Trump names new ethics chief

The Trump administration has nominated a new director of the Office of Government Ethics.

Emory Rounds, who joined OGE in 2009, will serve as the ethics agency's new head for a term of five years.

Before joining OGE, Rounds served as an associate counsel to the president in the George W. Bush administration.

Rounds' government experience also includes time in the Department of Commerce's ethics office, and 22 years in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps.

The previous director, Walter Shaub, who has been an outspoken critic of ethical lapses during Trump administration, resigned amid frustration in July 2017. But he praised Trump's decision to appoint Rounds.

In an interview with CNN, Shaub, who joined OGE under the George W. Bush administration and was appointed agency head by President Obama in 2013, praised his successor as a "solid guy" and "decent human being."

"I couldn't be happier," he said. "I think Emory Rounds represents somebody who's going to keep the agency running, hold it as close to its traditions as anyone can and make sure that the day-to-day operations don't disintegrate, the way they might if you got some political who didn't know the government ethics program."

On Twitter, Bush-era OGE director Richard Painter called the selection "an excellent choice."

"Worked with him for 2 1/2 years on White House ethics," Painter tweeted about Rounds. "Very smart, no nonsense, plays by the rules, no politics."