The Revolving Door Project has previously proposed that the Biden administration pass an executive order enshrining a strongest-ever ethics commitment for executive branch political appointees. Among other things, this commitment would include a pledge not to own individual stocks while in public office. A new Inspector General report on the ethical minefield of a high-level EPA appointee who owns dozens of individual companies’ stocks demonstrates why this sort of simple, clear ethics rule is essential for increasing trust in government.
Last week, the EPA Inspector General published a report with the findings of their investigation into potential ethics violations by Joseph Goffman, the now Senate-confirmed political appointee helming the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. The office’s work fine-tuning and enforcing air pollution limits has profound significance for public health and climate change.
The investigation found that in two cases—Goffman’s involvement with a hazardous air pollution rule for paint manufacturers despite owning stock in paint company Sherwin-Williams, and his involvement with an emissions rule for the known carcinogen ethylene oxide despite owning stock in Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson, and Medtronic, which together own 10 percent of the commercial sterilization facilities impacted by the rule—Goffman “failed to meet his ethical obligations under the federal financial conflicts-of-interest prohibition.”
As The Washington Post’s Maxine Joselow noted, “The findings released Wednesday pale in comparison to the ethical lapses of Scott Pruitt, who served as EPA administrator under President Donald Trump.” In our recent series of retrospectives on the disaster of Trump-era governance, we highlighted the extent to which Pruitt’s egregious ethical lapses were matched in extremity by his disdain for the work of environmental protection. While Pruitt and Goffman’s ethical lapses are not comparable, both serve to undermine the public’s trust in government, and should not be excused.
E&E News reported that “Unlike many federal employees who sink their money into broad-based mutual funds, Goffman is an inveterate trader in stocks of individual companies, his financial disclosures show.” According to Goffman’s 2021 recusal statement, his financial investments disqualify him from participating “personally and substantially” in matters that affect 64 corporations and 24 industry sectors. Instead of the consistent vigilance required to avoid such a broad swath of potential conflicts, political appointees should be held to a simpler standard: no individual stock ownership allowed.
We suggest a strong ethics pledge for political appointees that would also prohibit them from:
- Accepting golden parachutes for entering government service;
- Participating in any matter that would materially affect the interests of a private sector employer for whom they have worked within the last five years; and
- Lobbying for, or providing strategic advice to, private sector companies in business before the appointee’s former agency for a period of five years.
In the wake of this latest example, we renew our calls for the next administration to commit to raising the bar for transparency and accountability among political appointees.