WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) introduced her Dual Hatting Act, legislation to address corruption and abuse of office in the Trump Administration by prohibiting certain federal officials and or acting officers from holding multiple roles at once.
“The Trump Administration is the most corrupt in U.S. history. Trump’s handpicked favorites, like Marco Rubio, have exploited “dual hatting” to consolidate power and weaken oversight,” said Rep. Ansari. “My legislation ends this corrupt practice, which undermines trust in our government, and restores accountability to the Executive Branch by banning these Trump loyalists from holding multiple federal roles at once.”
“The Trump Administration has been consolidating power at the expense of independent oversight by letting loyalists in the White House hold two, three, or more jobs at the same time. It creates conflicts of interest, compromises multiple critical roles, and is corrupt. We must crack down on this power grab and restore basic oversight and integrity,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
View text of Ansari’s Dual Hatting Act HERE.
Ansari’s legislation is also endorsed by American Oversight, Project On Government Oversight (POGO), and CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington).
SUPPORT FOR ANSARI’S LEGISLATION
“The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is pleased to endorse this legislation, which would limit the ability to place the same person in multiple acting roles. It would also ensure that agency heads cannot also lead the offices designed to oversee their agencies, like the Office of Government Ethics,” said Faith Williams, Director of the Effective and Accountable Government Program at Project On Government Oversight (POGO). “The American people deserve leaders devoted to their agency's missions, not people juggling multiple roles at one time.”
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND
- Since the start of his second term, Donald Trump has attempted to “dual hat” at least seven senior federal officials—each at Level I of the Executive Schedule—across 15 federal agencies.
- Marco Rubio dual-hatted multiple roles: Appointed Senate-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to serve simultaneously as Acting Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, Acting Archivist of the United States, and Acting National Security Advisor.
- Jamieson Greer dual-hatted multiple roles: Appointed United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer as both Acting Director of the Office of Government Ethics and Acting Special Counsel.
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