Highlights:
DeVos Profited Off Student Loan Industry. According to the Center for American Progress, “The Washington Post reported suspicions that [DeVos] had a financial stake in a company that, until recently, held a lucrative contract from the U.S. Department of Education to pursue the loans of defaulted student borrowers. Page 70 of the ethics paperwork confirmed that suspicion as fact. Located within a fund labeled ‘MCF CLO IV, LLC’ is an investment in Performant Recovery Inc., which previously operated as Diversified Collection Services Inc’” [Center For American Progress, 1/27/17]
DeVos Blocked Law Enforcement Authorities From Overseeing Student Loan Practices. According to CNN, “Democratic attorneys general from 20 states and Washington, DC, sent a letter to the secretary last week saying the Department of Education is blocking access to records requested by law enforcement. ‘The department’s policy reversal impedes states’ ability to enforce the law and shields unprincipled industry actors from regulatory enforcement, harming student loan borrowers nationwide,’ the letter reads. The department has cited privacy reasons when rejecting requests for information over the past year […]” [CNN, 4/9/19]
Ross Shorted Stock When Made Aware Investment In Shipping Company Was To Be Made Public. According to the Associated Press, “Wilbur Ross made a trade betting that the stock in a shipping company with Russian-government ties would fall, a transaction coming just days after he learned of a possible negative news story about his investment in the company. Ross reported […] that he shorted stock in Navigator Holdings in October. The New York Times reported Tuesday that the transaction came three business days after a Times reporter submitted questions to Ross about Navigator. The transaction, listed as worth between $100,000 and $250,000, was first reported Monday by Forbes.” [Associated Press, 6/19/18]
Zinke Faced 15 Investigations During His Tenure, Including One Involving A Land Deal With Halliburton That Was Referred To The Justice Department. According to the Washington Post, “Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke submitted his resignation to the White House on Saturday, facing intense pressure to step down because of multiple probes tied to his real estate dealings in his home state of Montana and his conduct in office. […] For Zinke, the key moment in his loss of support at the White House came in October, when Interior’s inspector general referred one of its inquiries to the Justice Department, according to two senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. That probe, which continues, is examining whether a land deal Zinke struck with the chairman of oil services giant Halliburton in his hometown of Whitefish, Mont., constituted a conflict of interest. […] During his tenure, Zinke came under at least 15 investigations, including: inquiries into his connection to a real estate deal involving a company that Interior regulates; whether he bent government rules to allow his wife to ride in government vehicles; and allowing a security detail to travel with him on a vacation to Turkey at considerable taxpayer cost.” [Washington Post, 12/15/18]
September 2017: NPR: “Health And Human Services Secretary Tom Price Resigned Friday In The Face Of Multiple Investigations Into His Use Of Private Charter And Military Jets To Travel Around The Country At Taxpayer Expense.” According to NPR, “Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned Friday in the face of multiple investigations into his use of private charter and military jets to travel around the country at taxpayer expense. Later, the White House placed new requirements on officials' air travel plans.” [NPR, 9/29/17]
Price’s Private Jet Travel Could Have Been Done Commercially And Saved The Taxpayers Nearly $1 Million. According to NPR, “The work-related travel, which was first reported Sept. 19 by Politico, cost taxpayers nearly $1 million, or about $400,000 for private charters and $500,000 in military airplane costs. Most of the trips were between cities where inexpensive commercial flights were also available.” [NPR, 9/29/17]
Price Refunded Less Than $52,000 Of Over $400,000 In Wasteful Chartered Flights. According to the Washington Post, “Price […] had announced Thursday that he would reimburse the government for a fraction of the costs of his charter flights in recent months. An HHS official said Price would write a check for $51,887.31, which appears to cover the cost of his seat on the flights but not those of his staffers. Politico, which first reported on Price’s repeated use of private planes, has estimated the total expense of the taxpayer-funded trips exceeded $400,000.” [Washington Post, 9/29/17]
Carson Allowed His Son To Attend A HUD “Listening Tour” After Attorneys Warned Of Conflict Of Interest Concerns. According to ABC News, “Federal investigators are looking into why Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson included his son Ben Carson Jr. in an agency ‘listening tour,’ despite objections from HUD attorneys, an Inspector General spokesperson confirmed to ABC News. Carson Jr., a Maryland businessman, invited several ‘business associates’ to his father's Baltimore roundtable in June, which was meant to explore attitudes toward low-income housing. According to a department memo, first reported by The Washington Post and obtained by ABC News, lawyers repeatedly warned against including Carson Jr.'s involvement, which they worried would ‘gave the appearance that the secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain’ and run afoul of ethics rules.” [ABC News, 2/2/18]
Chao Appeared In Videos Promoting Her Father’s Business That Relied On Her Position As Transportation Secretary. According to Politico, “[…] Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has appeared beside her shipping magnate father, whose company carries goods between the United States and Asia, and who has given Chao and her husband at least $5 million in the past 10 years. In many of the videos, James Chao is introduced as founder and chairman of the Foremost Group shipping company, and, in discussing a 2016 biography about his life, speaks proudly of his daughter’s role as secretary of transportation, as she sits beaming by his side. One interview with New China Press published on April 12, 2017, features the pair sitting in what appears to be the Department of Transportation, with DOT flags in view behind the interviewer.” [Politico, 5/6/18]
Pruitt Used His Office Staff To Seek A Business Opportunity For His Wife. According to the New York Times, “Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, gave a political aide the task of helping him seek a ‘business opportunity’ for his wife with the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A. Emails released to the Sierra Club under the Freedom of Information Act show that Sydney Hupp, a former scheduler for Mr. Pruitt, contacted Chick-fil-A’s chief executive, Dan T. Cathy, in May 2017 at Mr. Pruitt’s behest to set up a meeting.” [New York Times, 6/5/18]
Christie Was Hired To Lead Trump’s Transition Team. According to the Washington Post, “In 2016, Trump named New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie the leader of transition planning. Christie assembled a team of more than 100 researchers and lawyers, who generated names of candidates for critical posts for a potential administration. Just after the election, they delivered hundreds of pages that outlined a framework for the new administration.” [Washington Post, 3/30/18]
November 2016: Christie Was Fired And The Transition Plan Was In Limbo. According to the Washington Post, “On Nov. 11, 2016, Trump fired Christie and his team and relaunched the transition. All the planning — including at least 100 candidates proposed for top jobs and 200 other prospective appointees — was in limbo. “The idea that you can take six months of work . . . and throw all that out, turned out to be a big mistake,” Christie said later at a news conference.” [Washington Post, 3/30/18]
Trump Had A Historic Number Of Cabinet Vacancies, Leading To Instability. According to Axios, “No president in recent history has started their tenure with as many extended Cabinet vacancies as President Trump. Why it matters: Trump has been happy to fill many of the positions with ‘acting’ officials, saying it ‘gives me more flexibility.’ But it adds instability when so many departments are without permanent leaders — and acting secretaries don't go through the scrutiny and vetting that they'd get with Senate confirmation.” [Axios, 6/6/19]
Trump’s Picks Led To Mistakes And A Lack Of Viable Options. According to Politico, “If there’s a thread running through them all, it’s a president with a penchant for choosing many top appointees based on instinct — and without regard for prior government experience — plus a White House whose vetting operation is far from thorough and a thin Republican Senate majority with little room for error. The result is that the Trump administration’s senior ranks largely include individuals who were not, in many cases, the president’s first or even second choice to fill a given post, but became the only logical choice after other options evaporated.” [Politico, 6/18/19]
Lack Of Vetting Was, In Part, Because Trump Relied On Media To Do The Work. According to The Hill, “But on the South Lawn, he suggested coverage of his nominees was part of the vetting process. ‘I get a name, I give it out to the press and you vet for me. A lot of time you do a very good job. Not always,’ Trump told reporters. ‘If you look at the vetting process for the White House, it is very good, but you are part of the vetting process. I give out a name to the press and you vet for me.’” [The Hill, 8/2/19]
August 2019: Over Five Dozen Of Trump’s Nominees Were Either Withdrawn Or Pulled. According to USA Today, “The pattern has been repeated again and again as more than five dozen of Trump’s picks for various jobs either withdrew or saw their nominations pulled before they were put through the confirmation process in the Senate.” [USA Today, 8/2/19]
Taylor Weyeneth Was Promoted To Deputy Chief Of Staff For Drug Control Policy Despite No Relevant Experience. According to the Washington Post, “An unpaid campaign intern with no professional experience who soared into a top job with a six-figure salary at the White House’s drug policy office. But on Jan. 14, in the hours after a front-page Washington Post story cast doubt on his résumé and qualifications, 24-year-old Taylor Weyeneth was feeling vulnerable.” [Washington Post, 6/15/18]
Scaramucci Was Fired After 10 Days On The Job. According to the New York Times, “John F. Kelly […] underscored his intent by firing Anthony Scaramucci, the bombastic communications director, 10 days after he was hired. Mr. Scaramucci was forced out of his post, with the blessing of the president and his family, just days after unloading a crude verbal tirade against other members of the president’s staff, including Reince Priebus, Mr. Kelly’s beleaguered predecessor, and Stephen K. Bannon, the chief White House strategist, in a conversation with a reporter for The New Yorker.” [New York Times, 7/31/17]
NBC News Headline: “Scaramucci Sets Record For Shortest Term As Communications Director.” [NBC News, 4/31/17]
Porter Resigned After Reports Of Domestic Abuse Came Out. According to Politico, “White House staff secretary Rob Porter […] said Wednesday he plans to resign following abuse allegations from his ex-wives. In a pair of reports published by the Daily Mail, Porter’s two ex-wives detailed episodes of alleged verbal and physical abuse. The Daily Mail published a copy of a protective order obtained by Porter’s second wife in 2010, and later published photographs of Porter’s first wife with a black eye she said came from Porter punching her.” [Politico, 2/7/18]