Donald Trump fires the US government's top ethics official
President Donald Trump is removing the federal government's top ethics official, the Office of Government Ethics said on Monday.
The office wrote on its webpage that the president fired David Huitema and that the agency's chief of staff, Shelley Finlayson, is now the acting director.
The Office of Government Ethics negotiates with Cabinet nominees on their ethics agreements so that they can abide by conflict of interest laws. It also collects financial disclosures from thousands of federal government employees.
Huitema, a lawyer who previously worked in the State Department, was confirmed to a five-year term in December, during the final days of Joe Biden’s presidency. The vote was 50-46, with no Republican support.
In a message after starting the position, Huitema said he was committed to helping officials comply with ethics obligations in order to build public confidence and ensure they’re working without personal conflicts.
“There will be pressure to move fast, and we must all be as efficient as possible,” he said of the reviews of Trump administration appointees. “But there is no short cut. Ethics officials must ensure that reporting requirements are followed, that reports are complete, and that potential conflicts are evaluated.”
Under Huitema's leadership, the Senate reached ethics agreements with Trump’s appointees to run the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education, among others.
(This story has been updated with more information.)