No More ‘Ethics’ in the White House?

Mike Brownfield / August 16, 2010

It looks like ethics and transparency are yet again taking a back seat at the Obama White House, this time with the little-noticed news that the president’s ‘ethics’ czar, Norm Eisen, is leaving to become a foreign ambassador and will not be replaced.

Instead, his responsibilities (which included oversight of transparency and accountability, among others) are being handed over to White House counsel Bob Bauer. According to the Huffington Post, critics say Bauer is not the kind of guy one would want in charge of ensuring good, ethical government:

“Our priorities are different,” said Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation. “This is not a man whose DNA is built on an ethics, openness and a transparency agenda. It’s the opposite,” she said. (more…)