By Heather Timmons and Gabriella Borter
WASHINGTON (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.”