A coalition of groups is calling on the next president to focus on executive branch transparency and accountability.
In a letter dated Tuesday to former President Trump and Vice President Harris, the groups called on the next president “to implement reinforced ethics guidelines that will bring oversight and accountability to the executive branch.”
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“Public service is a public trust, and we urge you to adopt clear and transparent ethics standards for your administration,” the letter continues.
The groups signing the letter include the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), Issue One, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), The Project On Government Oversight (POGO), Common Cause, Public Citizen and the Society for the Rule of Law.
Harris and Trump are locked in a tight race as Election Day nears, with the vice president only leading the former president by 0.8 points in an average of polls from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.
The organizations advise the candidates on featuring specific “actions,” when “preparing your ethics agenda” like setting up “the strongest ethics pledge of any prior president on day one for all senior members of the executive branch,” putting in place “an ethics czar responsible for administering the new administration’s ethics program,” and setting up and carrying out “an ethics code as an integral element of the presidential transition team.”
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“Voters have a right to know that both the elected and appointed officials serving in the executive branch of our federal government are doing so in ways that serve the public first and foremost,” Kedric Payne, CLC’s vice president, general counsel and senior director of ethics, said in a press release.
The Hill has reached out to Trump and Harris campaigns.
