Demanding Ethics Enforcement in the Trump Administration  

The threats to ethics enforcement began the first week of the Trump Administration with the firing of inspectors general across at least 17 federal agencies and continued with the removal of numerous watchdog officers at the Department of Justice and multiple independent agencies. These officials, responsible for investigating violations and enforcing ethics laws, are an essential guardrail against corruption.

In the face of these threats, CLC has taken numerous legal actions calling for ethics investigations. This includes complaints filed with enforcement bodies in various agencies. These actions are a critical first step in CLC’s effort to help ensure that misconduct by government officials is exposed and investigated by the proper authorities.

We have filed complaints concerning the following officials since January 2025:

• January 28, 2026: U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for potentially violating conflict of interest laws by dropping investigations into crypto companies while holding potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in crypto-related assets.  
• October 29, 2025: Sec. Of Treasury Scott Bessent for his continued failure to divest from multi-million-dollar financial holdings that conflict with his official role.  
• October 16, 2025: Senior DHS Official Mark Hall for potentially participating in government contracting decisions involving his former employer.
• October 16, 2025: Senior DHS Official Tom Homan for not disclosing a reported 50,000 cash transaction on his financial disclosure reports.
• July 14, 2025: Ten Federal Agencies for failing to release ethics documents to the public related to the potential conflicts of interests of 117 public officials in violation of the ethics disclosure laws.
• July 9, 2025: Sec. of Treasury Scott Bessent for not publicly indicating that he has divested from the 28 holdings he identified as a conflict of interest, as he is required to do under the terms of an agreement with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE).  
• July 9, 2025: Sec. of Education Linda McMahon for not publicly indicating that she has divested from the 81 holdings she identified as a conflict of interest, as required by an OGE agreement.  
• June 4, 2025: DOGE employees for potential violations of financial disclosure reporting requirements.
• May 20, 2025: DOGE employee Gavin Kliger for violating ethics rules at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by refusing to divest stock worth as much as $715,000.  
• March 21, 2025: Sec. of Commerce Howard Lutnick for violating the federal ban on government officials using their public positions for private gain when he encouraged Americans to buy Tesla stock during a national television appearance.  
• March 13, 2025: Former DOGE Chief Elon Musk for potentially interfering with decision-making at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to give an unfair advantage to his satellite company Starlink.  

We Need Independent Ethics Enforcement in Government

Independent ethics enforcement is one of the most important mechanisms available for holding our government accountable. Systems of self-policing, such as those in the U.S. Senate or the U.S. Supreme Court, are ineffective at preventing the appearance of corruption, further deteriorating public trust in government institutions.  

Campaign Legal Center works mainly with three independent groups to hold government officials accountable:  

• The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is responsible for overseeing adherence to ethics laws by executive branch employees, including those appointed by the president, and is charged by the Ethics in Government Act (EIGA) to monitor and collect information on their financial interests.
• Inspectors General (IGs) are independent investigators within federal agencies who protect taxpayer money by rooting out corruption, fraud and waste in government.
• The Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC) is the House of Representatives’ independent, nonpartisan oversight body, and serves an essential role by providing transparency for Americans into the actions of their elected representatives. CLC has called on the OCC dozens of times to investigate misconduct that is detrimental to public trust in our lawmakers.

While these institutions are crucial to maintaining a government by the people and for the people, years of weak enforcement and political polarization have impeded investigations and often prevented accountability when government officials act unethically. Now, independent enforcers also must worry about political retribution from the president if they investigate his allies — creating a harmful chilling effect across our government.