In this week's "Rules of the Game," National Journal colleague Eliza Newlin Carney takes a look at how President Obama's executive order on ethics may affect lobbying related to government contracting, and she explores the mixed message Obama is sending by nominating a former lobbyist to the No. 2 position at the Defense Department.

She says the flap over former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D. may be dying down, but ethics questions continue to dog another controversial Obama nominee, former Raytheon lobbyist William Lynn.

Like the uproar over the former Senate majority leader's candidacy for Health and Human Services secretary, Lynn's nomination for deputy Defense secretary points up the direct conflict between the new president's stated policies and his Cabinet selections.

Read the rest of the column here.