The federal government’s ethics czar has said a senior Federal Communications Commission official broke no laws or ethics agreements when he helped write a chapter of Project 2025, the controversial document led by former Trump administration officials to outline agenda items for the Republican presidential nominee. .

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, one of the Republicans who head the agency, is listed as the author of the document’s section on the agency. In July, more than a dozen House Democrats, led by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., called for an investigation into whether Carr violated ethics laws, noting the ties between Project 2025 and Trump and his stated goal of shape the political decisions of presidential candidates. .

The Office of Government Ethics, however, said in a letter on Thursday that, in coordination with FCC officials, it found “insufficient evidence that Commissioner Carr’s actions violated the misuse of position rules” governing executive branch employees. However, the FCC agreed to implement changes to how its employees’ titles are displayed in connection with outside activities “to avoid any potential confusion.”

OGE noted that taking disciplinary action against any federal employee was not within its jurisdiction and such responsibility rested with the employee’s agency.

Project 2025, created and funded by the Heritage Foundation, has played an outsized role in the presidential election, with Vice President Kamala Harris frequently seeking to tie Trump to it and its most controversial proposals. Trump has repeatedly tried to distance himself from the document, despite his bond with its leaders and promoting many of the same ideas as part of his “Agenda 47.”

“Given the close ties between Project 2025, Trump and his re-election campaign, it is deeply troubling that Commissioner Carr would use his official title and position to create part of the policy playbook for a Republican presidential candidate,” they wrote democratic parliamentarians. over the summer. “This potential misuse of the title raises serious questions about Commissioner Carr’s commitment to keeping his private political activities separate from his official duties.”

They asked OGE, the Office of the Special Counsel, which implements it Hatch Act— and the FCC’s inspector general to investigate possible wrongdoing. Last month, OSC also cleared Carr, saying Project 2025 “is not a partisan political group as defined by the regulations” and his participation in it did not constitute political activity as specified in the Hatch Act.

Carr, who was nominated for a Republican seat on the committee by both Trump and President Biden, is a frequent critic of the Biden administration. He said he sought guidance from the FCC’s ethics office before becoming involved with Project 2025 and was allowed to participate.