Beheading the ethics office: the OGE director removed mid-term

Editor's note: reporting documents the removal of the ethics director as part of a pattern of firing oversight officials, but no court or official finding establishes it was unlawful or retaliatory.

On Monday, February 10, 2025, the Office of Government Ethics announced it had been notified that the president was removing its director, David Huitema. Huitema said the notice came from the Presidential Personnel Office in an email sent Friday night, with no explanation. He held a five-year term, having been confirmed in November 2024 and sworn in on December 16, 2024; OGE directors serve fixed terms that span administrations. Trump named VA Secretary Doug Collins acting head, and the office was later run by acting directors who held other executive-branch jobs at the same time.

OGE collects the financial disclosures and ethics agreements of the president and senior appointees to prevent conflicts of interest, the function most relevant to a first family with extensive business interests. Huitema told CNN: 'My sense is that the president doesn't want OGE or really anyone with an independent voice to address concerns that are raised.' On ABC News he warned that 'in time, you can expect to see more corruption, more abuse of office and less accountability.'

OGE does not investigate violations itself; in 1978 Congress gave that job to inspectors general. As of May 2026 the office had no Senate-confirmed director and no nominee, its last acting director had stopped serving in early December 2025, and the 300-day limit on an acting head had expired. Removing its director left the self-policed disclosure system it administers without a referee (OVR-13).