Trump Revokes Biden Ethics Pledge, Allowing Appointees to Accept Lobbyist Gifts

President Trump signed an executive order on Inauguration Day revoking the ethics pledge President Biden required of all political appointees, which had barred them from accepting gifts from lobbyists and from working on matters involving their former employers for two years. Trump replaced it with a narrower ethics commitment that removed the lobbyist gift ban and shortened cooling-off periods. The change immediately affected more than 4,000 political appointees across the executive branch.