Trump halts enforcement of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, fires head of Government Ethics Office

Washington, February 12 (RHC)-- U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the Department of Justice to stop enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, which bars U.S. citizens from bribing foreign government officials to win business.

Separately, Trump fired the head of the Office of Government Ethics.  David Huitema was nominated by President Biden and confirmed last November by the Senate, before Trump fired him just weeks into his five-year tenure.

Meanwhile, Hampton Dellinger, the head of the independent federal agency that protects whistleblowers, filed a lawsuit Monday challenging his dismissal from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel by President Trump.  

The Project on Government Oversight called it an illegal firing that “undermines the office that investigates whistleblower disclosures of wrongdoing and enforces the law meant to keep partisan politics out of the federal workforce.” 

Earlier this week, a federal court issued a stay allowing Dellinger to keep his job for at least a few days longer while the court considers his lawsuit.

[ SOURCE: DEMOCRACY NOW ]