Political Appointees

Trump Requires Political Loyalty Tests for All Federal Hiring

| Importance: 9/10

President Trump replaced the federal hiring freeze with an executive order mandating that political appointees approve all new government hires through ‘strategic hiring committees,’ converting civil service into a partisan screening mechanism. The order transforms federal employment …

Donald Trump Political Appointees Federal Agencies institutional-capture corruption abuse-of-power authoritarianism
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Trump eliminates ethics requirements and lobbying restrictions

| Importance: 8/10

Trump revoked Biden’s Executive Order 13989 on ethics commitments on January 20, 2025, eliminating requirements that banned gifts from lobbyists, prohibited shadow lobbying for one year, and imposed two-year cooling-off periods before joining firms that lobby agencies. The rescission allows …

Donald Trump Trump Administration Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Public Citizen Craig Holman (Public Citizen lobbyist) +1 more ethics-violation lobbying regulatory-capture government-ethics institutional-capture +3 more
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Biden Administration 2022: Comprehensive Review of Political Appointees' Financial Disclosures and Ethics Compliance

| Importance: 8/10

Comprehensive analysis of Biden administration’s 2022 financial disclosures reveals a complex landscape of potential conflicts of interest and efforts to mitigate them. The Office of Government Ethics certified financial reports showing high compliance, with 48 out of 56 White House assistants …

Biden Administration Office of Government Ethics Regulatory Agencies Political Appointees Antony Blinken +3 more regulatory-capture revolving-door personnel conflict-of-interest ethics-disclosure +1 more
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