Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks in Los Angeles on Oct. 10.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks in Los Angeles on Oct. 10. Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

Biden Pledges to Create a Commission on Federal Ethics If Elected President

Amid the Ukraine scandal, Biden goes after Trump in his new ethics plan.

Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden released an ethics plan on Monday that would aim to prevent political influence in agencies, strengthen whistleblower protections and inspector general laws, and create an ethics commission.

Amid the impeachment inquiry that stemmed from President Trump reportedly asking the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden and his son, Biden released a plan to “restore ethics in government” if he is elected president.

“Trump has weaponized the executive branch against its core mission, including using the U.S. Justice Department to protect the president and his interests, over the American people and the rule of law,” the plan stated. “The next president must demonstrate with their actions—not empty words—that public servants serve all Americans, not themselves or narrow special interests.”

If elected president, Biden said he will issue an executive order to prevent the White House from improperly influencing Justice Department investigations or prosecutions. He would work with Congress to enact laws that give the department’s inspector general the authority to review allegations of partisan influence and report to Congress if and when allegations are substantiated. 

Across all agencies, the Democratic candidate said he would ensure that decisions on matters such as contracts or permits are based on merit, not politics. Also, he pledged to strengthen inspector general laws “to give [inspectors general] the full subpoena power and independence they need to investigate and publicize any official’s actual or attempted improper conduct.”

A Biden administration would also strengthen whistleblower laws, the candidate said, “so that any federal employee who learns of an improper attempt to influence a [Justice Department] investigation or prosecution knows how to report it and receives full protection against retaliation by anyone.” All reports would be brought directly to Congress. 

The limited protections for intelligence community whistleblowers have been in the spotlight following the Trump administration’s attempts to find the author of an anonymous complaint regarding the July call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

Finally, Biden would create a Commission on Federal Ethics to oversee federal anti-corruption and ethics laws because “existing law is a patchwork of subject-matter-specific mandates, overseen by agencies that often lack the authority to demand and receive compliance.” The commission would expand on the current authorities of the Federal Election Commission, Office of Government Ethics and Office of Special Counsel. 

It would be able to issue subpoenas, consolidate campaign related information, and refer matters to Justice and release a public report when it chooses to not take up a matter. There would be five commissioners, who would serve 10-year terms and would be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, with no more than three from the same party. A bipartisan oversight board would oversee the commission, which would include 11 experts on ethics, campaign finance and open government

Other aspects of Biden’s ethics plan include: preventing conflicts of interest among executive branch and congressional members, reducing the influence of money in politics and introducing a constitutional amendment to fund elections publicly. 

“The plan looks to resolve many old and recently exposed ethics dilemmas that harm the integrity of our democracy,” said Scott Amey, general counsel for the watchdog Project on Government Oversight. “His proposed solutions could prevent or expose backroom deals that aren't in the public's interest.” Amey said this was not an endorsement of the candidate. 

Biden’s plan was released the day before the fourth Democratic debate and right after Biden and his son spoke on ethical issues going forward. On Sunday, George Mesires, attorney for Hunter Biden, said Hunter will step down from his position on a Chinese private-equity firm and would not serve on any foreign boards if his father is elected. His participation on the board of a Ukranian natural gas company while his father was serving as vice president is at the heart of the current controversy.  

In an interview with ABC News over the weekend, Hunter said he “did nothing wrong at all” with his involvement in foreign businesses; however, his “mistake” was that he “gave a hook to some very unethical people to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father.”

Also on Sunday, during a speech in Iowa, the former vice president said, “No one in my family will have an office in the White House, will sit in on meetings as if they are a Cabinet member, will, in fact, have any business relationship with anyone that relates to a foreign corporation or a foreign country.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.