Walter Shaub, who has been a persistent thorn in Trump's side on all things ethics, announced his resignation Thursday from his post as the federal government's ethics watchdog.
Shaub is stepping down as director of the independent Office of Government Ethics (OGE) six months early, writes the Washington Post:
Walter M. Shaub Jr. repeatedly challenged the Trump administration, publicly urging President Trump to fully divest from his business empire and chastising a senior Trump adviser for violating ethics rules. His outspokenness drew the ire of administration officials and earned him near-cult status among Trump’s opponents. Fans started a Facebook page in his honor, and his name has occasionally appeared on posters at anti-Trump protests. [...]
In an interview, Shaub said he was not leaving under pressure, adding that no one in the White House or the administration pushed him to leave. But the ethics chief said he felt that he had reached the limit of what he could achieve in this administration, within the current ethics framework.
“It’s clear that there isn’t more I could accomplish,” he said.
In his resignation letter, Shaub praised his colleagues at OGE, saying it was his "great privilege" to work with a group of individuals so committed to "protecting the principle that public service is a public trust" and requiring that government officials "place loyalty to the Constitution, the laws, and ethical principles above private gain."
Shaub also appears to believe that the office he lead doesn't have nearly enough tools to accomplish those goals in an administration that has flouted ethics rules and sneered at Constitutional obligations at every turn. In his new role as senior ethics director at the Campaign Legal Center, Shaub said he hoped to put more muscle behind government ethics programs.
“In working with the current administration, it has become clear that we need to strengthen the ethics program,” he said.
Under Shaub's leadership, OGE has been a constant check on Trump's regime:
- Shaub blasted Trump's "perplexing," "meaningless," and "wholly inadequate" non-divestment plan to supposedly divest from his businesses.
- Shaub informed Trump attorney Sheri Dillon that Trump did indeed have to sign the financial disclosure form that she told Trump he didn't have to sign.
- Shaub reminded Republicans that they had insisted the Obama administration be transparent about the ethics waivers it was granting to aides who formerly worked as lobbyists even as Trump aides worked to shroud the very same waivers.
- Shaub rejected White House attempts to issue a retroactive waiver to Trump aide Steve Bannon allowing him to continue conferring with editors at Breitbart News.
In other words, Shaub heroically dogged the Trump administration's continually corrupt actions despite the fact that Team Trump warned him all the way back in January to "be careful" about his criticism of Trump.
That was just several days before Trump's inauguration. The fact that Trump and his associates have worn down such a staunch ethics champion so quickly is an ominous sign indeed. It also marks the second time this week that an ethics watchdog left a federal position because they deemed it impossible to adequately fulfill their roles in the context of this administration.
Shaub's chief of staff will be assuming the directorship, but ultimately the president—meaning Trump—will be appointing the next ethics chief, who must be confirmed by the Senate for a five-year term.