Good Governance

Senior Counsel

Jeff serves as Senior Counsel to PEER, where he specializes in civil service, scientific integrity, and whistleblower protection issues. Jeff was PEER’s Executive Director from 1997 to 2019 and its Pacific Director from 2019 to 2025. Previously, he was the Policy Director and a staff attorney at the Government Accountability Project, representing whistleblowers from both the public and private sectors. Before coming to DC, Jeff worked in California state government for 17 years, mostly in the State Legislature as counsel to various committees where he drafted hundreds of laws on topics ranging from energy conservation to the rights of employed inventors. Jeff served stints as a deputy district attorney and an appellate court clerk. He is a graduate of the California Correctional Officers Academy.

BLOG | If You Had Any Decency, You’d Resign

by Jeff Ruch | January 8, 2021
Following the Trump-inspired mob takeover of the U.S. Capitol, a growing parade of high-ranking Trump officials have resigned ...

BLOG | Wheeler Trashes Science on His Way Out the Door at EPA

by Tim Whitehouse | January 5, 2021
The new rule is an attempt to restrict EPA’s ability to rely on science when taking regulatory actions or making science-based decisions ...

Justice Department Argues Trump Lost the Election  

by PEER |
DOJ Claims Suit Against Illegal Trump Appointees Will Be Moot on January 20th ...

Statement | Ten Steps to Ensure that Proper Leaders Run the Department of the Interior

by Peter Jenkins | December 22, 2020
A guide for the Biden administration to avoid repeating the Trump administration's unlawful actions in making appointments in the Interior Department ...

From the Executive Director – 2020 Election

by Tim Whitehouse | November 4, 2020
Although these are unsettling days, poll after poll shows Americans care about issues such as the environment, climate change and clean water ...

BLOG | Schedule F: America’s Toxic Politics is Killing Us

by Tim Whitehouse | November 3, 2020
Giving political appointees the ability to easily hire and fire civil servants in policy positions put the American people at risk by politicizing the civil service ...