to ensure that federal employees
are making decisions based on national interest and policy
priorities of the administration rather than any personal
interest especially financial interest. ... The OGE itself is a
small agency of just about 75 employees, but we work with a team
of about 4,000 ethics officials interspersed, who engage more
directly with federal employees." 
    One important immediate task, he said, will be "with nominee
financial disclosure, helping ensure that nominees for Senate
confirmed positions meet their requirements for complete
disclosure of their financial interests and arrangements. "
    
    Q. How does the financial disclosure process work with
presidential nominees? 
    A: Normally, he said, nominees for top jobs fill out reports
early to help the office "identify potential conflicts or steps
the nominee might have to take if they are confirmed so all that
information is available to the Senate and to the officials so
they know what they are getting themselves into." 

    Q. What sort of deadlines are there? When do people have to
make these disclosures? 
    A. He said nominees should submit a report "within five days
of their nomination. ... Our goal is to help these incoming
officials, help the Senate and do so as efficiently as
possible." 
        He noted that "any member of the public can request a
copy" of any financial disclosure report filed with the OGE.
"The idea is the public, too, can help play a role in monitoring
for conflicts of interest."
  
    
    Q. What is the enforcement mechanism if there are conflicts
of interest? 
    A: "It’s not so much if a conflict comes up on the form
itself, but whether ultimately any federal employees is engaged
with work that then conflicts with their financial interest.
    "The conflict of interest law is a criminal law, so the
ultimate recourse is prosecution by the Department of Justice.
Our role is to actually help advise employees to avoid that
situation ... 
    "We will work with the agency ethics officials if we learn
of a potential conflict of interest problem to make sure that
gets addressed, ultimately we work with the Department of
Justice as well if necessary." 
    
    Q: As the State Department ethics head, what lessons did you
learn?  
    
    A:  "Most employees, career and appointed, want to follow
the law and want to act with integrity and they appreciate the
help of ethics officials ..."
    Q: In your Congressional testimony, you said you think the
OGE can help in the "struggle against the growing cynicism and
distrust that can undermine our democratic self government." Can
you explain? 
    A. "We want to make sure employees ... don't act based on
personal interests, especially financial interests and personal
motivations. ...  
    "In practice the federal ethics rules may be more limited in
their actual scope than people appreciate, so people’s
assumptions that there’s a specific issue with compliance with
federal ethics laws may not be well grounded. 
    
    Q. What are some examples of interests that are not
substantial enough to raise red flags?
    A. "The financial conflict of interest laws are ... pretty
exact in terms of their scope. Either you have enough stock to
pose a conflict or you don’t." 
    
    Q. Can ethics be taught? For people coming from the business
side, interactions are often based around "How can I use this to
advantage me or my company," on purpose. 
    A. "I hope so because there are lot of ethics training
requirements," he said, laughing. He agreed officials coming
from the private sector are used to "networking and ‘What can
you do to benefit someone so they can in turn benefit you’... It
is a challenge to make sure those officials and new employees
understand that the expectations within government are a little
bit different. ..."

    Q. What happens if the DOJ does not take ethics laws
seriously? Where does that leave you? 
    A. "Criminal prosecution is one extreme, but there is
enforcement at the agency level in terms of discipline." 
        
    Q. The president can grant a waiver exempting someone from
conflict of interest laws, correct? Is that something the OGE
can push back on, or advise against? 
    A. "The president in some cases and agency heads or
officials ... can grant exemptions" but must consult with the
OGE. He said exemptions can be granted when "the potential
conflict of interest isn’t viewed as that significant.
Ultimately OGE needs to know when a waiver is issued. They can
be made public."

 (Reporting by Heather Timmons and Gabriella Borter; Editing by
Stephanie Kelly and David Gregorio)
 ((Heather.Timmons@thomsonreuters.com;))