President Biden promotes his American Jobs Plan at an event in Pittsburgh on March 31.

President Biden promotes his American Jobs Plan at an event in Pittsburgh on March 31. Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz

Were Biden’s Ethics Waivers for Labor Ties Justified?

“Not all ethics waivers are bad,” said a former director of the Office of Government Ethics.

Soon after taking the oath of office in January, President Biden issued a sweeping ethics pledge for executive branch personnel. But shortly thereafter, the administration granted waivers to two labor leaders to allow them to serve in senior positions, drawing the ire of some conservatives along with charges of hypocrisy. “Labor’s sizable personnel presence in the administration is driving policy,” Axios reported on Friday. “And the president’s appointment of top union officials to senior posts gives those unions powerful voices in the federal bureaucracy — even at the cost of strictly adhering to his own stringent ethics standards.” 

Nonetheless, ethics officials who spoke to Government Executive said they were generally not concerned about the waivers issued in the cases cited. 

According to the Axios report, Celeste Drake, who was tapped to lead the newly created Made in America Office within the Office of Management and Budget, “was excused from ethics restrictions that would've barred her from communicating with her former employers, the AFL-CIO and Directors Guild of America,” and “in March, the Office of Personnel Management waived ethics rules for its director of intergovernmental affairs, Alethea Predeoux, who had been the top lobbyist for the American Federation of Government Employees,” the largest federal employee union. 

Walter Shaub, former director of the Office of Government Ethics during the Obama administration, said “not all ethics waivers are bad.” Now senior ethics fellow at the watchdog organization the Project on Government Oversight, Shaub cited a December 2020 post from POGO about the appropriate use of waivers for those coming from nonprofits. 

“These [new] waivers are a good thing because they enable the administration to have strong ethics rules while creating important exceptions for individuals who worked in the public interest before entering government,” he told Government Executive. “I would feel differently if these appointees came from for-profit businesses or an association of for-profit businesses, but that's not the case here. There's no danger that they could misuse their positions to help a former employer make a profit. Some have complained that they may share their former nonprofit employers’ views on issues, but the ethics restriction was never intended to regulate thought; it was intended to prevent an unfair competitive advantage in business.” 

Jeff Hauser, executive director of The Revolving Door Project, an initiative of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said his organization has consistently asserted: “We don't think ‘lobbying’ is worrisome as such. Indeed, we're often most concerned with non-lobbyists, since it’s our view that much of the corporate influence game is conducted via institutions and individuals [who] never register as lobbyists.” (Hauser said he formerly worked with Drake at the AFL-CIO, but that does not impact the organization’s view of the situation).

“People who have been lobbying to vindicate their personal view of what is in the broader public interest do not have conflicts of interest when they enter public service regardless of whether their past employer was a union, the Catholic bishops, or the Cato Institute,” he said. “The people we fear entering offices of public trust are people with mercenary instincts whose political actions are designed to maximize personal economic gain, rather than vindicating their view of what is best for society as a whole.” 

Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel for the watchdog group Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the waivers were “appropriate” for Drake and Predeoux due to the reasons cited. 

Based on his experience administering similar waivers under President Obama, “these are merited,” said Norm Eisen, senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and former White House Special Counsel for Ethics and Government Reform. “My philosophy of granted waivers is that you should have tough rules and make occasional exceptions when there is a demonstrated need and that’s what you have here.” Drake and Predeoux “have specific expertise that’s important to do the job.” He also noted the Biden administration was transparent with posting the waivers online. 

The administration has been “judicious and targeted” with its use of waivers overall, said Eisen. “It’s a balancing act” between following the ethics rules and hiring qualified professionals able to advance the administration’s policy goals. The administration has issued eight ethics waivers thus far, according to a list on the Office of Government Ethics’s website. 

Meredith McGehee, executive director of Issue One, a nonprofit seeking to reform the political system, offered a more nuanced view of the waivers. In a statement to Government Executive, she said she would like to see more information:

“Given President Biden’s long record of support for labor, it's not surprising to see his administration granting waivers to these individuals. These appointees certainly appear to be qualified. An ethics waiver can be justified if it permits highly skilled individuals to bring special skills to work on issues they have lobbied on. In this case, however, it is not clear if their role is to focus on external relations with the labor community or to make policy or be in a regulatory position. There is a significant difference in those responsibilities. Transparency and disclosure regarding their work will prove critical to determining if the waivers were appropriate.”

When asked about the waivers during the briefing on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated that Biden enacted “the most stringent ethics code ever adopted by any White House,” but “in the narrow circumstances when necessary and in the public's interest, the order authorizes agencies to grant limited waivers in consultation with White House Counsel's Office.” 

She also noted that the president “has stood strong for unions throughout his career, and he's proud to have leading labor voices in the White House.” Besides the two individuals who received waivers, Biden recruited officials from unions for his transition team and then administration.

The waivers have drawn blistering criticism from some conservatives and anti-organized labor groups, however. 

Alfredo Ortiz, president of the Job Creators Network, an advocacy group founded by the former CEO of Home Depot that works to prevent government policies from hindering economic freedom, told Axios, “It's no surprise that President Biden's union boss appointments have resulted in anti-worker policies like the [Protecting the Right to Organize] Act and the $15 minimum wage.” 

Also, National Republican Senatorial Committee Spokeswoman Katharine Cooksey told Fox News on Saturday, “The pattern of corruption between Democrats and big union bosses is obvious – just follow the money and follow the staff.”

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.