Trump removes top government ethics czar

President Donald Trump is removing 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.

President Donald Trump is removing 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. 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. A statement on the agency website reads: “OGE has been notified that the President is removing David Huitema as the Director of OGE. OGE is reverting to an Acting Director.” CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. 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. OGE directors typically serve five-year terms – allowing them to overlap administrations as part of an attempt to reduce partisanship. Huitema previously served as a State Department ethics official.