Acting Director of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) David Apol defended the federal employees against a survey that showed the trust in the government has dropped as a result of possible corruption.
Apol in a post on the OGE website said that the public servants can restore the public trust by faithfully executing their jobs as the “custodians of the people’s government.”
“We build their trust by doing our jobs, faithfully. We build their trust by acting solely for the public good and eliminating conflicts of interests. We build their trust by telling the truth,” he wrote.
“The good news is that most of you are carrying out the people’s business with honor and integrity. You’re keeping your oath. Thank you. Remember what is at stake and take pride in your service,” Apol added.
His comments come after the release of U.S. Corruption Barometer 2017, a report carried out between October and November of last year by Transparency International. The survey showed that “the U.S. government and some key institutions of power still have a long way to go to win back citizens’ trust.”
More than half of the participants in the survey said that they believe the level of corruption increased over the past 12 months under the Trump administration. Previously, less than a third believed the same in January 2016 under then-President Obama.
According to The Hill, Apol condemned any serving within the government who are conducting themselves in a way that undermines the public’s trust.
“Those who are doing things that undermine the public’s trust, even if they don’t violate a rule, need to stop. Nothing you could gain economically or politically could possibly justify putting our democracy at risk. These are perilous times. So, keep your oath and earn the public’s trust. We, as public servants, hold our positions of trust ‘for such a time as this,” Apol concluded.
Apol’s predecessor at the ethics office, Walter Shaub, resigned in July, saying that President Trump has been a “very serious disappointment” from an ethical standpoint.
“I have only got really good things to say about the ethics program that President Bush ran and the ethics program that President Obama ran,” Shaub said in July.
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