--- title: Kellyanne Conway: Federal Ethics Chief Slams White House description: Conway's promotion of Ivanka Trump's products during a TV appearance last month has caused ethics concerns. canonical: https://time.com/4697777/kellyanne-conway-ethics-chief-white-house/ author: Kevin Lui article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-10T08:06:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:46:49.064Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ethics Chief Slams White House for Kellyanne Conway Inaction og:description: Over her promotion of Ivanka Trump's brand during a TV interview og:url: https://time.com/4697777/kellyanne-conway-ethics-chief-white-house/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67175c68220b780f/6988bde88fd2ee778f356197/gettyimages-632865330.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: General James Mattis Sworn In As U.S. Defense Secretary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ethics Chief Slams White House for Kellyanne Conway Inaction twitter:description: Over her promotion of Ivanka Trump's brand during a TV interview twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67175c68220b780f/6988bde88fd2ee778f356197/gettyimages-632865330.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Slammed by Federal Ethics Chief for Not Disciplining Kellyanne Conway by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Mar 10, 2017 8:06 AM UTC  President Trump's counselor Kellyanne Conway at the Department of Defense on Jan. 27, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia. President Trump's counselor Kellyanne Conway at the Department of Defense on Jan. 27, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia.Olivier Douliery—Pool/Getty Images by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Mar 10, 2017 8:06 AM UTC The U.S. government’s official ethics watchdog has blasted the White House for not taking disciplinary action against senior counselor Kellyanne Conway for promoting Ivanka Trump’s products during a TV interview. “Not taking disciplinary action against a senior official under such circumstances risks undermining the ethics program,” Walter Shaub, director of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), [wrote in a letter](https://oge.app.box.com/s/r2t4v8ftjmkx4cfgfolqzievuhcvrfj2) dated Mar. 9 to White House Deputy Counsel Stefan Passantino. Conway came under fire for telling Fox News viewers to [“go buy Ivanka’s stuff”](http://time.com/4665182/kellyanne-conway-ivanka-trump-products/?xid=homepage) during a Feb. 9 appearance on _Fox & Friends_, in response to [Nordstrom’s decision to drop](http://motto.time.com/4659402/nordstrom-stop-selling-ivanka-trump-merchandise/) the First Daughter’s eponymous fashion line. In the letter, Shaub said that Conway’s actions were a “misuse of position” as the ethics watchdog prohibits “using one’s official position to endorse any product or service.” Following Conway’s comments, the ethics watchdog said it was [inundated](http://time.com/4666116/ethics-calls-kellyanne-conway-nordstrom/) with calls and emails. At the time, the House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz [called](https://twitter.com/AP/status/829772109274574850) her on-air pitch “clearly over the line” and “unacceptable.” Last week, however,[ in reply to a letter ](http://time.com/4687446/kellyanne-conway-ivanka-trump-white-house/)from the OGE, the White House said that Conway’s endorsement came “without nefarious motives.” “The White House’s response makes clear that disciplinary action will not be taken,” Shaub said in a separate letter addressed to Chaffetz and House Oversight Committee ranking member Elijah Cummings. But Shaub expressed greater concern with the White House’s “extraordinary assertion” that employees of the President’s office are exempt from many ethics regulations. “The assertion is incorrect, and the letter cites no legal basis for it,” Shaub wrote to Passantino. “It is critical to the public’s faith in the integrity of government that White House employees be held to the same standard of ethical accountability as other executive branch employees,” he continued. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4697777/kellyanne-conway-ethics-chief-white-house/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4697777/kellyanne-conway-ethics-chief-white-house/"},"headline":"White House Slammed by Federal Ethics Chief for Not Disciplining Kellyanne Conway","datePublished":"2017-03-10T08:06:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:46:49.064Z","description":"Conway's promotion of Ivanka Trump's products during a TV appearance last month has caused ethics concerns","url":"https://time.com/4697777/kellyanne-conway-ethics-chief-white-house/","keywords":["White House","Ethics","kellyanne conway","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67175c68220b780f/6988bde88fd2ee778f356197/gettyimages-632865330.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67175c68220b780f/6988bde88fd2ee778f356197/gettyimages-632865330.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"General James Mattis Sworn In As U.S. Defense Secretary","caption":"General James Mattis Sworn In As U.S. Defense Secretary","creditText":"Olivier Douliery—Pool/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4697777/kellyanne-conway-ethics-chief-white-house/","name":"White House Slammed by Federal Ethics Chief for Not Disciplining Kellyanne Conway"}}]}] ```