The White House is raising the white flag in a fight over ethics disclosures and waivers.
The fracas is in response to an April memo from the Office of Government Ethics that requested the White House and all other agencies in the executive branch detail the waivers that are sometimes given to appointees whose previous work either as a lobbyist or for some other employer might cause a conflict with ethical guidelines.
At the time, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, signaled the administration wasn’t certain the OGE had the legal authority to go after the information. Mulvaney went so far as to suggest that the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel might be asked to weigh in.
Now, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters says the administration will post waivers to appointees by June 1, according to the Washington Post.
The previous refusal to release the waivers had some critics crying hypocrisy on the president’s “Drain the Swamp,” pledges from the campaign trail.
Mulvaney sent a letter to OGE Director Walter Shaub on Friday, stating he was concerned about “protecting the process” in which waivers are handled and made public.
“OMB shares the belief that the Executive Branch must uphold the highest ethical standards in accordance with the law,” Mulvaney wrote to Shaub.
The struggle between OMB and OGE lasted through a good part of May, but rarely captured much of the nation’s attention as larger stories on the Russia investigations and the firing of former FBI Director James Comey emerged on an almost daily basis.
