Democrats, watchdog seek Trumpʼs ethics waivers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The message from a senator to the government ethics office: Use your authority to force the president to reveal how many waivers he's granted to ex-lobbyists in his new administration. That was Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley's demand to the Office of Government Ethics in June 2009. He was seeking information about some of President Barack Obama's most controversial appointees, the people who used to make their living pressing the federal government for money and policies.

Eight years and a political flip later, Republicans in President Donald Trump's administration say OGE lacks that authority, and they've asserted that there's no need for them to publicly disclose any ethics waivers.

Trump's budget director Mick Mulvaney is asking that ethics Director Walter Shaub halt his inquiry into lobbyists-turned-Trump administration employees.

"In particular, this data call appears to raise legal questions regarding the scope of OGE's authorities," Mulvaney wrote in a letter last week to Shaub, first reported by the New York Times.

The back-and-forth follows a request Shaub made in late April that agency heads share with his office by June 1 waivers the Trump administration has issued to its ethics policies concerning lobbyists. Mulvaney's letter indicates that administration agencies, such as Treasury, Commerce and Defense, won't be responding to Shaub. And there's a longstanding legal question about whether the White House itself is subject to any disclosure to the OGE. The Office of the White House Counsel has until June 1 to comply with Shaub's data request or decline in writing.