{"id":564804,"date":"2021-06-15T16:36:26","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T20:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=564804"},"modified":"2021-06-15T16:36:29","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T20:36:29","slug":"union-officials-serving-in-the-white-house-is-a-classic-definition-of-a-conflict-of-interest-2-top-republicans-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-officials-serving-in-the-white-house-is-a-classic-definition-of-a-conflict-of-interest-2-top-republicans-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Union Officials Serving In The White House Is A \u2018Classic Definition Of A Conflict Of Interest,\u2019 2 Top Republicans Say"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">40<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Funion-officials-serving-in-the-white-house-is-a-classic-definition-of-a-conflict-of-interest-2-top-republicans-say%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=564804&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/BidenAFLCIO-scaled-e1623783108513.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>House Republicans raised concerns Tuesday over the appointment of former union officials to the Biden administration, arguing they presented potential conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n<p>Republican Reps. James Comer and Virginia Foxx <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/511885681\/Drake-Letter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/511885678\/Predeoux-Letter\">letters<\/a> to the Biden administration Tuesday seeking insight into the appointment process of two former union officials to administration roles, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/biden-admin-unions-special-treatment\"><u>Fox News<\/u><\/a> reports. The letters requested documents explaining how the officials were granted ethics waivers, which enable them to interact in an official capacity with their former unions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese waivers allow former union officials to conduct official government business with their former employer, creating the likelihood of conflicts of interest and political cronyism,\u201d the Republicans wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The Republicans also pointed to the influence of <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/11\/republicans-probe-cdc-influence-american-federation-of-teachers-union-steve-scalise\/\"><u>teachers unions<\/u><\/a>\u00a0on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention policy regarding schools reopening as an example of unions infiltrating government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is alarming considering the devastating effect teachers unions have had on the educational prospects of so many of our nation\u2019s children,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n<p>The officials in question are Celeste Drake, a former AFL-CIO employee named the Made in America director at the Office of Budget and Management, and Alethea Predeoux, a former employee of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) named director of the Office of Congressional, Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Office of Personnel Management.<\/p>\n<p>The House Republicans said these appointments fit the \u201cclassic definition of a conflict of interest.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/07\/biden-labor-unions-ethics-waivers-white-house\/\"><strong><u><b>(RELATED: Biden Exempting Former Union Bosses In His Admin From Ethics Rules)<\/b><\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" readability=\"7.7456647398844\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">????JUST NOW????<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepJamesComer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RepJamesComer<\/a> &#038; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/virginiafoxx?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@virginiafoxx<\/a> wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OMBPress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@OMBPress<\/a> Acting Director Shalanda Young and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USOPM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USOPM<\/a> Acting Director Kathleen McGettigan regarding the Biden Administration\u2019s use of ethics waivers to bring union influence into the federal bureaucracy. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/K0VSYa0QMv\">https:\/\/t.co\/K0VSYa0QMv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Oversight Committee Republicans (@GOPoversight) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GOPoversight\/status\/1404854067092930561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 2021<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe AFL-CIO is a massive Democrat lobbying organization that routinely contributes to Democrat candidates, including President Biden\u2019s 2020 campaign,\u201d the Republicans wrote. \u201cBecause of the ethics waiver, Ms. Drake will be able to communicate with her former employer, allowing her to enact and advocate for policy that would directly benefit the AFL-CIO.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govexec.com\/management\/2021\/04\/biden-names-first-made-america-office-director\/173645\/\"><u>Made in America<\/u><\/a> director, Drake is responsible for directing federal agencies to purchase American-made products.<\/p>\n<p>The Republicans also expressed concern over Predeoux\u2019s appointment, arguing that her time lobbying federal government employees would influence her decision-making in her new role.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile at AFGE, she \u2018worked to advance the union\u2019s legislative agenda\u2019, much of which would take place in front of the agency she now represents,\u201d the Republicans said. \u201cBy appointing former union officials to positions that directly interact with their former employees, unions stand to directly benefit from Biden Administration policies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s [Biden] granted ethics waivers to allow former union officials to wield government power on behalf of the union bosses. This is a conflict of interest, pure and simple,\u201d Comer told Fox News on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>President Joe Biden has frequently expressed his <a href=\"https:\/\/joebiden.com\/empowerworkers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">support<\/a> for unions, pushing for the passage of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2021\/03\/09\/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-the-house-taking-up-the-pro-act\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PRO Act<\/a> which would weaken right-to-work laws and allow unions to engage in secondary strikes.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Republicans raised concerns Tuesday over the appointment of former union officials to the Biden administration, arguing they presented potential conflicts of interest.Republican Reps. James Comer and Virginia Foxx wrote &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2280369,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/BidenAFLCIO-scaled-e1623783108513.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Union Officials Serving In The White House Is A \u2018Classic Definition Of A Conflict Of Interest,\u2019 2 Top Republicans Say","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-564804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/BidenAFLCIO-scaled-e1623783108513.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Union Officials Serving In The White House Is A \u2018Classic Definition Of A Conflict Of Interest,\u2019 2 Top Republicans Say","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2280369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}