No place in government

 

February 19, 2022

We recently sent a letter to the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) raising concerns about an ethics waiver OMB issued to the administrator of the U.S. Digital service, Mina Hsiang. The waiver allowed Hsiang to keep most of her investments, even though her work could directly affect her financial holdings. As POGO’s Walter Shaub told Insider for a piece on the letter, it’s uncommon for an administration to issue such a wide-sweeping ethics waiver. “That literally puts them above the law,” he said. We’ve asked OMB to rescind the waivers and require Hsiang to divest assets that pose a conflict of interest. No matter the administration, we feel it’s important to hold the government accountable for such glaring ethics issues. We believe policy must be made exclusively on what is best for the public, and that even the appearance that a policymaker is making personal gain by skewing policy has no place in government. SAVE YOUR SPOT America’s Great “Unsolvable” Problem: Race Join POGO and The Ridenhour Prizes for the second installment of our Virtual Fireside Chat series. This month, Police Reform Activist and 2021 Ridenhour Prize Recipient Cariol Horne will be in conversation with Jamie Kalven, 2016 Courage Prize Recipient and Founder of the Invisible Institute, and Jarvis Williams, Policy Analyst at Open The Government, on the intersections of race and policing. Learn more about the event and RSVP today. ANALYSIS Next Steps After Stopping IRS Face Recognition Last week, we won a major victory as the IRS announced it would halt its face recognition plans. But this should just be a first step – check out the other privacy policies we’re pursuing to protect civil rights and civil liberties. Read More OP-ED Here’s how to ban congressional stock trading so politicians can’t cheat Several new proposals to restrict stock trading by members of Congress fall short, but others could help restore public trust. Read More on the Washington Post ANALYSIS Five Provisions Congress Should Include in an Appropriations Omnibus The federal appropriations process is an opportunity to push through longstanding good government proposals. Read More QUOTE OF THE WEEK “In my view, one of the biggest security threats to the U.S. is the amount of money that's being wasted on our military.” Dan Grazier, Jack Shanahan Military Fellow, in Salon OVERHEARD ONE LINERS “It’s definitely a conflict of interest. In this particular case, [Cynthia Lummis] has become the leading evangelist for crypto, so it makes it look even worse. She has the zeal of the newly converted here.” Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Government Affairs Manager, in Roll Call   “There’s got to be a way for the Department of Defense to figure this out to come to a better solution that ensures that we’re not paying such high prices [for spare parts].” Scott Amey, General Counsel and Executive Editorial Director, in Federal News Network   “Even though both scenarios — impoundments and unavoidable technical/programmatic delays — result in the same thing (the money not being spent according to the expected timeline), the important thing is why it happens, not that it happens.” Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Government Affairs Manager, in Government Executive   “It’s all coming down to our [inspector general] offices essentially. We gave them money, we gave them a certain amount of capacity increases, but not nearly enough.” Sean Moulton, Senior Policy Analyst, in the Washington Post   “They do in fact have an unfair advantage, and they are not just competing in the free market the way the rest of us are. So it’s not unreasonable — it’s the furthest thing from unreasonable, in fact — to expect that members of Congress (who by the way have their salaries paid for by taxpayers) to have to abide by similar kinds of rules.” Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Government Affairs Manager, in Gov Exec Daily   “It’s just unheard of to issue basically an everything waiver for almost all of a person’s assets. That literally puts them above the law.” Walt Shaub, Senior Ethics Fellow, in Business Insider

pogo.org The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power, and when the government fails to serve the public or silences those who report wrongdoing. We champion reforms to achieve a more effective, ethical, and accountable federal government that safeguards constitutional principles.

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