U.S. President Donald Trump, in one of his final acts of office, released current and former members of his administration from the terms of their ethics pledge, which included a five-year ban on lobbying their former agencies.
The ethics pledge was outlined in one of Trump's first executive orders, signed on Jan. 28, 2017, as part of his campaign pledge to "drain the swamp." It required Trump's political appointees to agree to the lobbying ban, as well as pledge not to undertake work that would require them to register as a "foreign agent" after leaving government. Trump's order authorized the attorney general to investigate any breaches of the ethics pledge and to pursue civil suits if necessary.