The Trump administration is reportedly refusing to honor a data request to disclose the number of lobbyists it allows to work in the White House – a move critics have called "unprecedented and extremely troubling." The New York Times reports that administration officials sent a letter to the head of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), Water M Shaub Jr Monday, challenging his legal authority to request a list of those made exempt from a ban on lobbying in federal agencies. Speaking to the NYT, Marilyn L Glynn, a former general counsel and acting director of the ethics watchdog under George W Bush, raised her concerns."[It is] unprecedented and extremely troubling," said Glynn. "It challenges the very authority of the director of the agency and [Shaub's] ability to carry out the functions of the office." Exemptions had been granted under former President Barack Obama, in cases where there was an evident skills gap and the waivers were subsequently made public. However, the Trump