Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who chairs the judiciary committee, has declined repeated inquiries about whether he was aware his staff had been working with the Trump transition team on the orders. | AP Photo Watchdogs urge Congress to prohibit secret staff work

Citing secret work by House staffers on President Donald Trump’s immigration orders, a coalition of good-government groups is urging lawmakers to revamp ethics rules to ensure their employees are loyal to Congress.

In a letter to the leaders of the House ethics committee, about a dozen left-leaning advocates sounded the alarm over a POLITICO report that revealed House judiciary committee aides helped craft the controversial executive orders and signed confidentiality agreements prohibiting them from sharing their work with their bosses. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who chairs the judiciary committee, has declined repeated inquiries about whether he was aware his staff had been working with the Trump transition team on the orders.


“The non-disclosure agreement, which as far as we know is a practice unique to the Trump Transition Team, appears to prevent congressional staff from disclosing anything regarding their participation in the Presidential transition not only to the public, but to Members of Congress as well,” the groups wrote. “This places everyone in an awkward situation, creating the possibility that the interests of the staff and the Members or Committees they serve may diverge and raising concerns about separation of powers.”

The letter was signed by, among others, President Barack Obama’s ethics czar, Norm Eisen; the Sunlight Foundation; Common Cause; and Public Citizen.

The groups suggested several tweaks to rules that govern the way congressional aides interact with presidential transition teams. Existing guidance, they argue, is agnostic on the kind of nondisclosure agreements that the Trump transition employed.

“We urge the Committee on Ethics to revise this guidance to make clear that congressional staffers are prohibited from signing non-disclosure agreements that prevent them from communicating with Members of Congress regarding any work they do for presidential transitions or for other entities or individuals in the future,” they wrote. “We additionally urge the Committee to clarify that staffers’ primary responsibility is to their employing Member and committee, and that their work on the transition is for the benefit of Congress rather than the new Administration.”

