Ethics chief set to resign after clashes with Trump

WASHINGTON — Walter Shaub Jr., director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, announced Thursday he would resign, following a rocky relationship with President Donald Trump and repeated confrontations with the administration.

Shaub, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2013, had unsuccessfully pressed Trump to divest his business interests to avoid potential conflicts of interest, something Trump refused to do.

The ethics watchdog also engaged in a public battle with the White House over his demands for more information about former lobbyists and other appointees who had been granted waivers from ethics rules. After initially balking, the White House eventually released the requested information about the waivers.

Shaub called for a harsher punishment for presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway after she flouted ethics rules by publicly endorsing Ivanka Trump’s clothing line during a television appearance.

Shaub did not specify a reason for his resignation in a letter to Trump, which he released on Twitter on Thursday afternoon. He told The Washington Post he was not leaving under pressure.

He said in a separate statement that his time working with the Trump administration made it “clear to (him) that we need improvements to the existing ethics program.”

Shaub’s resignation, effective July 19, comes nearly six months before his term expires in January. He will join the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center as senior director for ethics.