WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Adam Schiff (D-CA) joined five Senators in pressing White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to provide information on the top post at the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) being vacant for months, making it so OGE is unable to perform a range of critical functions to enforce our ethics laws.
“OGE’s mission helps ensure that the more than 2 million government employes have the tools necessary to avoid problems related to ethics or conflicts of interest and – critically – maintain the trust of the American public. OGE simply cannot fulfill its role, as intended by Congress, without a director,” said the Senators.
In February 2025, Trump removed OGE Director David Huitema, despite being confirmed by the Senate for a five-year term just months prior. The role was temporarily filled by a series of acting directors, who also served other roles in the Administration, l limiting the office’s ability to conduct its duties.
Slotkin and the Senators noted that no one is currently serving in an acting role leading the agency, nor has Trump nominated anyone else for the role, and demanded answers from Wiles – noting that “without an acting or permanent director, OGE is unable to function as Congress intended.”
In addition to Slotkin and Schiff, the letter was signed by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Catherine Cortez Masto (D- NV), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and Elizabeth Warren (D- MA).
The full text of the letter can be found here.
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