The executive branch's Office of Government Ethics is trying to find out which of the many former lobbyists hired by the Trump administration may now be working on issues on which they previously lobbied.
'Members of Congress have sent numerous document requests to the White House and federal agencies requesting information about potential conflicts of interest of President Trump's appointees and whether those advisors have received waivers from President Trump's executive order or other conflict of interest laws or are recused from certain matters.
Upon receiving Mulvaney's letter, Shaub told the Times that he'd "never seen anything like" the administration's attempt to keep such waivers private.
That was echoed by Marilyn Glynn, who served as acting director of OGE during the George W. Bush administration, who told The Times the White House's stance is "unprecedented and extremely troubling".
Trump signed an executive order in January that enacted a two-year ban on lobbyists being hired for federal government positions in "particular" agencies as part of a broader "ethics pledge". Those waivers were automatically made public in the Obama administration.
'The very fact that this internal discussion was leaked implies that the data being sought is not being collected to satisfy our mutual high standard of ethics, ' a statement to the Times said.
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Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, urged Shaub to continue pursuing his office's demand for copies of waivers of ethics rules.
In the letter dated May 17 obtained by The Times, Mulvaney writes that Shaub's request "appears to raise legal questions regarding the scope of OGE's authorities".
"This request, in both its expansive scope and breathless timetable, demanded that we seek further legal guidance", the statement read.
The ethics agency, which has limited power to compel the White House to produce such records, may now be forced into a legal confrontation with the president's team, adding to the growing number of inquiries into corruption and ethics violations in the executive branch. That's something the White House will likely be doing a lot. It continued, "I therefore request that you stay the data call until these questions are resolved".
"It is yet another demonstration of disrespect for the rule of law and for ethics and transparency coming from the White House", he said. After a report that Trump asked Comey to end an investigation into former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Chaffetz asked for documents with details of their meetings.
The Office of Government Ethics, however, does not have the power to take enforcement action directly against the agencies if they do not respond. But that program starts with the office of the president.
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