[Senate Hearing 118-275]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                        S. Hrg. 118-275

                  NOMINATIONS OF HON. COLLEEN D. KIKO,
                 HON. ANNE M. WAGNER, AND DAVID HUITEMA

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                              COMMITTEE ON
               HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS


                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                NOMINATIONS OF HON. COLLEEN D. KIKO AND
            HON. ANNE M. WAGNER TO BE MEMBERS, FEDERAL LABOR
   RELATIONS AUTHORITY, AND DAVID HUITEMA TO BE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF 
                           GOVERNMENT ETHICS

                               __________

                             APRIL 17, 2024

        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                       Printed for the use of the
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
        
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                                __________

                   U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
55-524 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2024                    
          
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        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
LAPHONZA BUTLER, California          ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                  Claudine J. Brenner, Senior Counsel
              Devin M. Parsons, Professional Staff Member
           William E. Henderson III, Minority Staff Director
              Christina N. Salazar, Minority Chief Counsel
                  Andrew J. Hopkins, Minority Counsel
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                   Ashley A. Gonzalez, Hearing Clerk

                            C O N T E N T S

                                 ------                                
Opening statements:
                                                                   Page
    Senator Blumenthal...........................................     1
    Senator Marshall.............................................     2
    Senator Peters...............................................    11
    Senator Hawley...............................................    13
    Senator Rosen................................................    15
Prepared statements:
    Senator Blumenthal...........................................    19
    Senator Marshall.............................................    20

                               WITNESSES
                       Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Hon. Colleen D. Kiko, to be member, Federal Labor Relations 
  Authority
    Testimony....................................................     3
    Prepared statement...........................................    22
    Biographical and professional information....................    24
    Letter from U.S. Office of Government Ethics.................    47
    Responses to pre-hearing questions...........................    50
    Responses to post-hearing questions..........................    64
Hon. Anne Wagner, to be member, Federal Labor Relations Authority
    Testimony....................................................     5
    Prepared statement...........................................    68
    Biographical and professional information....................    70
    Letter from U.S. Office of Government Ethics.................    89
    Responses to pre-hearing questions...........................    92
    Letter of Support............................................   104
David Huitema, to be Director, Office of Government Ethics
    Testimony....................................................     6
    Prepared statement...........................................   106
    Biographical and professional information....................   108
    Letter from U.S. Office of Government Ethics.................   131
    Responses to pre-hearing questions...........................   134
    Responses to post-hearing questions..........................   156

 
                             NOMINATIONS OF
                         HON. COLLEEN D. KIKO,
                  HON. ANNE WAGNER, AND DAVID HUITEMA

                              ----------                              


                       WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2024

                                     U.S. Senate,  
                           Committee on Homeland Security  
                                  and Governmental Affairs,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:31 a.m., in 
room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Gary Peters, 
Chair of the Committee, presiding.
    Present: Senators Peters [presiding], Hassan, Rosen, 
Blumenthal, Ossoff, Scott, Hawley, and Marshall.

           OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BLUMENTHAL\1\

    Senator Blumenthal. This hearing of the U.S. Senate 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
(HSGAC). We are here to discuss two important agencies within 
our government. The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) 
and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Blumenthal appears in the 
Appendix on page 19.
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    The FLRA is an independent administrative agency, as you 
all know, responsible for enforcing Federal employees 
collective bargaining rights. The OGE is an independent agency 
that leads and oversees the Executive Branch ethics program.
    Together, these two bodies ensure that Federal employees' 
rights are protected and our government adheres to the highest 
standards of ethics. These are vital functions and I look 
forward to exploring more with our nominees here today.
    I want to welcome our nominees and their families if they 
are here with them. Congratulations, thank you, each of you for 
your public service, as well as your willingness to serve in 
these important positions. I am going to be chairing this 
hearing until Senator Peters arrives. We want to move forward 
with this hearing right on time because we have another 
afterward and I am going to turn to the Ranking Member.

            OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MARSHALL\1\

    Senator Marshall. Thank you Chairman. Today as Chair 
Blumenthal just mentioned, the Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on three 
nominations. I am honored to welcome Colleen Kiko, Anne Wagner 
and David Huitema.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Senator Marshall appears in the 
Appendix on page 20.
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    I want to thank the three of you for your intention to 
serve our country as public servants. While preparing for this 
hearing, I was struck by how many of you drew inspiration to 
enter public service from those close to you. Like yourselves, 
I was surrounded by individuals who dedicated their lives to 
serving their fellow Americans, including my father, who was a 
police officer for 30 years, but also a long lineage of people 
serving in the military and now continued by my son serving in 
the military as well.
    Combined with the lessons you have learned from those 
individuals, you have also added the experiences of your 
professional careers. Together, these have prepared the three 
of you for this opportunity to serve the Nation.
    Ms. Kiko, and Ms. Wagner, should you be confirmed to these 
positions with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate, you 
will be charged with resolving complaints of unfair labor 
practices, determining the appropriateness of units for labor, 
organization representation, adjudicating exceptions for 
arbitrators' awards, adjudicating legal issues relating to the 
duty to bargain, and resolving impasses during negotiations.
    Both of you have the track records to fulfill these duties. 
You, Ms. Kiko, have already served a term as the FLRA 
chairwoman and you, Ms. Wagner, have a long career in this 
field, with your most recent work being as the Associate 
Special Counsel (ASC) with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). 
I look forward to hearing both of your testimonies and asking 
you further questions to determine your suitability for these 
roles.
    Finally, Mr. Huitema, should you be confirmed as Director 
of the Office of Government Ethics, you must be able to lead 
and oversee the Executive Branch ethics program by making and 
interpreting ethics laws and regulations, support and train 
Executive Branch ethics officials, administer the Executive 
Branch Financial Disclosure Systems, monitor senior leaders 
compliance with Ethics Committee, ensure agencies comply with 
ethics programs requirements, and make ethics information 
available to the public.
    Like Ms. Kiko, Ms. Wagner, your resume speaks for itself, 
as you have a long history with the State Department (DOS) and 
currently manage the department's ethics program. Thank you for 
being here. I look forward to hearing your testimony and asking 
you questions.
    Once again, I would like to thank all the nominees for 
their desire and willingness to serve. I look forward to 
learning more about your qualifications and hearing your 
testimonies. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thanks, Senator Marshall. I will 
introduce the nominees in the order that they are seated. 
Colleen Kiko, nominated to serve an additional term as member 
of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, has served since 2017 
in that capacity and has led the agency's chairman from 2017 to 
2021. She holds a Juris Doctor (JD) from Scalia Law School and 
a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from North Dakota State 
University.
    Anne Wagner, nominated to be a member of the Federal Labor 
Relations Authority, currently serves as an Associate Special 
Counsel in the Office of Special Counsel. That's a role she's 
held since 2015. Ms. Wagner received her bachelor's degree from 
the University of Notre Dame and her law degree from George 
Washington University (GWU) School of Law.
    Mr. David Huitema, nominated to be director of the Office 
of Government Ethics, served as the Department of State's 
Assistant Legal Advisor for Ethics and Financial Disclosure 
since 2016. He holds a JD from Stanford Law School, an a Master 
of Arts (MA) from the University of Texas at Austin, and a 
Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of North Carolina 
(UNC) at Chapel Hill.
    Our custom, as you may know, is to swear the witnesses. If 
you would please stand and raise your right hand. Do you swear 
that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the 
whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you, God?
    Ms. Kiko. I do.
    Ms. Wagner. I do.
    Mr. Huitema. I do.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. If any of you have opening 
statements, we would be pleased to hear them. Ms. Kiko.

 TESTIMONY OF COLLEEN D. KIKO,\1\ TO BE MEMBER, FEDERAL LABOR 
                      RELATIONS AUTHORITY

    Ms. Kiko. Good morning, Chair Blumenthal, Ranking Member 
Marshall, Members of the Committee. I thank you and your staff 
for all the kindness that you have shown me as I prepared for 
this hearing. My daughter Sarah, is with me today. My husband, 
Phil Kiko, is tied up on a matter on the other side of the 
hill, or he would be here today. I appreciate all the love and 
support provided by him and all my family during this process.
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    \1\ The prepared statement of Ms. Kiko appears in the Appendix on 
page 22.
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    I would also like to thank Anna Molpus, Murray Duncan, 
David Eddy, and Rebecca Osborne from the FLRA for their kind 
assistance throughout this process. I am especially grateful 
for Chairman Grundmann, who has been ever so supportive and a 
pleasure to work with.
    As someone who started their Federal career as a general 
service (GS-3) clerk-typist, I am truly honored to have been 
re-nominated to serve as a Member of the Federal Labor 
Relations Authority.
    I thank President Biden for the opportunity to serve in 
this capacity, should I be confirmed. My dedication to Federal 
service was influenced by my parents. My father, Lawrence E. 
Duffy, proudly spent over 49 years, almost a half a century in 
the Federal service before retiring. After a stint in the U.S. 
Army, he was a railway mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service 
(USPS) in North Dakota and later became a U.S. Customs 
Inspector at the North Dakota/Canada border. His work ethic, 
extreme pride in his job and impeccable character were examples 
for me. To this day, I strive to live up to them.
    My mother, Angie Duffy, always encouraged all of us to 
strive for careers to broaden our horizons. She pushed all of 
us to be strong and independent. I would like to point out a 
few areas of my career that make me particularly qualified for 
this position. I was an employee of this agency at its 
inception when the duties of the Assistant Secretary of Labor 
for Labor Management Relations were transferred into the new 
FLRA in 1979. I was there when the agency opened its doors, and 
I was there celebrating with its first birthday cake.
    After joining the newly established FLRA, I worked in 
almost every component of the agency. In a regional office, I 
investigated unfair labor practice charges, chaired 
representational hearings, monitored Federal union elections, 
and conducted training for unions and agencies. In the 
Authority component, I reviewed representational disputes, 
administrative law judge (ALJ) decisions and drafted decisions 
for the Authority Members. My last position before I left to 
attend law school was a supervisory labor relations specialist 
managing procedural motions for the agency. The FLRA has played 
an important role in shaping me into a professional employee. I 
graduated from Antonin Scalia Law School in Arlington in 1986. 
Just 19 years later, I would find myself back at the FLRA 
serving as a Senate confirmed General Counsel (GC).
    Another 12 years later, I was confirmed to serve as Member 
of the Authority and designated by the President to serve as 
Chairman. My career keeps taking me back to my FLRA roots. My 
time as Chairman of the Agency provided me with unique insights 
into the challenges facing the agency. Steering the agency 
through the unprecedented Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) 
public health challenge was one of the greatest challenges and 
most significant accomplishments of my career in public 
service.
    As Chairman, I also partnered with the Federal Mediation 
and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to create a successful pilot 
program for mediating negotiable disputes. Oversaw many 
elements of the agency's ongoing transition from paper to 
electronic files, including significant improvements in its e-
filing and case management systems, and involved employees from 
all agency components in innovative teams to implement the 
FLRA's strategic plan and address opportunities for improvement 
from the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS).
    As Chairman and Member, I have worked with my colleagues to 
resolve unfair labor practice disputes, determine the 
appropriateness of units for labor representation, adjudicated 
exceptions to arbitrator's awards, and resolve legal issues 
relating to the duty to bargain.
    I am continually impressed with the FLRA's employees who 
are some of the most dedicated public employees I have ever 
met. I believe my 35 years in the Federal Government, 20 years 
in the labor field, will continue to serve me well in this 
agency where we are commissioned to provide leadership relating 
to matters under the Federal Service Labor Management Relations 
Statute, and to effectively administer the nine specific 
mandates of the statute.
    I greatly appreciate the opportunity to appear before you, 
and I am ready to answer your questions. Thank you.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thanks very much Ms. Kiko. Ms. Wagner.

  TESTIMONY OF ANNE M. WAGNER,\1\ TO BE MEMBER, FEDERAL LABOR 
                      RELATIONS AUTHORITY

    Ms. Wagner. Good morning, Chair Blumenthal, Ranking Member 
Marshall. I would like to also thank the Members of the 
Committee for the opportunity to speak with you today. It is an 
honor to have been nominated by President Biden to serve as a 
Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority and a privilege 
to appear before you to seek Senate confirmation of my 
nomination.
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    \1\ The prepared statement of Ms. Wagner appears in the Appendix on 
page 68.
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    I would also like to take a moment to express my deep 
appreciation to those without whom I would not be here today. 
First to my parents, George and Kay Wagner, for their unfailing 
love and support during my childhood and throughout my life. To 
my sisters, brother and their families, for their friendship, 
humor, and encouragement. To my friends and colleagues 
throughout my career for their generous guidance and inspiring 
dedication to the law. Finally, to my dear family, my husband, 
Allynn, and daughters, Katie and Nora, who are here today and 
Carlin in Texas, whose love has carried me on this journey 
every step of the way.
    In 1978, Congress enacted the Federal Service Labor 
Management Relations Statute as part of its comprehensive 
legislative reform of the Federal civil service. It established 
the FLRA as the agency responsible for providing leadership in 
Federal sector labor management relations through policies, 
guidance, and case law. Although much has changed since its 
inception, the FLRA's role remains as vital today as it was 
over 45 years ago. The public interest in ensuring that Federal 
workers and management fully engage with each other to achieve 
the most effective and efficient government remains clear.
    I wholeheartedly support the Authority's mission. If 
confirmed, will commit myself to ensuring that the FLRA 
fulfills the critical purpose that Congress entrusted to it. In 
my decades long career, I have represented Federal employees as 
a labor union staff attorney. I have worked as a neutral 
adjudicator of Federal employee claims and served at the 
highest levels of agency management in the Senior Executive 
Service (SES).
    If confirmed, I believe that my substantial experience in 
addressing employment and labor law issues from all sides will 
be valuable in carrying out my duties as an FLRA member. If 
confirmed, I also very much look forward to working again with 
Chairman Susan Grundmann and with Member Colleen Kiko to 
fulfill the FLRA's important mission of providing robust 
leadership in the Federal Labor Management Relations (FLMR) 
sphere.
    I am humbled by, and thank you for the opportunity to be 
with you today and I am happy to answer any questions that you 
may have. Thank you.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thanks so much, Ms. Wagner. Mr. Huitema

   TESTIMONY OF DAVID HUITEMA,\1\ TO BE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF 
                       GOVERNMENT ETHICS

    Mr. Huitema. Good morning. Thank you, Chair Blumenthal and 
Ranking Member Marshall. I thank you for the opportunity to 
appear before the Committee today. I would like to acknowledge 
Senator Peters, Senator Paul, and the other Members of the 
Committee as well. I am honored that President Biden has 
nominated me to serve as the Director of the Office of 
Government Ethics (OGE).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The prepared statement of Mr. Huitema appears in the Appendix 
on page 106.
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    I would like to recognize the support I have received from 
the Office of Government Ethics at the State Department and 
throughout the Executive Branch ethics community with regard to 
my nomination, but also throughout my career as an ethics 
official and in public service. I would also like to recognize 
my family, my wife, Carolyn, and my sons Owen and Miles, all of 
whom I love so very much, and who are with me this morning. 
They motivate and inspire me and fill me with pride every day.
    I would also like to acknowledge the love and support I 
have always received from my parents, Jim and Mollie Huitema. 
They both had careers in public service. My mother as a teacher 
and my father working for the Federal Government. Most 
importantly, they have always modeled a high degree of 
integrity and a commitment to helping others. I am fortunate to 
have a wonderful brother, John, and I want to remember my 
brother Philip, who is no longer with us, and recognize my 
extended family, including my mother-in-law and father-in-law, 
Pat and Cy Robbins.
    OGE's mission has never been more critical as its work 
forms one part of a broader struggle against the growing 
cynicism and distrust that can undermine our democratic self-
government. The ethics laws promote integrity in government, 
requiring that official's decisions and use of public resources 
must not be influenced by their personal financial interests, 
their personal connections and relationships or by any desire 
to benefit themselves or others rather than the national 
interest. Beyond that, the ethics laws recognize the importance 
of public trust, and they are designed to bolster public 
confidence in the integrity of the Federal workforce.
    There is good news. Federal employees do have a strong 
sense of mission and a desire to do things the right way. There 
are outliers, of course, which is why OGE supports the 
Inspectors General (IG), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and 
others who investigate and pursue accountability for ethics 
breaches. But for the most part, ethics officials are in a 
position to support Federal employees in achieving a goal they 
already share. There's more good news. Agency ethics programs 
are full of ethics officials who are smart, earnest and 
committed to this cause.
    I know because I have worked with them. I see OGE's role as 
providing overall direction, but also partnering with agency 
ethics programs and supporting their good work. OGE itself is 
full of talented and committed officials.
    In my years leading the State Department ethics program, I 
have worked with many colleagues at OGE on a wide range of 
topics. If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, I would be 
proud to be part of the OGE team. While people are the strength 
of the Executive Branch ethics program, I am open-eyed about 
the challenges.
    The breakdown in trust that I mentioned earlier increases 
scrutiny of Federal employees and the Executive Branch ethics 
program. This means we must be ever more effective in 
supporting employees and deepening the culture of ethics 
compliance. We must be clear in explaining what the law 
requires both to the Federal workforce and the public. We must 
support each other in courageously providing sound ethics 
guidance, even when it is unwelcome. In pursuing enforcement of 
the ethics laws where necessary. As the pace of change in our 
society and economy picks up, we must be nimble in updating 
outdated requirements and in providing guidance and an 
appropriate regulatory structure to address emerging issues.
    Of course, we must do all of this with limited resources. 
In his confirmation hearing, the previous director of OGE noted 
that OGE finds itself underfunded, understaffed, and over 
missioned. That remains the case both for OGE and for many 
agency ethics programs. As we consider any changes in the 
Executive Branch ethics program, we must keep practicality in 
mind and seek to leverage support and adopt efficient 
approaches to the greatest degree possible.
    I am open-minded about how best to tackle these challenges. 
I do believe that my experience in managing a complex ethics 
program at the State Department offers a valuable perspective. 
If confirmed, I would also rely on the strong foundation and 
expertise already in place at OGE. I would seek to cultivate an 
even deeper sense of partnership with the broader Executive 
Branch ethics community.
    I would welcome input from outside government as well. I 
know that many in Congress have an interest in ethics reform. I 
look forward to answering your questions today, and I pledge to 
work with the Congress on these issues if I am confirmed. So, 
thank you again for considering my nomination.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. Thank you very much to all 
of you for your opening statements. I have a couple of 
preliminary questions that are standard for all nominees, and I 
think they are answerable by yes or no. First, is there 
anything you are aware of in your background that might present 
a conflict of interest with the duties of the office to which 
you have been nominated?
    Ms. Kiko. No
    Ms. Wagner. No
    Mr. Huitema. No
    Senator Blumenthal. Second, do you know of anything 
personal or otherwise that would in any way prevent you from 
fully and honorably discharging the responsibilities of the 
office to which you have been nominated?
    Ms. Kiko. No.
    Ms. Wagner. No.
    Mr. Huitema. No.
    Senator Blumenthal. Finally, do you agree without 
reservation to comply with any requests, summons to appear and 
testify before any duly constituted Committee of Congress if 
you are confirmed?
    Ms. Kiko. Yes
    Ms. Wagner. Yes.
    Mr. Huitema. Yes.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. I have a couple more 
questions. Maybe I can ask Ms. Kiko and Ms. Wagner. Could you 
speak to the challenges that the FLRA experiences when faced 
with a flat budget as it has been for many years? Go ahead.
    Ms. Kiko. Yes. Thank you for that question. Yes, the 
Federal Labor Relations Authority has been flat funded for 
quite a few years. When that happens, we have approximately 80 
percent of our budget is personnel. When that happens, you have 
to look at new ways to try and figure out how to meet the 
budgets. Generally, it's difficult.
    In the past, what we have had to do is to close some 
regional offices down and in an effort to save the people, we 
decided to get rid of some of the space. Just recently, the 
Federal Labor Relations Authority in the headquarters office 
had two floors in their building, and now we have consolidated 
to one floor. We are trying to do what we can to live within 
our budget, but it's challenging not only to get the cases 
done, but also to continue to serve our customers. That should 
answer your question.
    Senator Blumenthal. Ms. Wagner, and whether do you have any 
thoughts on that topic?
    Ms. Wagner. Senator Blumenthal, I have not had the 
privilege of being at the FLRA. I do not really have an 
insider's view in terms of the particular internal challenges 
that the authority might be facing. But I think the budget for 
a flat line budget is difficult when an agency is responsible 
for a producing high-quality efficient adjudication of 
caseloads that continue to go up.
    If confirmed, I would certainly do whatever I can to 
support the efforts that I believe Chairman Grundmann has 
already undertaken with the other members of the authority to 
pursue an enhanced budget for the future.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. Mr. Huitema.
    Mr. Huitema. Thank you.
    Senator Blumenthal. I know you have had experience at the 
Department of State in this kind of ethics review and 
enforcement. Would you anticipate the challenges or the issues 
are the same now in this present position for which you have 
been nominated as they were at the Department of State?
    Mr. Huitema. Thank you for the question, Senator. I think 
in some ways, one of the nice features of working at the State 
Department is the breadth of the agency's mission and the 
breadth of the ethics issues we have the opportunity to 
encounter. Obviously the work of OGE is at a completely 
different scale, and it's important to recognize just how 
diverse and varied agencies, their missions, their workforces, 
the ethics challenges they face are.
    While I think I have solid preparation there will also be 
chance to learn and will be important to be open-minded about 
how the Executive Branch ethics program as a whole, but also 
how specific agencies should target and tailor their efforts to 
uphold integrity to the highest degree possible.
    Senator Blumenthal. Your service has been nonpartisan over 
these years, correct?
    Mr. Huitema. Absolutely. Partisanship never enters into my 
work. I have been proud to serve in the Federal Government and 
as head of the ethics office throughout multiple 
administrations of different parties. That would continue to be 
my approach.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. I will turn to Senator 
Marshall.
    Senator Marshall. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not as 
familiar perhaps with the jobs that you all have, and the 
departments that you represent as a fairly new senator. I would 
like for you to take one or two minutes each and tell me, in 
your cases Ms. Wagner and Ms. Kiko, what is the role of the 
FLRA? What is your job? What is your purpose? And think it like 
you are talking to a high school government class, dumb it down 
to that level for me. Ms. Wagner.
    Ms. Wagner. Thank you Senator Marshall. The role of the 
FLRA is one that Congress established to provide leadership in 
the area of Federal labor relations programs throughout the 
Executive Branch. It does this by issuing policies, guidance, 
but primarily through ruling on cases that come before it. So, 
cases such as unfair labor practice cases, negotiability 
appeals.
    Cases that member Kiko alluded to in her opening statement. 
It is through this the development of case law that allows the 
sort of predictability to come into the Federal labor relations 
programs throughout the government and I do think my experience 
has seen that it promotes efficiency and effective government.
    Senator Marshall. OK. Ms. Kiko, would you follow up? I know 
it's the same department, but you have had some more 
experience, so.
    Ms. Kiko. I will go backwards just a little bit. Collective 
bargaining was something new in the Federal Government. Back 
then was an Executive Order (EO) 10988 that was originally 
established collective bargaining in the Federal Government. 
Then that Executive Order was moved to Executive Order 11491, 
which was also allowing collective bargaining in the Federal 
Government. It was in 1978 when a statute was finally created 
to allow collective bargaining in the Federal Government. 
Consistent with Anne Wagner's response, we are providing 
leadership and guidance to matters related to the statute.
    We issued decisions based on unfair labor practices that 
might be occurring in the agencies between unions and agencies 
in the Federal Government. We also determined the 
appropriateness of units as to who can be consolidated into a 
unit to be represented by a union.
    We also resolve duty-to-bargain issues. If they are sitting 
at the bargaining table trying to figure out is this particular 
language negotiable or not, we will make a ruling on that. When 
there are grievances that go on in the agencies between the 
unions and the agencies as to something that might be wrong 
those grievances can be then taken to an arbitrator.
    Arbitration awards can come to us on exceptions to 
arbitration awards, for example, if the arbitrator's award was 
contrary to law or something to that effect. We also, as our 
responsibility, we must train the parties to make sure they 
understand the statute. The FLRA has been very forefront in 
providing training to the parties on what the statute says and 
how it acts.
    Senator Marshall. OK. Thank you. Mr. Huitema. Kind of the 
same question. What is the OGE? What is your purpose?
    Mr. Huitema. Thank you for the question, Senator. The OGE's 
mission is to help and support Federal employees in avoiding 
conflicts of interest in meeting their own obligations under 
the Federal ethics laws and regulations, and in general, and in 
acting and carrying out their duties as public servants with 
the high degree of integrity. By extension, the hope is to 
cultivate public trust in the integrity of the Federal 
workforce as well.
    OGE does this, first by providing overall direction and 
leadership for the Executive Branch ethics program, issuing 
regulations, issuing interpretive guidance, issuing kind of 
program, establishing programs and procedures. It's important 
to recognize that much of the Executive Branch ethics work is 
decentralized. Each agency has its own ethics program.
    It's those agency ethics programs that are closest to and 
in most direct contact with Federal workers. OGE provides 
guidance and support to those agency ethics programs, tries to 
hold them to a high standard as well, monitoring their work 
evaluating whether they are complying with programmatic 
requirements and generally sort of upholding the importance of 
acting with courage when necessary and implementing a sound 
program.
    Beyond that, OGE has a role in explaining ethics laws to 
the public as well. Obviously as director, I personally would 
have a role in supporting the team at OGE just as a manager of 
the agency.
    Senator Marshall. I am convinced that organizations either 
get better or worse. They never stay the same, and I think 
priorities is so very important, whether it's amount of 
financial resources or otherwise. Each of you, take a minute or 
less and tell me what your top priorities would be if 
confirmed. Mr. Huitema we will start with you this time. Your 
priorities please.
    Mr. Huitema. Thank you, Senator. The first priority I would 
say is, one thing to step back and recognize is that OGE 
experiences a surge in its work every four years or so 
following a Presidential election.
    Because one of its core functions that it has a direct 
implementing role in is the vetting of nominees, helping any 
administration kind of staff up important leadership positions, 
supporting the Senate's work in evaluating those nominees.
    I know that OGE already is focused on this as they are 
every four years and is undertaking a lot of work to prepare 
for that surge in nominee vetting. I would seek to support that 
that has to be priority one. Because that will dominate the 
next year.
    Beyond that, I would seek to spend some time on 
relationship building both with agency ethics officials, with 
department leadership where that would be useful and with the 
constituencies that are relevant for the ethics community and 
the work that we do. Those would be my first priorities.
    Senator Marshall. Thank you. Ann Wagner, what would be your 
priorities?
    Ms. Wagner. Senator, my priorities would be to deal with 
the increased caseload that the authority is facing with the 
limited resources that it has. I think to maximize technology 
to the extent possible to achieve efficiencies in productivity 
and addressing the caseload in a fair and efficient way.
    Beyond that, in my experience at OSC has certainly 
instilled in me the idea that training and education with 
regard to employee and labor organization, agency management, 
rights and responsibilities could be a vital tool to preventing 
labor disputes arising in the Federal sector arena.
    I think that preventing labor disputes is as important as 
resolving them once they occur. I would hope to make that one 
of my priorities.
    Senator Marshall. Thank you. Ms. Kiko, what would be your 
priorities?
    Ms. Kiko. Yes, Senator. I think first of all we have a job 
to do and that is to issue decisions that come before us. We 
want to do that in an efficient way as we can. I would also 
want to support the chairman in any activities and priorities 
that she might have in attempting to manage our flat budgets.
    I would also like to continue the good work of the FLRA in 
its training programs as it continues to offer an innumerous 
number of training courses and YouTube videos and that sort of 
thing to assist the stakeholders in understanding our statute 
and learning how to solve some of their disputes on their own 
without necessarily having to come to us.
    Senator Marshall. Thank you so much.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN PETERS

    Chairman Peters [presiding]. Thank you, Senator Marshall. I 
would also like to thank Senator Blumenthal for starting off 
this hearing with you, Senator Marshall. Thank you for kicking 
it off. It's a busy day today. We are running around which is 
why people have been coming and going as we go forward.
    But I want to welcome each of our nominees. Thank you for 
being here and congratulations to each of you on these 
nominations and your willingness to do this important work.
    Ms. Kiko, I will start with you. After you became Chairman 
of the FLRA in 2017. Employee morale at the agency dropped 
significantly, employee engagement and satisfaction scores 
based on the annual Federal employee viewpoint survey fell to 
their lowest levels in a decade.
    During your first two years as Chair, my question is how 
did you respond to the drop in morale, and what changes did you 
make to your management approach, and how would you see things 
moving forward?
    Ms. Kiko. Thank you Chair Peters. I appreciate the 
question. Certainly, we had some challenges when I first became 
chairman and being chairman, you have to make some very 
difficult decisions, and a lot of that had to do with our flat 
budgeting. We had to close two regional offices, and that was a 
very big, difficult time for our agency.
    I spent an awful lot of time identifying what some of the 
concerns were in the Federal employee viewpoint survey, and 
attacked them one by one to make sure that each of the 
employees concerns were addressed under the FEVS.
    At the same time that the FEVS reports were coming out, we 
were in the middle of building a new strategic plan for the 
agency. As such, I created teams so that every employee in the 
agency was able to be involved in building that strategic plan, 
hoping that every aspect of their concerns were addressed in 
the strategic plan.
    We had many different teams, employee engagement teams, 
performance accountability teams, digest teams, health and 
wellness teams, everything to attempt to address some of the 
concerns that the employees had. Based on a lot of those issues 
that we did. The other issue that I recognized is that there 
had not been a General Counsel in the general counsel's office 
for quite some time. I took the opportunity to fill that 
position so that there would be some leadership in the general 
counsel's office.
    I think as a result of a lot of those efforts our scores 
did rise 20 points while I was chairman in 2020. I believe that 
the efforts that we made, made a difference in attempting to 
raise those scores.
    Chairman Peters. Well are you committed to taking the 
Federal employee viewpoint survey results into account as you 
move forward and prioritizing employee engagement morale at the 
FLRA?
    Ms. Kiko. Absolutely.
    Chairman Peters. Give me a sense of how you will do that?
    Ms. Kiko. Yes, absolutely. It's a very important survey of 
employees viewpoints. It's really important to understand what 
people are feeling and how they are. An engaged employee is an 
excellent employee. We want to make sure that that's the 
highest priority. Absolutely.
    Chairman Peters. Very well. Mr. Huitema, I worked with 
Senator Grassley on the Executive Branch Accountability and 
Transparency Act, which would make it easier for the public to 
access the ethics disclosures of government officials. This 
kind of transparency, I think is absolutely vital so the public 
can hold folks accountable. My question for you, sir, is if 
confirmed, how will you work to make transparency a priority 
and increased public access to this important ethics 
information?
    Mr. Huitema. Thank you, Chair Peters I too believe in the 
value of transparency and access to information about our most 
senior officials and information that allows the public to 
evaluate decisions that the government is making.
    In terms of how I would prioritize that issue, I would say 
it would be built into kind of everything that we do at OGE. 
OGE already has a track record of considering sort of ways it 
can use its platform to sort of affirmatively make some 
information available to the public in a less onerous way.
    We would continually evaluate additional categories of 
information in OGE's custody and control. Especially, is there 
information about OGE's own decisionmaking priorities, et 
cetera, that we could explain our own work better to the 
public.
    Chairman Peters. Mr. Huitema, as you know, one of OGE's key 
responsibility is conducting oversight of agency ethics 
programs all across the government. My question for you is, how 
are you preparing to make this transition from serving as an 
agency ethics official to actually one conducting rigorous 
oversight of agency ethics officials across the government?
    Mr. Huitema. Thank you. That role in monitoring the work of 
agency ethics programs, holding them to a high standard is a 
core part of OGE's mission. It's one I am committed to. I think 
that having the perspective of coming from an agency and 
knowing what it's like to administer an ethics program day in, 
day out, will offer some valuable perspective.
    I would say there are kind of two aspects. One is that 
having open communication and a strong relationship with the 
agency ethics programs actually is a tool for effective 
monitoring and compliance work as well. OGE needs to understand 
the agency ethics programs, the challenges they are facing, the 
constraints they operate under, and how they work to evaluate 
whether they are doing that work effectively or not.
    Beyond that it's important for the director of OGE and OGE 
as a whole to hold agencies to a high standard. I need to be in 
a position to communicate that. If we want agencies to have the 
courage to offer firm ethics guidance, even in unwelcome 
circumstances, to sort of make the demand for program support 
that they need then they need to know that that's a standard 
and an expectation we have and that we are there to support 
them as well.
    Chairman Peters. Great. Thank you. Senator Hawley, you are 
recognized for your questions.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HAWLEY

    Senator Hawley. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Thanks to 
the nominees for being here. Mr. Huitema, if I could just start 
with you. You just said that you have experience administering 
an agency ethics program. You are at the State Department right 
now; is that right?
    Mr. Huitema. Yes, that's right, Senator.
    Senator Hawley. Among other things, you have been the legal 
advisor for ethics and financial disclosures?
    Mr. Huitema. Yes, I am the assistant legal advisor for 
Ethics and Financial Disclosure, which is the ethics office for 
the State Department.
    Senator Hawley. Right. Very good. Are you familiar we have 
been tracking what's going on with the U.S. Department of 
Energy (DOE) when it comes to ethics, financial disclosures, 
and stock trading. Are you familiar? Do you know what I am 
talking about?
    Mr. Huitema. I know what you are talking about, Senator. I 
obviously have not been involved and do not have a depth of 
knowledge.
    Senator Hawley. Let me give you just a little flavor of it. 
Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that hundreds of 
Energy department officials hold stocks related to the agency's 
work, despite repeated warnings, that there were conflicts of 
interest here. How does that strike you? Good practice?
    Mr. Huitema. Senator, I guess a couple of observations. 
Obviously, I cannot speak to the specific facts of any employee 
at the Department of Energy or guidance that the energy ethics 
program has provided. But this relates to the question Chair 
Peters asked.
    I would say it's important for OGE to be in a position to 
evaluate the work of any agency ethics program and to make 
clear that we hold them to a high standard and want them to 
hold their employees to a high standard and follow through, 
right.
    It's not just explaining the rules, it's communicating them 
and doing what you can to build a culture of ethics. 
Ultimately, it's each employee's responsibility to abide by the 
ethics laws. But we have high expectations for our ethics 
program as well.
    Senator Hawley. You have high expectations, and the public, 
frankly, has high expectations for public officials. I just 
have to tell you, this is a governmentwide problem. It's a 
problem in this Congress. You have elected officials, members 
of this Congress who are trading stock and making profits. Like 
the public looks at this, and they say, oh my gosh, how do 
these people manage to do it? It is unbelievable.
    They come, they get elected to Congress, and they become 
the most savvy stock market traders in the world. It's amazing. 
There are whole websites devoted to tracking Members of 
Congress's stock trades. It's incredible. It's absolutely 
incredible, which is why I again, call on this Congress as I 
have for years now to take action, to ban stock trading and 
stock holding by Members of Congress. But it's not just in 
Congress, it's in the Executive Branch.
    I can just tell you, when you have hundreds of members of 
the Energy Department and other Executive Branch agencies who 
hold stocks in companies that they supposedly regulate, that is 
incredibly destructive of public trust.
    Yesterday, I talked to the Secretary of the Department of 
Energy. She has held stock, she has violated, she personally 
has violated the Stock Act, nine separate times.
    That was before she misled the U.S. Senate by saying she no 
longer held any individual stocks.
    She told us she had sold all of them. Turns out that was 
false. She had not sold them. It turns out she still held 
individual stocks, including stocks her department regulates in 
companies her department regulates. This is outrageous. It's 
absolutely outrageous. It's endemic. My message to you is, I 
hope that if you are confirmed that you will be absolutely a 
bulldog about going after this and telling Executive Branch 
officials, listen, you cannot own stocks in companies that you 
regulate.
    We cannot allow hundreds of government officials to 
continue to willfully violate the law and we ought to update 
the law by the way, I mean, there's a simple solution to this. 
We ought to just ban executive officials at a leadership level 
from owning individual stocks. That would do it, but we at 
least should be complying with the laws on the books.
    I just think it is outrageous. Outrageous, that Executive 
Branch officials, and I am sure this goes on by the way, in all 
administrations. But it is outrageous that these people are 
trading stock in companies that they regulate. It raises the 
question, who is running the department? Is it the corporations 
whose stock that these officers are so attentive to?
    My point in this Mr. Huitema, is I hope that you will be 
very firm in this, and I hope that if you are confirmed, you 
will work to make sure that Executive Branch officials, No. 1, 
understand the law, but No. 2, comply with the law and do not 
willfully violate it over and over and over.
    All I can say is when you have the head of the department, 
the head of an agency, the head of the Energy department 
violating the Stock Act nine separate times, and continuing to 
frankly lie about it to Congress, that is a big problem. In my 
few remaining moments here, let me shift gears. Ms. Wagner, let 
me ask you, from a Federal labor relations point of view, when 
it comes to labor contracting within the Federal Government, 
this Committee recently passed, and I am delighted to say 
unanimously passed my legislation along with Senator Booker 
that would make it impossible for the Federal Government to 
contract with companies that have child labor in their supply 
chain.
    Does that sound like a good thing to ban to you, I mean, to 
stop the use of child labor in Federal contracting?
    Ms. Wagner. Yes, Senator, it does.
    Senator Hawley. I am glad to hear that. This is a very 
serious issue since 2018 that the Labor department has seen a 
70 percent increase in children being illegally employed by 
companies. The New York Times has published reports about, 
well-known brands such as Tyson Foods who have done business in 
many States, including mine, that have illegal child labor 
running rampant in their facilities.
    A lot of these companies get contracts as it relates to 
contracts with the Federal Government. They are bidding on 
getting Federal contracts, they are getting Federal money, and 
yet they have child labor in their supply chain.
    I am glad to hear you say that you are opposed to this. I 
hope this legislation will soon become law. I hope that you 
will support efforts to root out any kind of child labor in 
Federal contracting, in Federal Government employment practices 
with these independent contractors. Do I have your commitment 
that you would do that?
    Ms. Wagner. Senator Hawley, I share your outrage at that 
practice. I would have to note that the FLRA regulates in the 
sphere of labor unions that represent Federal employees, not 
Federal contractor employees.
    I am not sure the scope of the FLRA's authority to 
intercede in that practice to address that. I suspect that's a 
Department of Labor.
    Senator Hawley. But you support the effort, you support 
this legislation. You support the effort to root out child 
labor from Federal contracting, Federal Government?
    Ms. Wagner. Yes
    Senator Hawley. Fantastic. My time's expired, and I know 
there are other senators who want to ask questions. Thank you 
very much, Mr. Chair.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Hawley. Senator Rosen, 
you are recognized for your questions.

               OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ROSEN

    Senator Rosen. Thank you, Chair Peters. I really appreciate 
you holding this hearing. I want to thank the nominees for 
being here for testifying today. Mr. Huitema, we are going to 
continue with you because current law allows former Members of 
Congress who have committed a felony related to their time in 
office to keep their tax payer funded pensions even after a 
conviction.
    They must forfeit this government benefit only after 
exhausting all their appeals, which can drag the process on 
clearly for years, and provide a windfall of hundreds of 
thousands of dollars to convicted felons. I think it's 
unacceptable that corrupt government officials can continue to 
benefit off the back of taxpayers.
    That's why last year I introduced the No Corruption Act, 
it's bipartisan legislation with Senator Scott to close this 
loophole by barring Members of Congress who are convicted of 
felonies related to their official duties from collecting 
taxpayer funded pensions.
    After advancing this through Committee, our bill 
unanimously passed the Senate. Mr. Huitema could confirm, would 
you be supportive of a similar policy for member of the 
president's cabinet or other high ranking Executive Branch 
officials convicted of felonies related to their time in 
office?
    Mr. Huitema. Thank you, Senator for the question. The 
specifics of that issue are one that I would need to study more 
and consider. But I will say that while the Office of 
Government Ethics primary role is to support ethics officials 
in complying with their ethics obligations in the first place.
    There is an important accountability and penalties where 
necessary for violations of the ethics obligations are critical 
as well. If I am confirmed as director of OGE, I am committed 
to supporting accountability efforts, investigations, and so 
forth, whether by inspectors general, the Department of 
Justice, whoever it may be.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you. I am going to continue with you 
also because the Office of Government Ethics, it lacks a 
statutory authority to enforce sometimes these ethics 
violations. Current law only allows OGE to make recommendations 
to an agency when one of its employees is alleged to have 
violated ethics laws.
    Should the agency in question ignore or reject the 
recommendation of OGE, OGE are only able to inform the 
President of the agency's actions, not overrule them, or make a 
further recommendation.
    Mr. Huitema, how does this lack of enforcement authority 
limit OGE's ability to maintain the integrity of the Executive 
Branch? If confirmed, would you like to see OGE receive 
additional authority so it could take disciplinary actions 
against wrongdoers?
    Mr. Huitema. Thank you for that question as well, Senator. 
I think that as I mentioned in my previous answer two sides of 
the coin are both important. OGE's fundamental role is 
supporting compliance upfront, right. Cultivating a culture of 
compliance among Federal workforce, including our most senior 
officials and supporting them in meeting their ethics 
obligations. At the same time, supporting appropriate 
accountability is important.
    I will say that in my experience, in providing guidance to 
cabinet officials, brand new employees, people who are 
considering joining the State Department employees at all 
levels, it has been effective and helpful to have that role as 
advisor. Someone who's there to support them and employees are 
genuinely appreciative.
    I do think that a distinction between guidance and advice 
on the one hand and enforcement on the other in most cases is 
helpful and useful.
    Whether there are specific authorities that would benefit 
OGE in instances where it has identified a violation of the 
ethics regulations or something that it considers to pose an 
unacceptable risk of a conflict, for example, something like 
that. It would need to consider and appreciate the opportunity 
to consult further if confirmed.
    I do think that in most cases, OGE's work in directing 
agencies to take appropriate action is effective. There can be 
cases at the highest profile and most often where agencies or 
the administration refuses to take action. In those cases, I 
think what's important for OGE is to be clear and transparent 
about its position, its understanding of the appropriate 
application of the law so the public can understand what OGE is 
doing and kind of where it stands in those cases.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you. I look forward to working with 
you on that because advising and guiding, that's great. But if 
people know that there's no consequence, then that could lead 
to more significant problems. We talk about a culture of 
transparency and accountability. Transparency plays that 
critical role in increasing public trust in the Federal 
Government. That's where I am leading with all of this.
    One of the office of government ethics, foremost 
responsibility is to ensure that ethics documents, like 
disclosure forms are readily available to and accessible for 
the general public. How do you plan to ensure that executive 
agencies increase visibility of their own ethics documents, 
particularly when you can't compel them to do so. Would it be 
helpful for you to be able to compel them to do that?
    Mr. Huitema. Thank you, Senator. OGE does have authority to 
establish programmatic requirements for agency ethics programs. 
There are provisions in the ethics regulations for public 
access to public financial disclosure reports. In some ways, 
this is a space where OGE has current authority already.
    I am committed to always considering with regard to any 
category of documents either new or existing. Does it serve the 
public interest to make information proactively available. How 
can we build that into a normal standard operating procedure? 
In my mind, it would be information as Director of OGE, 
information about OGE's own programs, the guidance that it's 
providing, its own activities, and transparency about that 
would be critically important.
    Beyond that, when we come to information about our public 
officials, that too can play an important role in informing the 
public and providing confidence that those officials do not 
have conflicts of interest.
    I would say there's a little bit of a spectrum here. Where 
information about our most senior officials, our political 
appointees, those who have a broad range of discretion and 
authority is most important, while also taking into account 
either programmatic limitations or constraints or privacy 
interests for other Federal employees.
    Senator Rosen. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Chairman Peters. Thank you, Senator Rosen. I want to thank 
our nominees once again for being with us here today and your 
willingness to serve in these very important positions. The 
nominees have filed responses to biographical and financial 
questionnaires.\1\ Without objection, this information will be 
made part of the hearing record\2\ with the exception of 
financial data\3\ which is on file and available for public 
inspection at the Committee offices.
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    \1\ The information on Ms. Kiko appears in the Appendix on page 24.
    \2\ The information on Ms. Wagner appears in the Appendix on page 
70.
    \3\ The information on Mr. Huitema appears in the Appendix on page 
108.
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    The hearing record will remain open till 12 p.m., tomorrow 
April 18th for the submission of statements and questions for 
the record (QFRs). This hearing is now adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 10:26 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                            A P P E N D I X

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