Ethics in Government

April 30, 2025

Toni Aguilar Rosenthal

Blog Post Ethics in Government

Inspectors General Tracker 

Inspectors General are a crucial part of the apparatus that keeps the government accountable to the public it is supposed to serve. 

Inspectors General have spent decades building careful systems for overseeing the activities of the Executive branch, acting as crucial watchdogs that root out actual inefficiency, waste, fraud, corruption, and abuse throughout the government.

April 25, 2025

Jacob Plaza

Newsletter Corruption CalendarEthics in GovernmentExecutive Branch

Corruption Calendar Week 14: The All-American Meme Coin Oligarchy Wants To Extract Oil and Gas At National Monuments 

This week, Trump once again leveraged his office to boost the price of his meme coin, $Trump. Meanwhile, firms that donated to Trump’s campaign or lobbied aggressively seem to be securing exemptions to his tariffs. But as the oligarchs are finding clever ways to enrich themselves, the risks of public health and environmental crises have grown. Read below for the full overview of corruption this week:

April 23, 2025

Toni Aguilar Rosenthal

Press Release

Department of JusticeEthics in Government

Revolving Door Project Condemns Trump Installing Sycophants, Conspiracists, and Corporate Hacks in U.S. Attorneys Offices

In response to the Trump administration’s reckless appointments of conspiracy theorists and corporate hacks to US Attorney positions across the country, Revolving Door Project (RDP) announced a project to track their appointments. RDP senior researcher, Toni Aguilar Rosenthal released the following statement:

April 11, 2025

Andrea Beaty

Newsletter Corruption CalendarDepartment of JusticeDOGEDoug BurgumElon MuskEthics in GovernmentScott BessentTrump 2.0

Corruption Calendar Week 12: Ethics Be Damned

This week’s stories show that from the Justice Department to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Trump admin is simultaneously eroding, side-stepping, and outright defying the checks and balances that distinguish a government that is accountable to the public from one that exists simply to enrich the elite. 

April 04, 2025

Toni Aguilar Rosenthal

Newsletter Corruption CalendarEthics in Government

Week Eleven: Incomprehensible AI Number-Crunching Slop Sets The Scene Of Trump’s Global Tariff Shakedown

It’s week eleven of the Revolving Door Project’s Corruption Calendar, where we highlight the latest slate of corporate corruption that’s shaping the Trump Administration, its agenda, and the material impacts of that corruption on real people. Our first ten issues can be found here, and follow us on Bluesky and X for more updates on this work.

This week has been defined by yet more chaos, as the gaggle of incompetent buffoons that seemingly make up the policy infrastructure of this administration continue to play at political theater while doing all that they can to ruin the rest of our lives. From crashing the global economy to giving corporations free license to do whatever they want, they’re succeeding.

March 28, 2025

Blog Post DOGEEthics in Government

DOGE Agent: Steve Davis

Musk Connections: SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), Boring Company

Other Corporate Connections: Board of Advisers, Atlas Society; Former owner, Mr. Yogato; Former owner, Thomas Foolery

DOGE Deployments: “Day-to-day leader.” SSA, GSA

March 27, 2025

Blog Post BigLawEthics in GovernmentExecutive BranchTrump 2.0

Obeying in Advance: Who's Capitulating to the Trump Administration’s Pressure Campaign?

On March 21, BigLaw firm Paul Weiss struck a deal with the Trump administration in exchange for an executive order targeting them to be lifted. This capitulation to Trump undermines the rule of law and will invite future authoritarian moves by the administration. As RDP’s Henry Burke wrote, “Appeasement will only lead to certain destruction.”

March 19, 2025 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter

Hannah Story Brown

Newsletter Ethics in GovernmentExecutive BranchGovernanceJudiciaryTrump 2.0

Trump Officials Are Openly Defying Judges’ Orders

“We’re not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think.” 

These were the words of Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan after the Trump administration violated multiple court orders and deported people without due process. Are we in a constitutional crisis yet? (Yes, and this is not the first time Trump officials have refused to obey the courts; we are tracking these violations here.)

March 07, 2025

Timi Iwayemi

Newsletter

Corruption CalendarCryptocurrencyEthics in GovernmentFinancial RegulationHealthRevolving Door

Week Seven: One Nation Under God, Indivisible

The seventh week of Trump’s presidency was a stark reminder of how little the public’s wellbeing factors into his administration’s decisions. This week, the administration reiterated its position that it’s open season for corporate predators, RFK Jr. moved to abolish public input into public health regulations, co-president Elon Musk found new ways to exploit the federal contracting system, banking regulators chose Wall Street over Main Street, and a corporate lobbyist stepped in to facilitate the sale of precious public lands to lumber companies.