ETHICS WAIVER TRACKER
Ethics responsibilities are an important aspect of public service. Many of the rules exist to ensure public officials are not using their positions of public trust for private gain for themselves or those around them, such as former employers. Just as importantly, they exist to maintain public confidence that their government is not making decisions arbitrarily or based on inappropriate biases.
At times, public servants are granted waivers from strict ethics requirements that allow them to work on matters that may involve former employers or others with whom the public servant has a “covered relationship.” While this an accepted practice, waivers should be limited in number and scope and should not be granted simply because of a former employer’s strong political or media connections. When this occurs, it undermines the single standard all Americans expect of their government and is not how ethics rules are supposed to work.
Thus far the Administration has granted 50 waivers, including several to former labor union officials. Some former government ethics officials have defended the waivers, saying the individuals’ service is necessary and in the public interest. Yet others dispute this, claiming the former employers of the waiver recipients stand to reap significant financial and political benefits from the Administration’s proposed policies and that these waivers could represent a case of potential benefit and an appearance of bias that ethics rules are meant to prevent.
Protect the Public’s Trust is tracking agency decisions to grant waivers and impartiality decisions with a full list below. We will also be submitting FOIA requests to ensure the public stays up to speed on what potential conflicts of interest are being waived.
Official | Agency |
David Cohen | Central Intelligence Agency |
Jessica Ennis | Council on Environmental Quality |
Celeste Drake | Council on Environmental Quality |
Andrea Delgado | Department of Agriculture |
Gail Greenman | Department of Agriculture |
Thomas Vilsack | Department of Agriculture |
Xochitl Torres Small (Waiver/decision remains secret) | Department of Agriculture |
Jewel Hairston Bronaugh | Department of Agriculture |
Terry Goodin | Department of Agriculture |
Erin Oban | Department of Agriculture |
Glenn Pauley | Department of Agriculture |
Adena Leibman | Department of Commerce (NOAA) |
Valerie Williams | Department of Education |
James F. Lane | Department of Education |
Jennifer Granholm | Department of Energy |
Jigar Shah | Department of Energy |
Geraldine Richmond (Waiver/decision remains secret) | Department of Energy |
Corey Hinderstein (Waiver/decision remains secret) | Department of Energy |
Jill Hruby (Waiver/decision remains secret) | Department of Energy |
David Turk (Waiver/decision remains secret) | Department of Energy |
Marvin L. Adams | Department of Energy |
Joshua Shiode | Department of Energy |
Xavier Becerra | Department of Health and Human Services |
Sean McCluskie | Department of Health and Human Services |
Sarah Lovenheim (updated) | Department of Health and Human Services |
Miriam Delphin-Rittmon (Waiver/decision remains secret) | Department of Health and Human Services |
Rachel Levine | Department of Health and Human Services |
Sarah Boateng | Department of Health and Human Services |
Chiquita Brooks-LaSure (Waiver/decision remains secret) | Department of Health and Human Services |
Marvin L. Figueroa | Department of Health and Human Services |
Dr. Suhas Tripathi | Department of Health and Human Services |
Benjamin Sommers | Department of Health and Human Services |
Daniel Tsai | Department of Health and Human Services |
Charanya Krishnaswami | Department of Homeland Security |
Michelle Brané | Department of Homeland Security |
Eric Hysen | Department of Homeland Security |
Vanita Gupta | Department of Justice |
Elizabeth B Prelogar (Waiver/decision remains secret) | Department of Justice |
Elizabeth Prelogar | Department of Justice |
Jonathan Kanter (Waiver/decision remains secret) | Department of Justice |
Rachael Rollins (Waiver/decision remains secret) | Department of Justice |
Lee Satterfield | Department of State |
Lee Satterfield (Waiver/decision remains secret) | Department of State |
Wendy Sherman (Others remains secret) | Department of State |
Victoria Nuland | Department of State |
Elizabeth Van Schaack | Department of State |
Caroline Kennedy | Department of State |
Elizabeth Klein (Waiver/decision remains secret, contains “non-standard language”) | Department of the Interior |
Martha Williams | Department of the Interior |
Raina Thiele | Department of the Interior |
Summer Sylva | Department of the Interior |
Janet Yellen | Department of the Treasury |
Janet Yellen – 2 | Department of the Treasury |
David Lipton | Department of the Treasury |
Rex (Logan) Sturm | Department of the Treasury |
Marilynn Malerba | Department of the Treasury |
Alexia Latortue | Department of the Treasury |
Nellie Liang | Department of the Treasury |
Nellie Liang – 2 | Department of the Treasury |
Rahul Prabhakar | Department of the Treasury |
Pete Buttigieg | Department of Transportation |
Steven Cliff | Department of Transportation |
Maureen Elias | Department of Veterans Affairs |
John Lucey | Environmental Protection Agency |
Kathleen Lance | Environmental Protection Agency |
Melissa Hoffer | Environmental Protection Agency |
Casey Katims | Environmental Protection Agency |
Michael Regan | Environmental Protection Agency |
Marianne Engelman-Lado (impartiality determination) | Environmental Protection Agency |
Marianne Engelman-Lado | Environmental Protection Agency |
Philip Fine | Environmental Protection Agency |
Susannah Weaver | Environmental Protection Agency |
Willie L. Phillips | Federal Energy Regulatory Commission |
C. William B. Nelson | NASA |
Pamela A. Melroy | NASA |
Elizabeth A. Eurgubian | National Credit Union Administration |
Celeste Drake | Office of Management and Budget |
Aviva Aron-Dine | Office of Management and Budget |
Mina Hsiang | Office of Management and Budget |
Mina Hsiang – 2 | Office of Management and Budget |
Alethea Predeoux | Office of Personnel Management |
Gabriela Chojkier | U.S. Agency for International Development |
Natasha Bilimoria | U.S. Agency for International Development |
Erika Moritsugu | White House |
Kristine Lucius | White House |
Karine Jean-Pierre | White House |
Leidy Perez-Davis | White House |
Jake Sullivan | White House |
Andrew Slavitt | White House |
Rachel Patterson | White House |