WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has fired the head of the federal Office of Government Ethics, which oversees disclosure and potential conflicts of interest involving top government officials, according to a post on the agency’s blog.
David Huitema, an appointee of President Joe Biden, was confirmed as director of the agency by the U.S. Senate in November to a five-year term without a single Republican vote. The agency’s chief of staff, Shelley Finlayson, will resume her role as acting director of the agency, the blog post said.
Trump, however, told reporters on Monday night that Doug Collins, his Veterans Affairs secretary and a former congressman would serve as OGE’s acting director. Neither OGE nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.
OGE’s director supervises compliance with federal rules that require nominees to high-ranking posts, including cabinet officials, to disclose their assets and divest those that pose potential conflicts of interest. That’s proven to be a complicated task in an administration whose figures include hedge fund managers, investment bankers and financiers. In the first Trump term, OGE declined to certify Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross were in compliance with ethics laws.
