Walter M. Shaub, the head of the Office of Government Ethics who has repeatedly critiqued Donald Trump’s sustained connections to his private businesses, announced on Thursday that he will resign his post later this month. Shaub, whom President Obama appointed for a five-year term…
Walter M. Shaub, the head of the Office of Government Ethics who has repeatedly critiqued Donald Trump’s sustained connections to his private businesses, announced on Thursday that he will resign his post later this month.
Shaub, whom President Obama appointed for a five-year term in January 2013, will join the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, a group which styles itself “ lawyers for our democracy .”
“There isn’ t much more I could accomplish at the Office of Government Ethics, given the current situation, ” Shaub told the New York Times . “OGE’s recent experiences have made it clear that the ethics program needs to be strengthened.”
In a letter to President Trump, Shaub wrote that he will step down effective July 19. He praised his office’s staff in the message, stating “they are committed to protecting the principle that public service is a public trust, requiring employees to place loyalty to the Constitution, the laws, and ethical principles above private gain.”
Since Trump was elected, Shaub persistently has challenged the president both internally and publicly on a number of ethics issues. In November, Shaub was behind an OGE tweet storm goading the president-elect to fully divest from his corporate holdings. Then, in January, Shaub gave a speech calling Trump’s plan to create a “half-blind trust” to operate his businesses “ wholly inadequate. ”
“I appreciate that divestiture can be costly. But the president-elect would not be alone in making that sacrifice, ” Shaub said, adding: “It’s important to understand that the president is now entering the world of public service. He’s going to be asking his own appointees to make sacrifices. He’s going to be asking our men and women in uniform to risk their lives in conflicts around the world. So, no, I don’ t think divestiture is too high a price to pay to be the President of the United States of America.”
Since then, Shaub has pressed the White House to look into Kellyanne Conway’s Fox News comments about Ivanka Trump’s clothing line—“I’ m going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody, ” Conway said—and continually pestered the White House to disclose any ethics waivers provided to White House staff.
Frustrated by his office’s inability to rein in the Trump administration, Shaub jumped for an opportunity where, he told the Times, he would be better positioned to push for ethics reforms.
He also said he is resigning of his own accord, not due to White House pressure. In June, Shaub sent a letter to Democratic lawmakers criticizing a “retroactive waiver” the White House had issued apparently to excuse White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon’s communications with his old organization, Breitbart News.
“The putative retroactivity is inconsistent with the very concept of a waiver, which is to take decisions regarding the appropriateness of an employee’s participation in covered matters out of the employee’s hands, ” Shaub’s letter read . “By engaging in a prohibited matter at a time when the appointee does not possess a waiver, the appointee violates the rule.”
An OGE official declined to comment to THE WEEKLY STANDARD on the reasons behind Shaub’s resignation, saying that the director spoke for himself. He also said that OGE chief of staff Shelley Finlayson will take over as acting director on July 19 until the president nominates and the Senate confirms a new director. Finlayson joined OGE in 2006.
“The White House accepts Mr. Shaub’s resignation and appreciates his service, ” deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters told TWS. “The President will be nominating a successor in short order.”
