ETHICS/POLITICAL FIGURES/WALTER SHAUB: “Walter Shaub said he felt almost powerless as head of the Office of Government Ethics to serve as a check on President Donald Trump’s administration, but he’s pushing Congress to empower his successors.
Shaub, now the senior director for ethics at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, sent a letter Thursday [11-9-17] to the leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee recommending more than a dozen legislative proposals to strengthen OGE.
Recommendations include insulating the OGE director from “retaliation by establishing new procedural or substantive requirements” for removal and authorizing OGE to communicate with Congress on issues ranging from its budget and legislative proposals to its oversight of the executive branch ethics program…
Thursday’s letter includes 30 pages of proposals. To improve oversight, Shaub suggests allowing the OGE director to stay in office for up to a year beyond the term’s expiration — or until replaced. He said the post has been vacant for more than five years over the last 14, but carryover authority ‘would enhance the continuity of OGE’s operations following the end of’ a director’s term.”
-Nolan D. McCaskill, “Ex-ethics chief Shaub asks Congress to strengthen oversight office,” Politico, Nov. 9, 2017 11:01am