President-elect Donald Trump's incoming White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, arrives for a meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex on Friday. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Donald Trump's incoming White House chief of staff warned the director of the Office of Government Ethics on Sunday to "be careful" about criticizing Trump's handling of his business conflicts.

Ethics office Director Walter Shaub last week criticized Trump's plan to shift ownership of his businesses to his sons, and his office has sought to influence Trump on the issue on Twitter for several weeks.

"The head of the government ethics ought to be careful because that person is becoming extremely political," Priebus said on ABC News's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

Priebus suggested that Shaub, who was appointed by President Obama, was supportive of Hillary Clinton during the campaign.

"Apparently, may have ... publicly supported Hillary Clinton as calling out the president with info on Twitter about our disentangling of the business over a month ago," Priebus said. "So I’m not sure what this person at government ethics, what sort of standing he has any more in giving these opinions."

Priebus added that he supports the move by House Oversight Committee chairman Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz in proposing an investigation of Shaub.

"Jason Chaffetz was correct to call for an investigation into the government ethics department in the government for the positions they’ve taken in this campaign," Priebus said.