Derek Kravitz
EPA Brain Drain As Hundreds Of Top Employees Quit
More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since President Donald Trump took office, a wave of departures that puts the administration nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to levels last seen during the Reagan administration.
December 23, 2017
Commerce Official Holds Stake In Putin-Connected Firm
The chief of staff for Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Wendy Teramoto, still owns a stake in a shipping company tied to associates of Vladimir Putin, despite the fact that her former role as a board member for the same company prompted six Senate Democrats to request an investigation into her apparent conflicts of interest last month.
December 22, 2017
The White House Says It Doesn’t Keep A List Of Mar-a-Lago Visitors. Experts And Visitors Are Skeptical.
Last month, the Trump administration said it could not comply with a court order to disclose the names of people who met with the president at Mar-a-Lago in part because they do “not maintain any system for keeping track” of them.
October 17, 2017
Remember Those Temporary Officials Trump Quietly Installed? Some Are Now Permanent Employees.
Last month, ProPublica revealed that the Trump administration had installed hundreds of political appointees across the federal government without formally announcing them. The more than 400 officials were hired in temporary positions for what the White House calls “beachhead teams.” Government hiring rules allow them to have those positions for up to eight months.
April 22, 2017
The White House Still Hasn’t Released Most Staffers’ Financial Disclosures
Last Friday night, the White House began making staffers’ financial disclosures “available,” which give a glimpse of officials’ often extraordinary personal wealth. But it didn’t post the documents publicly. Instead, the White House required a separate request for each disclosure.
April 8, 2017
The White House Wouldn’t Post Trump Staffers’ Financial Disclosures. So We Did.
These are important disclosures from the people who have the president’s ear and shape national policy. They lay out all sorts of details, including information on ownership of stocks, real estate and companies, and make possible conflicts of interest public.
April 2, 2017
Commerce Secretary Pick May Have the Biggest Conflict Of Them All
Wilbur Ross has made a fortune in the steel industry — an industry of which the Commerce Department has significant oversight. In fact, the Commerce Department is slated to make no fewer than five decisions about steel trade soon after the inauguration which will directly affect businesses that Ross has a stake in.
December 18, 2016
Do Trump’s Foreign Business Deals Violate The Constitution?
If Trump does not put his businesses in a true blind trust, how will we know if he is even violating the Emoluments Clause? Because of limited financial-disclosure requirements, we might not.
November 30, 2016