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Office of Government Ethics: A Primer
April 13, 2017
The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-521, 92
Stat. 1862) created the Office of Government Ethics (OGE)
to provide overall direction of executive branch policies
related to preventing conflicts of interests on the part of
officers and employees of any executive [branch] agency
(5 U.S.C. appendix 402(a)). Originally created within the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM), today OGE is an
independent agency in the executive branch that provides
guidance, training, and administrative support to agency
and department ethics offices on the wide range of ethics,
financial disclosure, and conflict of interest provisions of
federal law and executive orders.
A central office, such as the Office of Government
Ethics, would have the overall responsibility for
informing employees of their obligations with regard
to conflict of interest avoidance and coordinate the
enforcement of these laws, rules, and regulations
throughout the executive branch... - Sen. Abraham
Ribicoff, Congressional Record, June 27, 1977, p. 20957.
OGE is run by its Director, who is appointed by the
President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to a
five-year term. The current OGE Director, Walter M.
Shaub, Jr., was appointed by President Barack Obama on
January 8 and was sworn in on January 9, 2013. His term
will expire in 2018. In addition to the Director, OGE is
organized into four divisions that are designed to carry out
the agency's statutory functions. Figure 1 shows the
current organization chart as presented in OGE's FY2014-
2018 Strategic Plan.
OGE provides oversight to more than 4,500 designated
agency ethics officials (DAEOs) in over 130 executive
branch agencies. As part of this role, OGE works to ensure
that conflicts of interest are mitigated and that the integrity
of the executive branch and its employees is maintained. To
conduct its mission, OGE's functions can be divided into
four broad categories: rules and regulations, advice,
education, and public financial disclosure filing.
Additionally, the OGE aids the President-elect, President,
and Senate in their work on confirming presidential
nominations.
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To complete its statutory mission, the OGE periodically
issues rules and regulations to guide agency ethics officers.
Codified in Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(C.F.R.), these regulations cover both internal OGE
administration and general executive branch ethics issues,
including the code of conduct for the executive branch,
interpretation of ethics-related civil and criminal law, the
implementation of financial disclosure requirements, and
the implementation of ethics programs in executive
agencies. These regulations are:
OGE Internal Organization and Operation Regulations
5 C.F.R. §2600 Organization and Functions of the
Office of Government Ethics;
5 C.F.R. §2601 Implementation of Office of
Government Ethics Statutory Gift Acceptance
Authority;
5 C.F.R. §2606 Privacy Act Rules;
5 C.F.R. §2608 Testimony by OGE Employees
Relating to Official Information and Production of
Official Records in Legal Proceedings; and
5 C.F.R. §2610 Implementation of Equal Access to
Justice Act.
Executive Branch Ethics Program Regulations
5 C.F.R. §2634 Executive Branch Financial
Disclosure, Qualified Trusts, and Certificates of
Investiture;
5 C.F.R. §2635 Standards of Ethical Conduct for
Employees of the Executive Branch;
5 C.F.R. §2636 Limitations on Outside Earned
Income, Employment and Affiliations for Certain
Noncareer Employees;
5 C.F.R. §2638 Executive Branch Ethics Program;
5 C.F.R. §2640 Interpretation, Exemptions, Waiver
Guidance Concerning 18 U.S.C. 208 (Acts Affecting a
Personal Financial Interest); and
5 C.F.R. §2641 Post-Employment Conflict of Interest
Restrictions.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govcfvs0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)