Office of Government Ethics (OGE)
(Added to the GOP's chopping block)
Updated from earlier post
(Now combined GOP-Trump motto)
FOLKS THIS IS NOW VERY VERY SERIOUS STUFF - to wit:
After-the-fact
update (it came in shortly after the below was posted) and falls in line with the whole idea and prospect of the Trump's marketing the Trump name and products from the White House for their own financial gain (believe it or not; it is real).
WASHINGTON
(Reuters)
– One day after President-elect Donald Trump encouraged supporters to “Buy L.L.
Bean,” an ethics watchdog warned federal employees they must not endorse
products or companies.
The OGE (discussed below in greater detail)
said on its official Twitter account:
“All executive branch employees must refrain from misuse of position, including
endorsements.”
No
mention of Trump was made in the tweet, and
many rules for federal employees do not apply to the president.
(I Note: Which I am
sure he knows about and will stretch the limits to the limits).
The ethics
office has tweeted other reminders to employees this week, including one that
federal gift restrictions remain in place during the upcoming inauguration.
The
office's endorsements message drew attention on Twitter, though, because it
came after Trump posted support for the Maine catalog retailer known for its
backpacks and rubber-bottomed boots. Activists had called for a boycott
following reports that a member of the family that owns L.L. Bean contributed
to Trump's campaign.
Trump tweeted: “Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L. Bean for your great
support and courage. People will support you even more now. Buy L.L. Bean.” (Thus Trump was implying that since she supported him and he
won that was her reward: Presidential endorsement for their products – no conflict,
right Mr. and Mrs. GOP)?
Original post starts here:I already blasted the new 115th all-GOP run House on the ethics oversight issue they wanted to toss. Then after an intense public backlash they backed down and reversed course which you recall was on the very first day of the new session – ironic to say the least. The GOP vote to back down from reining in the Office of Congressional Ethics was unanimous as Jake Sherman of Politico reported (can be reviewed here).
Sadly, they are baccccck and after the big prize as seen in this UPDATED STORY FROM THE AP that has this HEADLINES:
GOP lawmakers go after ethics
official who criticized Trump
The heart of that AP piece
is seen, I believe, in these two statements which are germane and right to the point:
House Republicans have shown no
inclination to challenge President-elect Donald Trump on ethics matters. Instead, they are going after
the federal ethics official who questioned Trump's potential conflicts of
interest.
(My Note: How
ironic is that, yet so typical of the hypocrisy shown by this GOP probably over
the past 10-15 years).
Two key Democratic views:
From Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, top Democrat on
the committee sharply criticized Chaffetz for summoning OGE Director Mr. Walter
Shaub, saying: “The Oversight
Committee has not held one hearing, conducted one interview, or obtained one
document about President-elect Donald Trump's massive global entanglements, yet
it is now apparently rushing to launch an investigation of the key government
official for warning against the risks caused by President-elect Donald Trump's
current plans.”
Other Democrats see a
coordinated effort by Republicans to undermine the OGE ethics reviews of Trump
cabinet nominees to ensure they will avoid conflicts of interests. The question
is why are the Republicans holding that view?
This from House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA) who said: “Instead of honoring
his committee's responsibility to hold the administration accountable, Chairman
Chaffetz has appointed himself President-elect Trump's chief strongman and
enforcer.”
Here is the background on the
Office of Government Ethics (OGE):
It is an independent
agency within the executive
branch of the Federal Government
which is responsible for directing executive branch policies relating to the
prevention of conflicts of interest on the part of Federal executive branch
officers and employees. OGE primary duties include the following:
·
Establishing the
executive branch standards of conduct;
·
Issuing rules and
regulations interpreting the criminal conflict of interest restrictions;
·
Establishing the
framework for the public and confidential financial disclosure systems for
executive branch employees;
·
Developing
training and education programs for use by executive branch ethics officials
and employees;
·
Ensuring that
individual agency ethics programs are functioning properly by setting the
requirements for them, supporting them, and reviewing them.
The Director of OGE is
appointed by the President after confirmation by the Senate and serves a
five-year term, thereby overlapping presidential terms, and is not subject to term limits. Other OGE employees are career civil servants. The office was created
by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. The OGE was separated from OPM in 1989 pursuant to reform legislation.
So, this brings me back to
Rep. Jason “A-hole” Chaffetz (R-UT) – I say A-hole and because that is based on
my opinion and close scrutiny of his past performance and remarks and focus
while sitting as the Chairman of the all GOP-run House Oversight Committee… see
it you agree. Where we are now with Chaffetz and obvious partisan pursuit for oversight
of the non-partisan, independent ethics oversight office – now pathetic and
ironic is that? But, as I said, SOP for the GOP.
As for me, I see the ethics
office as key and necessary and yes, Mr. Shaub has a duty to enforce the rules
and law and also I say yes, he should tell the public about “What our
government employees, appointed or elected are up to that is unethical since
they all work for us: “We the People” isn’t that what GOPer profess in every speech
and Talk Show sound bite?
BTW: Mr. Trump can replace Mr.
Shaub and appoint a new head of the OGE, which I suspect he will and probably,
based on the current attitude in DC, probably consider and pick a Jack Abramoff
or Tom DeLay sort of person. What do you think? They fit that mold, don’t they?
After all, the GOP motto seems to be as the graphic above says: “We don’t need
no stinkin Ethics or Ethical oversight, either.”
Continue the story at
the AP link above or here.
Thanks for stopping by and
sharing this pathetic story with me. Stay tuned.
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