Ethics Chief Resigns After Clashes With Trump Administration, Second High-Level Ethics Departure

Less than two weeks after a Justice Department corporate crime watchdog resigned over ethical misconduct in the Trump administration, the director of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) has announced his resignation, effective July 19.

Walter Shaub, who has since January 2013 led the office tasked with guiding the federal executive branch through conflicts of interest and financial disclosures, is leaving the federal government, saying that although the ethics program needs to be strengthened, “It’s clear that there isn’t more I could accomplish.”

Shaub had clashed with the new White House since before Trump’s inauguration. In January, he pushed for Trump to divest from his business, the Trump Organization, which the president failed to do. Speaking to the Brookings Institution, Schaub called Trump’s decision to transfer management of the business to his sons “wholly inadequate” and “meaningless.”

In March, Shaub criticized the White House for not properly penalizing White House adviser Kellyanne Conway for encouraging Americans to purchase Ivanka Trump’s products during a television interview. More recently, the OGE director had to fight the administration for information on ethics waivers it had granted to various former lobbyists and other appointees, allowing them to communicate with their former employers while working in the federal government.

Shaub will join the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a nonprofit composed of election law experts who advocate campaign finance regulation, investigate elections misconduct and file lawsuits in the name of voting rights. CLC communications associate Corey Goldstone told International Business Times that Shaub “wants to improve executive and legislative branch ethics programs at the federal, state and local levels.” Shaub will expand CLC’s work, “issuing policy recommendations, advising on legislation and rules, filing Freedom of Information Act requests, writing official government letters and filing complaints with government agencies” as well as “educating the public through reports, press releases, media appearances and blogs.”

At OGE, Shaub focused on executive branch ethics. He hopes to expand the role into reforming additional bodies of government at CLC. In 2007, CLC played a role in shaping the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which created the Office of Congressional Ethics.

CLC has recently pursued the Trump administration, suing the Department of Justice on June 15 for records regarding how the agency decided to reverse the Obama administration’s policy phasing out federal private prison contracts, especially in light of private prison company GEO Group’s political contributions that benefited Trump’s campaign. The nonprofit has highlighted questionable White House ethics this year on at least two more occasions: One statement on Feb. 10 criticized Conway for violating government ethics by encouraging Americans to buy Ivanka Trump’s fashion products, and a letter issued jointly with two other government watchdog groups on March 24 expressed concern over Ivanka Trump’s “unusual” role in the White House as an unpaid employee without a title or salary.

By default, the acting OGE director would be the office’s current chief of staff Shelley K. Finlayson, although the White House may choose a different high-level staffer from OGA to fill that role. The president will name a permanent successor, who must be confirmed by the Republican-led Senate.

“The White House accepts Mr. Shaub’s resignation and appreciates his service,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters told IBT in an email. “The President will be nominating a successor in short order.”