President Donald Trump's pick for acting director of the Office of Government Ethics has worked as the office's general counsel for more than three years. | Olivier Douliery/Getty Images Trump names acting director for Office of Government Ethics

President Donald Trump designated a long-time ethics expert as acting director for the Office of Government Ethics Thursday following the resignation of former director Walter Shaub.

David Apol, who worked as the ethics office's general counsel since January 2014, will lead the White House office designed to prevent conflicts of interest, OGE said in a Friday statement.


Apol "is honored to continue his 30 years of service to the ethics community" in the new job, the statement said.

A permanent director, who would have to be confirmed by the Senate, has not been announced by the White House yet.

Shaub, who took a job as senior director at the Campaign Legal Center after he resigned, criticized Trump's decision not to nominate a long-term replacement — and he said by elevating the general counsel instead of the office's chief of staff, the president inappropriately interfered at the agency.

“It’s unfortunate that the White House decided to play politics with the interim director role," Shaub said. "If they have someone they like, they should formally nominate that person to be permanent director. This sort of political interference creates the appearance that the White House may be hoping to engineer looser oversight by reaching down and leapfrogging a career employee over his own supervisor temporarily."

Corey Goldstone, a spokesman for the Campaign Legal Center, told POLITICO in an email that an acting director can lead the office for 210 days. If the White House nominates a permanent leader, the 210-day clock starts over.