Top government ethics official fired by Trump speaks out
A few days after the former director of the Government Ethics Office suddenly fired, he is ready to work for the Trump administration despite being appointed by former President Biden.
David Huitema said he is ready to work for any government in his five-year term.
“You kind of know you’re going to be in multiple governments. That’s what I’m thinking about,” Huitema said. He was nominated by Mr Biden in September 2023 and sworn in on December 16, 2024,” Huitema said. . ”I have been committed to five years.
Screen capture of CBS News interview
The Government Ethics Office collects confidential and public financial disclosures, ethical agreements and other forms of government officials, including the President and his cabinet. The purpose of the office is to prevent conflicts of interest.
Huitema said in an interview with CBS News that he was notified of his firing in two emails. The decision to remove him came two weeks after Mr. Trump. delete There are at least 17 inspectors as watchdog roles.
Huitema said that means his firing “does not seem to be personal. I’m in good company.”
“I think it really illustrates an effort to remove all institutions in the entire government, which is an independent voice for integrity and accountability,” Huitema said.
After fired Heima, Mr. Trump appointed Doug Collins, a former member of Congress and current secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, as acting director of OGE.
A group of eight former inspectors filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging their termination. They argued that their firing violated federal laws designed to prevent interference with their supervisory duties.
Huitema said he has not yet decided whether legal action will be taken.
“For me, it’s still so new,” Huitema said. “So I’m really not sure. ”
Heima recalls that the Government Ethics Office was created after the Congressional scandal led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. He said it was to “take a nonpartisan, depoliticized, factually questioned, books approach and be the voice of integrity that needs to be.”
“I do think that in the face of Congress’ vision, the people I’m evacuated from this position,” Huitema said.
Mr. Trump’s first term in office in 2017 is less than a year later Walter Shaub Resigned from the person in charge of OGE. Shobu said at the time that the presidential administration ignored “the norms and moral traditions of the executive branch that made our ethical plans the gold standard in the world.”
Is Huitema worried that guardrails aimed at protecting the government from conflicts of interest will hopefully fail?
“I don’t know. I think I’ll be watching off the court right now,” Heitma said.
