Lifting the Veil on another
Batch of Shadowy Trump Appointees
President Donald Trump has left hundreds of government jobs
unfilled that require a vote by the Senate. Yet his administration has installed more than 1,000 people through political appointments at every major federal agency, handing over control of the government’s day-to-day operations to industry insiders and loyalists to an unprecedented degree.
Among the latest Trump administration appointees is a lobbyist
who until March worked for a leading hepatitis C drugmaker that priced its
treatment at $1,000 a pill and is now leading a White House working group setting drug
pricing policies.
The list includes the new head of the government’s offshore oil drilling safety and enforcement agency, who previously sat on the board of Sunoco Logistics and who told an industry conference earlier this month that deepwater drilling should ramp up.
Then there’s the Hollywood actor who has called global warming and climate change a “leftist political tool” and “not sound science” on Twitter and who is now the communications director at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Finally, this group also includes the 80-year-old retired chief legal officer of Morgan Stanley, who once told government lawyers he was “going to kick your ass” and is now a deputy attorney general in the Justice Department’s antitrust division, overseeing litigation while his boss awaits Senate confirmation. (At the time, Kempf denied using the expletive in exactly those terms.)
The list includes the new head of the government’s offshore oil drilling safety and enforcement agency, who previously sat on the board of Sunoco Logistics and who told an industry conference earlier this month that deepwater drilling should ramp up.
Then there’s the Hollywood actor who has called global warming and climate change a “leftist political tool” and “not sound science” on Twitter and who is now the communications director at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Finally, this group also includes the 80-year-old retired chief legal officer of Morgan Stanley, who once told government lawyers he was “going to kick your ass” and is now a deputy attorney general in the Justice Department’s antitrust division, overseeing litigation while his boss awaits Senate confirmation. (At the time, Kempf denied using the expletive in exactly those terms.)
These political appointees, some of them members of what have been dubbed “beachhead teams” during the presidential transition, and others who are now permanent employees, don’t need Senate confirmation.
Many of them have operated in the shadows and the White House has declined to publicly reveal their identities.
Some political appointees, such as Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s chief of staff, Wendy Teramoto, were initially hired as special government employees, or SGEs. They are brought on as temporary advisers and don’t face the same rules that other federal employees do. But Teramoto and others have stuck around, and been promoted to permanent jobs. The administration reveals virtually nothing about this category of staffers.
“As long as you know who to call, they are more than willing to
work with ‘industry,’” said Scott Mason, a Trump campaign veteran who’s now a
lobbyist with Holland & Knight. “The swamp continues as the ecosystem it
has always been, advocating on behalf of Americans who are all represented in
one way or another by an interest group.”
We now have a full list from the Office of Personnel Management,
the federal government’s human resources department, and it counts more than
1,000 political appointments since Trump took office on Jan. 20. The 1,000
include some 400 that ProPublica first revealed in March, and another 140
that were added in subsequent updates.
We found that of the roughly 500 new appointees on our list, at least 61 have been registered lobbyists at the federal level. (This is likely an undercount since it does not include those who have not registered or who worked solely on the state level.)
We found that of the roughly 500 new appointees on our list, at least 61 have been registered lobbyists at the federal level. (This is likely an undercount since it does not include those who have not registered or who worked solely on the state level.)
We found at least 44
people who have been rehired for second stints in the same government jobs
after their initial terms expired. Another 194 people have been given new jobs
after their initial beachhead terms.
“The pool of ‘Trump
Republicans’ was small so that they had to go to regular Republicans, a lot of
whom worked for the Bush administration,” said Ivan Adler, a lobbying
headhunter with the McCormick Group. “And there happen to be a lot of lobbyists
among that group.”
We’re still sorting
through the new names and we want your help. If you have tips or want to flag
someone for us, email beachhead@propublica.org.
“What’s unusual is the
size and scope of these teams,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the
Partnership for Public Service, which advises both Republican and Democratic
presidential administrations on transitions.
“The normal process in filling your political team is going from the campaign to the transition team to a political appointment. The cabinet picks manage all of this. But without them, the beachhead teams have been in charge. It’s added a whole other level of confusion to an already difficult process.”
“The normal process in filling your political team is going from the campaign to the transition team to a political appointment. The cabinet picks manage all of this. But without them, the beachhead teams have been in charge. It’s added a whole other level of confusion to an already difficult process.”
It has also added a
layer of shadows, said Jeff Hauser, who runs the Revolving Door Project at the
D.C.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research.
“These are political appointees who are subjected to much less scrutiny than if they went through the Senate-confirmed process,” he said. “And these special employees, many of whom are on short stints and go back to regulated industries, are not answerable to anyone except the White House. It’s an outsourcing of government.”
“These are political appointees who are subjected to much less scrutiny than if they went through the Senate-confirmed process,” he said. “And these special employees, many of whom are on short stints and go back to regulated industries, are not answerable to anyone except the White House. It’s an outsourcing of government.”
Dozens of original
beachhead team members have left government altogether, with several returning
to lobbying or other
industry-advocacy work. Donald Schnare, a lawyer and longtime critic
of the EPA named to that agency’s beachhead team in December, resigned in March
after infighting between political appointees and the hand-picked staff of EPA
Administrator Scott Pruitt boiled over. Schnare told ProPublica that nearly
every member of the Trump administration beachhead team at the EPA were refused
permanent jobs by Pruitt.
Meanwhile, the Trump
administration is lagging in nominating key leaders to government jobs that
require a vote of the Senate. As of the August congressional recess, the Trump
administration has nominated 277 people for Senate confirmation and just 44
percent have been confirmed, according to the Partnership for Public Service.
By comparison, the previous four presidential administrations — those of Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush — had nominated at least 315 people by the August recess and had their picks confirmed at rates above 60 percent at that point in the process.
By comparison, the previous four presidential administrations — those of Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush — had nominated at least 315 people by the August recess and had their picks confirmed at rates above 60 percent at that point in the process.
To fill the gaps, the
White House placed at least 18 “senior White House advisers” at federal
agencies, to act as the administration’s eyes and ears. Many were Trump
campaign staffers and loyalists with little to no government experience
and they publicly clashed with
several of Trump’s top Cabinet picks, including Treasury secretary Steve
Mnuchin and Transportation secretary Elaine Chao.
Staffing records show
that at least 11 of these advisers have left their original
jobs or departed the government. (Several advisers, such as Paula
Stannard at Health and Human Services, Mary Anne Bradfield at the Small
Business Administration and Maren Kasper at the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, were promoted to permanent positions.)
But seven still
remain, including Sam Clovis, a former radio host whose nomination as the
Agriculture Department’s chief scientist is pending. (Clovis has attracted
press scrutiny for, among other statements, his assertions that he is
“extremely skeptical” about climate change.)
Here are a few Trump
political appointees we’ve found:
Joe Grogan, an associate
director for health programs at the Office of Management and Budget, most recently worked as a
lobbyist for Gilead Sciences, the pharmaceutical company that
has been accused of price-gouging in its sales of a novel hepatitis C
treatment. Since his appointment, Grogan has taken a leading role in a White
House working group on drug pricing policies. As reported by Kaiser Health
News, internal documents from
the working group show that, despite vows by President Trump to
lower the price of medications, Grogan’s team is pushing pharma-friendly policies,
such as extending a drug’s patent time in foreign markets. Grogan and the
Office of Management and Budget did not respond to requests for comment.
Donald G. Kempf Jr., a
hard-nosed attorney and former Marine who spent 35 years at Kirkland &
Ellis and another six years as chief counsel at Morgan Stanley. He was
personally recruited by incoming Deputy Attorney General Makan Delrahim, whose
nomination has languished without a vote since March.
As to why he came out of a 12-year retirement, Kempf told ProPublica that “my country has been very good to me” and that he “welcomed the responsibility.” Kempf had a storied career, often representing corporations in antitrust and mergers and acquisitions litigation at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. But during his tenure at Morgan Stanley, the bank suffered a series of legal defeats and regulatory fines before his retirement from the organization in 2005.
As to why he came out of a 12-year retirement, Kempf told ProPublica that “my country has been very good to me” and that he “welcomed the responsibility.” Kempf had a storied career, often representing corporations in antitrust and mergers and acquisitions litigation at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. But during his tenure at Morgan Stanley, the bank suffered a series of legal defeats and regulatory fines before his retirement from the organization in 2005.
Brad Bailey is the new
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, focusing on tax and the
budget, at the Department of the Treasury. Before his new role he was a
registered lobbyist for O’Rourke and Nappi where one of his clients was H&R
Block.
As ProPublica has reported, H&R Block has been fighting to stop a free government tax filing system for years that would make the company obsolete. As recent as April, Bailey was one of the people lobbying on behalf of H&R Block. In response to questions, the Treasury Department said in a statement: “Treasury’s ethics officials work with agency personnel to address and mitigate potential conflicts if and when they arise.”
As ProPublica has reported, H&R Block has been fighting to stop a free government tax filing system for years that would make the company obsolete. As recent as April, Bailey was one of the people lobbying on behalf of H&R Block. In response to questions, the Treasury Department said in a statement: “Treasury’s ethics officials work with agency personnel to address and mitigate potential conflicts if and when they arise.”
Scott Angelle is
the director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the agency
that oversees safety for offshore oil and gas drilling. He served as
Louisiana’s secretary of natural resources from 2004 to 2012, and was appointed
interim lieutenant governor from May to November 2010. During that time,
Angelle helped lead a successful effort to bring an early end to the federal
moratorium on deepwater drilling that was imposed after the April 2010 BP oil
spill.
Before joining the Trump administration, Angelle spent several years on Louisiana’s Public Service Commission, where his position on the board of Sunoco Logistics Partners, an oil pipeline company — for which he received $989,238— raised conflict of interest concerns. (Angelle denied any conflicts at the time.) Sunoco Logistics merged with Energy Transfer Partners, the developer of the Dakota Access pipeline, in April.
Angelle spoke at an industry conference this month where he encouraged oil and gas companies to drill deepwater wells. Angelle did not respond to requests for comment.
Before joining the Trump administration, Angelle spent several years on Louisiana’s Public Service Commission, where his position on the board of Sunoco Logistics Partners, an oil pipeline company — for which he received $989,238— raised conflict of interest concerns. (Angelle denied any conflicts at the time.) Sunoco Logistics merged with Energy Transfer Partners, the developer of the Dakota Access pipeline, in April.
Angelle spoke at an industry conference this month where he encouraged oil and gas companies to drill deepwater wells. Angelle did not respond to requests for comment.
Charles Faulkner, who was appointed deputy assistant secretary of state on June 11, left BGR Government Affairs, a D.C. lobbyist firm, where he had been a lobbyist for several foreign governments. His client list included the Kazakh embassy, for which he provided political consulting and arranged meetings between U.S. and Kazakh government officials. He also advised the Kurdistan Regional Government, a semiautonomous part of Iraq that often has tense relations with Baghdad, as well as neighboring Syria, Turkey and Iran. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Until March, Wendy
Teramoto was a managing director at Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s former investment
firm, WL Ross & Co.,
and held board positions on several Ross-connected corporations, including the
Greenbrier Companies, an Oregon supplier of railroad equipment.
Teramoto took a job as a part-time special government employee at the Commerce Department, as an adviser to Ross, in mid-March. Commerce Department officials said that between March and August, Teramoto “resigned from all outside non-federal positions” and signed an ethics pledge but she did not become a full-fledged government employee, subject to ethics requirements, until Aug. 1, when she was appointed Ross’s chief of staff.
In a statement, the Commerce Department said Teramoto is “subject to the same disqualification requirements under conflict of interest statutes as the Secretary and other federal employees.”
Teramoto took a job as a part-time special government employee at the Commerce Department, as an adviser to Ross, in mid-March. Commerce Department officials said that between March and August, Teramoto “resigned from all outside non-federal positions” and signed an ethics pledge but she did not become a full-fledged government employee, subject to ethics requirements, until Aug. 1, when she was appointed Ross’s chief of staff.
In a statement, the Commerce Department said Teramoto is “subject to the same disqualification requirements under conflict of interest statutes as the Secretary and other federal employees.”
As assistant secretary
for border, immigration and trade policy at the Department of Homeland
Security, Michael Dougherty could be in a position to benefit his former
employer. Dougherty was previously CEO of the Identification Technology
Association, a trade group for companies that sell biometric and cybersecurity
technologies for borders, law enforcement and emergency management.
Before that, he worked for the Raytheon unit that sells products and services to U.S. law enforcement agencies. Dougherty is careful to comply with ethics rules and keep his government work separate from his past employment, according to his successor at the trade group, Jason Conley.
“Where members have tried to reach out, he’s been appropriately nonresponsive,” Conley said. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said it provides ethics training to all political appointees and reviews any potential conflicts of interest.
Before that, he worked for the Raytheon unit that sells products and services to U.S. law enforcement agencies. Dougherty is careful to comply with ethics rules and keep his government work separate from his past employment, according to his successor at the trade group, Jason Conley.
“Where members have tried to reach out, he’s been appropriately nonresponsive,” Conley said. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said it provides ethics training to all political appointees and reviews any potential conflicts of interest.
Mark Vafiades, a
Hollywood actor (best known for roles in “An American Carol” and “Vengeance
Trail,” according to his IMDB listing) is now communications director at Health
and Human Services. Vafiades has been particularly vocal on social media, calling global warming
and climate change a “leftist political tool” and “not sound
science!” and advancing claims of voter fraud in his home state of California.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for
comment.
Emily McBride, a
former aide to Jeff Sessions when he was a senator, and then an assistant in
the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs, in June became a special assistant
to the head of the General Services Administration. The GSA leases the building
housing Trump’s Washington hotel, which ethics experts say is a conflict of
interest because the president is effectively both tenant and landlord. The GSA
has already concluded that
Trump’s ascension to president didn’t violate his lease (despite the opinion of
some legal experts), but the agency is still responsible for ongoing review of
the hotel’s finances. A GSA spokesman said McBride won’t participate in the
oversight of Trump’s hotel.
Adam Kissel, who joined the
Department of Education as deputy assistant secretary for higher education
programs, has spent the past five years at
the Charles Koch Foundation, working on higher education projects. The
foundation has faced scrutiny for
donating millions to
colleges and universities around the country, including to academic institutes
focused on “market-oriented ideas” and “the practice and potentials of
freedom.” Before his role at the Charles Koch Foundation, Kissel worked at the
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, where he was a prominent critic of
the Obama Administration’s approach to investigating sexual violence on campus.
Kissel and the Education Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Jonathan Galaviz was
hired as an adviser at the State Department's Office of Security, Democracy and
Human Rights, on June 11. He has consulted for foreign governments, including
Russian state-run investment firms, helping with a host of gaming industry
issues. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Alexander Fitzsimmons was
appointed chief of staff and senior adviser at the Department of Energy’s
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. He came to government from
the advocacy group American Energy Alliance and Fueling U.S. Forward, a public
relations group supporting fossil fuels. Both organizations are backed by Koch
Industries and they called for the
elimination of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy in 2015.
Al Shaw, Annie
Waldman, Lisa Song and Lylla Younes contributed to this report.