President Donald Trump removed the head of the Office of Government Ethics from his post, the agency said Monday – the latest example of Trump acting against a government watchdog.
The agency’s director, David Huitema, was confirmed to the post by the Senate in November and officially began the job in December. He had been nominated by President Joe Biden but had languished for more than a year in the Senate before lawmakers confirmed him by a 50-46 vote during a post-election lame-duck session.
OGE directors typically serve five-year terms – allowing them to overlap administrations as part of an attempt to reduce partisanship. On Monday, a statement on the agency website read: “OGE has been notified that the President is removing David Huitema as the Director of OGE. OGE is reverting to an Acting Director.”
In an interview with CNN, Huitema said he was notified of his removal by the Presidential Personnel Office through an email he received over the weekend. It had been sent Friday night, he said.
Huitema said he was unaware of any specific agency action that would have precipitated Trump’s decision. “My sense is that the president doesn’t want OGE or really anyone with an independent voice to address concerns that are raised,” he said.
Trump on Monday named Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins as the interim head of the ethics agency. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment on the firing.
It was “disappointing,” the 53-year-old Huitema said, to have his job end so quickly and “without any explanation or notice.” He previously served as a State Department ethics official and said he has worked for the federal government for 19 years.
As the government’s top ethics czar, Huitema and his staff reviewed financial disclosures from high-level nominees and ethics agreements to resolve potential conflicts of interest between the financial holdings of incoming officials and their government responsibilities. In recent weeks, the agency has released a slew of financial disclosures and ethics agreements for the uber-wealthy individuals nominated to serve in Trump’s administration.
Earlier Monday, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff had written to Huitema and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, demanding information about whether tech billionaire Elon Musk was in compliance with federal conflict of interest and ethics laws.
Musk, a top donor in support of Trump’s election, has been given broad powers by Trump to slash federal spending and examine government data and IT systems, although his companies have billions of dollars in government contracts.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt recently told journalists that Musk “will excuse himself” if he encounters a conflict with his contracts and his work with the government.
In one of his first acts as president last month, Trump fired inspectors general from more than a dozen government agencies.
Huitema said the OGE does not set policy.
“Ours is an office that supports federal employees in complying with the law and avoiding missteps,” he said. “Ethics isn’t about what the government can or can’t do or should or shouldn’t do in terms of policy. It’s about individuals acting with integrity.”
Norm Eisen, a vocal Trump critic who served as White House ethics czar during the Obama administration, noted the “long history of OGE heads continuing into new administrations.”
Trump’s firing of Huitema, “like the president’s other baseless or unlawful terminations of highly qualified individuals, indicates that he seeks to evade oversight,” Eisen said.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Michael Williams contributed to this report.
