CNBC: Top Biden advisor could face ethics pressure as his brother lobbies for pharma firms

One of President-elect Joe Biden’s closest advisors could face pressure to recuse himself from working on some of the incoming administration’s key initiatives as his brother lobbies for at least two pharmaceutical companies.

Steve Ricchetti, who on Tuesday was named counselor to the president in Biden’s eventual administration, has a brother, Jeff, who was hired to lobby for pharmaceutical firms while Biden was running for president, according to disclosure reports. Ricchetti was Biden’s campaign chairman and previously his chief of staff.

Biden’s campaign ran, in part, on the idea of reducing drug prices. Some of these companies have been known to have high drug costs. If Biden moves ahead with polices aiming to reduce prescription prices, ethics experts say Ricchetti may have to recuse himself because his brother could reap a financial benefit from the same industry the administration as a whole is trying to regulate.

“The option for Steve Ricchetti is to recuse from involvement in White House policy matters that directly and substantially impact the finances of his brother,” Paul Ryan, the vice president of policy and litigation at ethics watchdog Common Cause, told CNBC on Tuesday. “I think it’s fair to expect public officials to recuse themselves from government decision making that could financially benefit their immediate family members.”