Did Trump fire ethics watchdog overseeing executive branch?

In June 2026, a claim spread online that U.S. President Donald Trump had "fired the ethics watchdog who oversaw and investigated corruption in the executive branch." 

Posts on X and Facebook (screenshot) circulated the claim following UFC Freedom 250 at the White House, a mixed martial arts event celebrating America's 250th birthday. Bonuses for fighters were reportedly paid out in cryptocurrency from a Trump family business, which raised ethics and conflict of interest questions that social media users tied to the alleged firing. 

Trump did, in fact, fire David Huitema, the head of the Office of Government Ethics in February 2025, according to a notice on the agency's website. The Office of Government Ethics "leads and oversees the executive branch ethics program" but it does not investigate or prosecute complaints of misconduct, per the agency's website.

However, Trump also has gutted many of the entities that actually investigate the executive branch — which encompasses federal agencies such as the Department of Justice and the Education Department — for corruption and misconduct. Thus, given that the claim was largely accurate but misrepresented a key detail about the Office of Government Ethics' work, we have rated it as a mixture of truth and falsehood. 

There is no inspector general for the president's office, and the president is not covered by the same ethics rules as other federal officials in the executive branch.

Critics say lack of leadership has hindered the Office of Government Ethics' functioning. A spokesperson for the ethics office, Elizabeth Horton, said the office has continued to publish publicly available work on its website, despite not having a permanent director. She directed other questions about the office's leadership and functioning to the White House, which did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Huitema did not immediately return an inquiry about the importance of his former role. In an interview with ABC News shortly after his firing, he said that while he believed in those still with the office, "the guardrails have been weakened."

Office of Government Ethics leadership in turmoil 

The Senate confirmed Huitema, a career government official, to lead the ethics office on Dec. 16, 2024, in the last weeks of then-President Joe Biden's administration. 

Less than three months into the former director's expected five-year term, Trump fired him as part of a larger purge of government watchdogs. There was no public explanation for his firing. 

Here's the full notice of dismissal from the Office of Government Ethics, posted on Feb. 10, 2025: 

OGE has been notified that the President is removing David Huitema as the Director of OGE. OGE is reverting to an Acting Director. Please see OGE's Organizational Leadership webpage.

As of this writing, the Organizational Leadership webpage lists no director or key staff for the Office of the Director. Trump installed several acting directors who simultaneously held other leadership roles within the executive branch; none went through a Senate confirmation process. Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, a vacancy cannot be filled by an acting director for more than 300 days without a pending nomination. As such, the ethics office has not had any director since December 2025. 

Inside the Office of Government Ethics 

The Office of Government Ethics aims to prevent conflicts of interests and ethics violations in the executive branch of the federal government, rather than investigating those that already happen. That includes interpreting ethics laws, advising the president on senior official nominations, providing support to ethics officials and administering financial disclosures. 

One of the main tasks of the Office of Government Ethics involves reviewing financial disclosure forms filed by Senate-confirmed officials to detect any conflicts of interest. The ethics office will then notify officials about what holdings they have to divest from in what's called an ethics agreement. OGE is still regularly publishing these agreements, indicating the office continues to function. 

However, without a director and with fewer employees than usual, some of the agency's work has been curtailed, delayed or put on hold, said Margaret Dylus-Yukins, senior legal counsel of ethics for government accountability group Campaign Legal Center, in a phone call. For example, the agency usually publishes an increase in ethics violations fines, adjusted with inflation, every January — but no such publication exists yet for 2026.

Because much of the ethics office's work relies on compliance from other federal agencies and the White House, it was unclear how much of this could be attributed to the office's lack of leadership as opposed to delays from other agencies. 

Traditionally, the Office of Government Ethics would also monitor the president's ethics pledge, an executive order that guides political appointees' behavior and would often hold officials to a higher standard than federal law. Trump did not issue one in his second term and he rescinded his first-term pledge, so the Office of Government Ethics does not have additional ethics commitments to monitor aside from those already outlined by laws and federal regulations.

Who investigates corruption in the executive branch? 

There are several entities that can investigate or take action in light of corruption within the executive branch in general and in federal agencies that fall under the executive branch. 

Alongside impeachment and removal powers, Congress can subpoena documents and officials, although it is unclear if Congress can actually subpoena the president. In previous cases, such as with former President Bill Clinton, for example, the president agreed to testify voluntarily, rather than under compulsion. 

The FBI can start investigations into the executive branch, including the president, but it relies on the Justice Department to file charges. 

The Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section is in charge of investigating and prosecuting all federal crimes affecting government integrity. The DOJ has a longstanding policy that it cannot indict a sitting president. The Trump administration has stripped the unit of its authority to file new cases, and nearly all of its prosecutors have left via resignations and reassignments, according to reputable reports. 

Almost all federal agencies also have inspectors general, which are independent, in-house watchdogs that issue public investigations, make recommendations and refer cases to the Justice Department. They can also sometimes take action independently, but they can't prosecute. The Office of the President has no inspector general.

Trump fired 17 inspectors general within a week of taking office in his second term. A federal judge determined he unlawfully dismissed the investigators but refused to reinstate them because the president could simply lawfully dismiss them after 30 days by providing notice and rationale to Congress (see Page 4). 

According to the government's inspectors general directory, as of this writing, 29 inspector general positions are vacant. 

The bottom line 

It is true that Trump fired the Senate-appointed director of the Office of Government Ethics, which oversees but does not investigate corruption in the executive branch. Trump also fired numerous government watchdogs in charge of investigating misconduct within federal departments across the executive branch. 

The Office of Government Ethics has continued to function, but critics say its work has been hampered by lack of leadership.