1. United States
2. Fla.
3. Letter

Trump's decision to remove the director of the Office of Government Ethics from his position is deeply concerning and a clear affront to government accountability and transparency. By dismissing David Huitema, who was just confirmed by the Senate last year, Trump is undermining vital ethics oversight and flouting the intended independence of this watchdog office. The director of the Office of Government Ethics plays a crucial role in reviewing financial disclosures and ethics agreements for high-level officials to prevent conflicts of interest. Huitema's ousting comes as the agency has been releasing the complex financial information of Trump's wealthy Cabinet nominees, raising suspicions that this move is retaliatory. Removing the government's top ethics official without cause sets a dangerous precedent that damages public trust in the integrity of government operations. Ethics laws exist to ensure officials act in the public interest rather than their own personal interests. By spurning these norms of ethical governance, Trump sends a troubling signal that accountability is unwelcome in his administration. This dismissal is the latest example of Trump purging independent oversight from the federal government. Just last month, he fired over a dozen agency inspectors general whose role is to root out waste, fraud and abuse. This concerted campaign to push out watchdog officials is reminiscent of an autocrat eliminating checks on their power. Our democratic system relies on ethical constraints and transparency measures to function properly. I urge you to speak out forcefully against this egregious breach of democratic principles and use your authority to reinstate the Office of Government Ethics director. We cannot allow this president to dismantle ethical guardrails and operate his administration in darkness without accountability.