Article Summary –
Less than a month into his second term, President Donald Trump has rolled back ethics rules, removed government watchdogs, and halted legal proceedings against officials accused of corruption, actions criticized by Aaron Scherb of Common Cause as eliminating checks on presidential power. Specific actions by Trump’s administration include rescinding Biden’s ethics executive order, removing inspectors general, firing a special counsel, dissolving an FBI task force on election security, halting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, dropping charges against former co-defendants and officials, and issuing pardons related to the January 6 insurrection. Scherb warns these moves could erode public confidence in government, increase corruption, and raise costs for Americans, while Trump’s “America First priorities” document does not address corruption or ethics reform.
Less than a month into his second White House term, President Donald Trump has undone ethics rules, dismissed government watchdogs, and stopped legal actions against officials accused of corruption.
“They’re completely flooding the zone and creating a Wild West again, creating a kind of new Robber Baron era,” Aaron Scherb, the senior director of legislative affairs for the nonpartisan good government group Common Cause, said in a phone interview. “There’s not even an illusion to try to ‘drain the swamp’ this time.”
Scherb stated, “He’s essentially trying to eliminate all guardrails and all checks against presidential power.”
Since reentering the White House, Trump’s administration reportedly:
- Revoked President Joe Biden’s January 2021 ethics executive order limiting lobbyist gifts and quick career transitions between executive roles and lobbying.
- Removed over 12 inspectors general, tasked with investigating federal agency waste, fraud, and abuse, without the required 30-day notice.
- Dismissed the director of the Office of Government Ethics, overseeing executive branch ethics.
- Ordered the firing of the special counsel at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, protecting federal whistleblowers.
- Dissolved an FBI task force designed to counter foreign election influence.
- Halted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, protecting consumers from financial abuses.
- Fired Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith and his team, who indicted Trump in the past.
- Dropped charges against Trump’s former co-defendants in a classified records mishandling case.
- Pardoned or commuted the sentences of all Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection participants.
- Dropped corruption charges against indicted ex-U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and NYC Mayor Eric Adams (D).
- Pardoned ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a former “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant convicted of corruption, including selling a Senate seat.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump, Fortenberry, and Adams deny any wrongdoing. Blagojevich, who pleaded not guilty, was convicted on 24 federal charges in 2010.
Scherb predicted Trump’s actions will harm the nation: “Ultimately, it will lead to decreased faith and confidence in government. It will lead to more corruption. It will lead to higher costs for all Americans.” Without ethics rules, he said, Trump appointees can award themselves federal contracts and eliminate competition, driving up prices for consumers.
On Jan. 20, Trump released “America First priorities,” including “Drain the swamp,” a 2016 campaign phrase aimed at ending corruption. The five items focus on removing “useless and overpaid DEI activists,” reversing Biden’s orders, ending telework, adopting “an America-First foreign policy,” and stopping “government weaponization against rivals.”
The document omits any mention of government corruption or ethics.
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