21st Century Government
Campaign
to Cut Waste

President Obama and Vice President Biden launch the Campaign to Cut Waste, which will hunt down and eliminate misspent tax dollars in every agency and department across the Federal Government.

Read the executive order

21st Century Government Latest News

  • An Update on Waivers

    Posted by Norm Eisen on September 4, 2009 at 2:56 PM EDT

    We have previously reported six limited waivers that have been granted by the White House pursuant to the President’s Executive Order on Ethics for Executive Branch personnel – the strongest ethics standards in U.S. government history.  Three of these waivers involved lobbying-related issues and three did not. We blogged about them here, here, and here. 
    Several months ago, the public interest community suggested that we also make available in a central place limited waivers granted by other federal agencies besides the White House.  Today, we are releasing all ten such agency-granted waivers (none of which involve lobbying). The President’s Executive Order calls for an annual report to be completed in early 2010 that will include all waivers granted pursuant to the Order.  We are, however, pleased to make all of the pledge waivers granted to date by this Administration available now--more than four months early.

    The ten waivers by agencies can be found here.  All involve limited waivers of paragraph 2 of the President’s ethics pledge (none involve Paragraph 3, the lobbying provision).  That is, they permit certain Executive Branch appointees to work on particular matters that may involve persons with which the appointees formerly had a professional relationship because there was a compelling public interest in allowing it. In each case, it was determined by an agency ethics officer after careful review that the public interest in permitting the appointee’s participation outweighed any appearance concerns.

    We note that decisions to grant the limited waivers have been exceedingly rare. The six White House and ten agency waivers together apply to 16 out of approximately 1890 appointments that have been made: that is less than 1%. And out of the 1890 appointments, only 3 times has the Administration waived the ethics pledge lobbying provision – that is less than one tenth of one percent. 

    As we have pointed out before, and as experts agree, even the toughest rules require some flexibility. Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute said the following: "It is important and necessary to have the highest ethical standards for service in an administration-- and also appropriate and necessary to strike a balance by having a limited number of waivers to make reasonable accommodations to attract the best possible talent to serve in key government posts. The Obama White House has done just that, as this additional disclosure of ten agency waivers makes clear." Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution said: "The steps taken today by the White House to shed additional light on the use of the waiver provision of the President’s Executive Order on Ethics should reassure critics of his policy and its implementation. By disclosing the ten waivers granted by other federal agencies and documenting that it has waived the ethics pledge lobbying provision only three times, the Administration has demonstrated that its new ethics standards are not being undermined by backdoor exceptions."
    Norm Eisen is special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform

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  • Closing Lobbyist Loopholes

    Posted by OMB Director Peter Orszag on July 27, 2009 at 1:59 PM EDT

    Cross-posted from the OMB blog.
    The President believes that a piece of legislation as important as the Recovery Act must be implemented with an unprecedented degree of transparency. That is why, in March, he imposed substantial limits on lobbyists in their communications with the Federal government about the Recovery Act. He also ordered OMB to evaluate agencies’ actual experiences with the restrictions in the first 60 days and then recommend whether any modifications were needed. That review resulted in a decision to tighten the restrictions and, on Friday, OMB updated the formal guidance on Recovery Act communications with lobbyists.
    We continue to demand unprecedented transparency for lobbyist contacts and, for the first time in history, we now are bringing transparency to the world of unregistered lobbyists – CEOs and others with special access who would contact an agency or department about their interest in Recovery funding. By expanding the restrictions on oral communications to apply to everybody who tries to exert influence on Recovery Act competitive funding decisions, we reinforce merit-based decision-making and transparency. Tough lines also need to be bright lines, so everyone can understand them. That’s why the updated approach focuses these restrictions on oral communications after formal applications for competitive funding have been filed and before the funds are awarded.
    Contacts by registered lobbyists prior to the filing of a formal application remain subject to the previously announced restrictions, which require rapid Internet disclosure of the contact. These rules are by far the toughest ever and go well beyond the minimum disclosures previously required by law. To make that disclosure more consistent, the White House shortly will provide departments and agencies with a new technology tool – so that thorough reporting and information standards will be easily accessible for anyone to see.
    Peter R. Orszag is Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
     

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  • Update on Recovery Act Lobbying Rules: New Limits on Special Interest Influence

    Posted by Jesse Lee on May 29, 2009 at 5:35 PM EDT

    Another update from Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, in the spirit of transparency as always:
    I am writing with an update on the President’s March 20, 2009 Memorandum on Ensuring Responsible Spending of Recovery Act Funds. Section 3 of the Memorandum required all oral communications between federally registered lobbyists and government officials concerning Recovery Act policy to be disclosed on the Internet; barred registered lobbyists from having oral communications with government officials about specific Recovery Act projects or applications and instead required those communications to be in writing; and also required those written communications to be posted on the Internet.  That Memorandum instructed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review the initial 60 days of implementation of the stimulus lobbying restrictions, to evaluate the data, and to recommend modifications.
    Following OMB’s review, the Administration has decided to make a number of changes to the rules that we think make them even tougher on special interests and more focused on merits-based decision making.
    First, we will expand the restriction on oral communications to cover all persons, not just federally registered lobbyists.  For the first time, we will reach contacts not only by registered lobbyists but also by unregistered ones, as well as anyone else exerting influence on the process.  We concluded this was necessary under the unique circumstances of the stimulus program.
    Second, we will focus the restriction on oral communications to target the scenario where concerns about merit-based decision-making are greatest –after competitive grant applications are submitted and before awards are made.  Once such applications are on file, the competition should be strictly on the merits.  To that end, comments (unless initiated by an agency official) must be in writing and will be posted on the Internet for every American to see.
    Third, we will continue to require immediate internet disclosure of all other communications with registered lobbyists.  If registered lobbyists have conversations or meetings before an application is filed, a form must be completed and posted to each agency’s website documenting the contact.
    OMB will be consulting with agencies, outside experts and others about these principles and will publish detailed guidance, but we wanted to update interested parties on the outcome of the initial review.  We consulted very broadly both within and outside of government (including as reflected in previous posts on the White House blog) and we are grateful to all those who participated in the process.

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  • Ethics Update

    Posted by Jesse Lee on May 1, 2009 at 6:10 PM EDT

    As he has done before in the spirit of transparency, Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, asked us to pass along this update on the President’s Executive Order on Ethics:

    Just a quick post to advise that we granted an authorization under Section 3 of the President’s Ethics Executive Order to Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett to lead the White House's effort to support Chicago's bid to secure the 2016 Olympics.

    The President promised during the campaign that staff would not work on contracts or regulations directly related to their former employers.  We have captured that promise in Paragraph 2 of our revolving door rules, which applies to non-lobbyists.  Valerie previously served as Vice Chair of Chicago 2016, the non-profit entity responsible for the Chicago bid.  Although Chicago 2016 was not her "former employer" in traditional terms, the term "former employer" in the President's Order encompasses entities that appointees served as directors or officers, as Valerie did here.  (To be clear, Valerie was not a lobbyist for Chicago 2016, and this waiver has nothing to do with lobbying.)
    We decided that a waiver of Paragraph 2 was in the public interest in order to help bring the Olympics back to the United States. Valerie’s past experience with Chicago 2016 makes her ideal to work with the city and its bid committee to help win the Olympics for the U.S., with the many benefits that would bestow.  In her time working with the City of Chicago on its bid, she developed knowledge about the process that will make her a powerful advocate and liaison.  Although Valerie previously volunteered with Chicago 2016, she has no continuing financial relationship with them.  Since the Administration already plans on vigorously supporting the United States’ sole 2016 Olympic bid, we felt that letting Valerie lead our efforts was strongly in the public interest.  The authorization can be found here (pdf).
     
    As I have previously noted on this blog, the availability of waivers in appropriate cases has been praised by ethics experts and commentators alike:
    • Norman Ornstein, a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute stated that "This tough and commendable new set of ethics provisions goes a long way toward breaking the worst effects of the revolving door. There are many qualified people for the vast majority of government posts. But a tough ethics provision cannot be so tough and rigid that it hurts the country unintentionally. Kudos to President Obama for adding a waiver provision, to be used sparingly for special cases in the national interest. This is all about appropriate balance, and this new executive order strikes just the right balance."

    • Thomas Mann, Senior Fellow of Governance Studies and the Brookings Institution said that "The new Obama ethics code is strict and should advance the objective of reducing the purely financial incentives in public service.  I applaud another provision of the EO, namely the waiver provision that allows the government to secure the essential services of individuals who might formally be constrained from doing so by the letter of the code.  The safeguards built into the waiver provision strike the right balance."

    • The Washington Post editorialized that the President had "adopted a tough ethics policy . . . sweeping in time and scope."  The editorial board wrote that "The president's rule ensures that any conflicts will be carefully watched, and his flexibility despite certain criticism signals an ability to make hard but reasonable calls." 

     

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  • "Words and Deeds"

    Posted by Jesse Lee on April 29, 2009 at 12:10 PM EDT

    Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, drops by to talk about progress on ethics and transparency since the President was sworn in.

    The President promised across-the-board change in Washington and all of us in the White House have been pleased to help deliver. In the ethics and government reform arena, we have worked hard to help the President impose strict new ethics rules for all employees; foster a culture of compliance and respect for the law; promote greater transparency (including through our first-ever instant electronic release of personal financial disclosure forms); and implement historic revolving door limits for lobbyists and others.

    But don't just take our word for it.  Members of the government reform community have issued a statement praising the President for the "groundbreaking government integrity reforms he has put in place" and recognizing that "the President has demonstrated in his first hundred days through words and deeds that he is serious about changing the rules of the game in Washington and increasing the voice of citizens in the governing process."
    Click through and read the complete statement by members of the government reform community acknowledging the administration's historic opening efforts.  

     

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  • Update on Lobbyist Contacts Regarding the Recovery Act

    Posted by Jesse Lee on April 27, 2009 at 1:03 PM EDT

    In the spirit of transparency, Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, asked us to pass along this update on the President’s restrictions on lobbyist contacts regarding the Recovery Act.
    President Obama has made historic commitments to putting the public interest first and to cracking down on special interests and, in particular, lobbying abuses. To accomplish that, he has put forward the toughest rules in history closing the revolving door between K Street and the Executive Branch and putting contacts with lobbyists regarding projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on the internet for all Americans to see. 
    We know some people think the Administration has been too tough in keeping lobbyists out of government jobs, and too tough in making lobbyist contacts about Recovery Act projects fully transparent. We don’t think so. We think our restrictions are correct to promote the public interest ahead of special interests. As the President has noted, one of the hallmarks of being tough is that you not only talk to the people you agree with—you talk to the ones you disagree with. So we want to hear from everyone affected during the 60-day initial evaluation period for the stimulus lobbying restrictions. We have heard from those that support these rules. On Friday, we met with several groups who disagree with the rules. These groups included Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the American League of Lobbyists (ALL). Present at the meeting were the following, each representing the entity noted:
    Michael W. Macleod-Ball, Chief Legislative and Policy Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); Melanie Sloan, Executive Director, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW); Adam Rappaport, Senior Counsel, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW); David Wenhold, President, American League of Lobbyists (ALL); Kenneth A. Gross, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (representing ALL);
    and
    Norman Eisen, Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform; Preeta Bansal, General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Management and Budget; Michael Mongan, Deputy Counsel to the Vice President; and members of their staffs.   
    We told them we believed the restrictions were tough but fair to make sure that lobbyist communications are as transparent as possible, and that stimulus decisions are based on the merits. They agreed with our objectives -- any differences we have are over the best means to achieve those goals. They took exception to some of the specifics of the restrictions and we had an honest exchange about our differences. We noted that others, including in the reform community, strongly support the restrictions and we have heard from them too as part of the 60 day evaluation period mandated by the President's Memorandum.

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