Obama's First-Day Executive Orders on Ethics and Transparency. Mayors Take Note.
It's an excellent way to start an administration, with two executive
orders on government ethics and transparency. It sends an important
message to governments at all levels that even in the midst of economic
crisis and war, ethics is a number one priority.<br>
<br>
One executive order, <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ExecutiveOrder-EthicsCommitm…; target="”_blank”">Ethics
Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel</a>, requires an ethics
pledge by all appointees. The pledge involves a lobbyist gift ban,
several revolving door bans, an employment qualification commitment
(hiring on the basis of qualifications), and an express assent to
enforcement. This is a good form to use, because it effectively
requires appointees to read the order, acknowledge that they've read
it, and agree to it in writing. It leaves no room for expressions of
ignorance, and it makes the order stand out from all the others that
will follow, underlining its importance.<br>
<br>
The order provides for recusal and a waiver process and, in fact,
according to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/us/politics/22obama.html" target="”_blank”">an
article in today's New York Times</a>,</span>
there will be one high-level waiver right up front for a deputy
secretary of defense, William Lynn, who has lobbied for Raytheon. A
deputy secretary of health and human services, William Corr, who has
lobbied for stricter tobacco regulation, will recuse himself from
dealing with any tobacco-related issues.<br>
<br>
The Republican National Committee, which apparently does not understand
waiver and recusal, immediately attacked the administration for
violating its own order.<br>
<br>
Enforcement is done within each agency, which is common in the federal
government.<br>
<br>
The second executive order deals with <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ExecutiveOrderPresidentialRe…; target="”_blank”">Presidential
Records</a>. As I discussed in <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/468" target="”_blank”">an earlier blog entry</a>,
which I recommend that you read first, President Bush went against one
of the most important facts of government: that privileges reside with
an office, not with the individual holding the office. Why? Because
when that individual no longer holds the office, but still holds the
privilege, he or she is unaccountable, and his or her interest in preserving secrecy often conflicts with the public interest in knowing what happened.<br>
<br>
Pres. Bush allowed former presidents to determine whether executive
privilege would protect presidential records from their administration.
Pres. Obama's order gives this right back to the current
administration, more specifically, the Archivist in consultation with
the Attorney General and others. A former president can ask for
executive privilege to apply, but he cannot make the final
determination.<br>
<br>
Acting on ethics and transparency is a great way for a mayor to start
off an administration, as well. Usually, there is just talk about
ethics or the formation of a commission to look into ethics, which
begins a long process that often leads to very little or nothing.
Nothing speaks like setting ethical standards and making sure they apply
foremost to those one appoints, as they are taking office. It's a clean
and honorable start to a new administration.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
---</p>