The top U.S. ethics official tasked with preventing conflicts of interest among government officials is poised to take center stage 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 contact with the transition team and working closely with them,” David Huitema recently said in conversation with Reuters in his first official interview since taking office on December 16. The inauguration will be on January 20th.
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 advisors.
Experts recall the short and difficult tenure of Walter Shaub, the last person to hold the position when Trump entered the White House, and point out that several of Trump’s last appointees expressed disdain for the agencies they would lead.
After nine years as chief ethics officer at the U.S. State Department, Huitema will lead OGE’s standard task of helping to scrutinize dozens of new Senate-vetted nominees and thousands of political appointees for potential financial and personal conflicts.
If he does his job well, there’s a good chance Huitema will be fired quickly, Shaub warned in an open letter last month. Huitema told Reuters he trusts the intentions of the majority of new government members.
