President Trump's last big batch of pardons will get most of the attention, but he also issued an executive order in his last few hours in office that seeks to free all current and former hires from the ethics agreements they signed to work in his administration. Trump revoked his January 2017 "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees" order, the White House announced early Wednesday, so "employees and former employees subject to the commitments in Executive Order 13770 will not be subject to those commitments after noon January 20, 2021."
Those commitments included not lobbying the federal agencies they served under for five years after leaving government. The executive order, Yashar Ali notes, was the backbone of Trump's "drain the swamp" pledge.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Christian extremism: Taking 'holy war' literallyFeature A self-proclaimed minister shot two lawmakers and kept a 'kill list' targeting Democratic officials and abortion providers
-
Iran: Is regime change possible?Feature The U.S.-Israeli attack exposed cracks in Iran's regime
-
What to know about private equity in your 401(k)the explainer BlackRock is making private investments available in employer-sponsored retirement plans
-
Ukraine scrambles as Trump cuts weapons deliveriesSpeed Read The halting of weapons shipments was driven by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, a Ukraine funding skeptic
-
IAEA: Iran could enrich uranium 'within months'Speed Read The chief United Nations nuclear inspector, Rafael Grossi, says Iran could be enriching uranium again soon
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
Iran nukes program set back months, early intel suggestsSpeed Read A Pentagon assessment says US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites only set the program back by months, not years. This contradicts President Donald Trump's claim.
-
Trump says Iran and Israel agreed to ceasefireSpeed Read This followed a night of Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and multiple waves of missiles fired by Iran
-
Israel strikes Iran, killing military and nuclear chiefsSpeed Read Israeli officials said the attack was a 'preemptive' strike on Iran's nuclear program
-
Israel deports Thunberg after seizing Gaza aid boatspeed read The Swedish activist was delivering food and medical aid to Palestine, highlighting the growing humanitarian crisis there
-
Colombian senator shot on streets of Bogotáspeed read Miguel Uribe Turbay, who has announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election, was shot at a rally
