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Updated February 2, 2022
Office of Government Ethics: A Primer
The Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as amended (5
Codified in Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations
U.S.C. Appendix §§401-408), created the Office of
(C.F.R.), these regulations cover both internal OGE
Government Ethics (OGE) to provide “overall direction of
administration and general executive branch ethics issues,
executive branch policies related to preventing conflicts of
including the code of conduct for the executive branch,
interests on the part of officers and employees of any
interpretation of ethics-related civil and criminal law, the
executive [branch] agency” (5 U.S.C. Appendix §402(a)).
implementation of financial disclosure requirements, and
Originally created within the Office of Personnel
the implementation of executive agency ethics programs.
Management (OPM), today OGE is an independent agency
These regulations are:
in the executive branch that provides guidance, training,
and administrative support to agency and department ethics
OGE Internal Organization and Operation Regulations
offices on the wide range of ethics, financial disclosure, and
conflict of interest provisions of federal law and executive
5 C.F.R. §2600—Organization and Functions of the
orders.
Office of Government Ethics;
5 C.F.R. §2601—Implementation of Office of
“A central office, such as the Office of Government
Government Ethics Statutory Gift Acceptance
Ethics, would have the overal responsibility for
Authority;
informing employees of their obligations with regard
to conflict of interest avoidance and coordinate the
5 C.F.R. §2606—Privacy Act Rules;
enforcement of these laws, rules, and regulations
throughout the executive branch ... ” – Sen. Abraham
5 C.F.R. §2608—Testimony by OGE Employees
Ribicoff, Congressional Record, June 27, 1977, p. 20957.
Relating to Official Information and Production of
Organization
Official Records in Legal Proceedings; and
OGE is run by its Director, who is appointed by the
5 C.F.R. §2610—Implementation of Equal Access to
President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to a
Justice Act.
five-year term. President Donald J. Trump appointed the
current OGE Director, Emory A. Rounds, III, on February
Executive Branch Ethics Program Regulations
13, 2018, and he was sworn in on July 13, 2018. His term
will expire in 2023. In addition to the Director, OGE is
5 C.F.R. §2634—Executive Branch Financial
organized into four divisions that are designed to carry out
Disclosure, Qualified Trusts, and Certificates of
the agency’s statutory functions. Figure 1 shows the
Investiture;
current organization chart as presented in OGE’s FY2018-
FY2022 strategic plan.
5 C.F.R. §2635—Standards of Ethical Conduct for
Functions
Employees of the Executive Branch;
OGE provides oversight to designated agency ethics
5 C.F.R. §2636—Limitations on Outside Earned
officials (DAEOs) in over 130 executive branch agencies.
Income, Employment and Affiliations for Certain
As part of this role, OGE ensures that conflicts of interest
Noncareer Employees;
are mitigated and that the integrity of the executive branch
and its employees is maintained. To conduct its mission,
5 C.F.R. §2638—Executive Branch Ethics Program;
OGE divides its functions into four broad categories: rules
and regulations, advice, education, and public financial
5 C.F.R. §2640—Interpretation, Exemptions, Waiver
disclosure filing. Additionally, the OGE aids the President-
Guidance Concerning 18 U.S.C. 208 (Acts Affecting a
elect and the President with nominations, and the Senate
Personal Financial Interest); and
with evaluating potential conflicts of interest for
presidential nominations.
5 C.F.R. §2641—Post-Employment Conflict of Interest
Rules and Regulations
Restrictions.
To complete its statutory mission, the OGE periodically
issues rules and regulations to guide agency ethics officers.
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Office of Government Ethics: A Primer
Figure 1. Office of Government Ethics Organization Chart
Source: Depicted in U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2018-22, p. 4.
Advice
OGE holds periodic ethics training to provide DAEOs with
OGE provides advisories to DAEOs in three main
educational and networking opportunities.
categories: legal, education, and program management.
Legal advisories guide DAEOs on substantive ethics issues.
Financial Disclosure
Education advisories focus on training and other education-
OGE creates the public and confidential financial disclosure
related matters. Program management advisories provide
forms for executive branch personnel. Financial disclosure
information for DAEOs on managing agency ethics
forms are used by DAEOs to identify and prevent potential
programs. OGE Advisories are available at
conflicts of interest for current and potential employees.
https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/
Two financial disclosure forms exist: OGE Form 278, for
Legal%20Research%20Search%20Collection?OpenForm.
public disclosure by presidential appointees and certain
Figure 2 shows the general relationship between the OGE,
executive branch employees; and OGE Form 450, for
agency senior leaders and ethics officials, and executive
confidential disclosure by other executive branch
branch employees.
employees. Agencies keep confidential filings on file and
Figure 2. OGE and the Executive Branch Ethics
they are not available for public inspection. OGE maintains
Community
a database of public filings on its website, at
https://www.oge.gov/web/OGE.nsf/
(with approximate numbers of employees)
Officials%20Individual%20Disclosures%20Search%20Coll
ection?OpenForm.
Presidential Nominations
In addition to assisting DAEOs with financial disclosure,
OGE also assists the President-elect, the President, and the
Senate during the nomination and confirmation process for
advice and consent positions. OGE works with the
President-elect’s transition team or the White House to
review nominee financial disclosure statements, identify
possible conflicts of interest, and propose remedies to
resolve those conflicts, when appropriate. Ethics
agreements and public financial disclosure filings for
certain individual positions listed in 5 U.S.C. §5312 (Level
I of the Executive Schedule (ES)) and 5 U.S.C. §5313
(Level II of the ES) may be found in the financial
disclosure database on the OGE website.
Funding
In FY2021, OGE received $18.6 million in appropriations
in the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG)
appropriations bill (Division E of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260)). For FY2022,
Source: U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Annual Performance
OGE has requested $20.4 million in appropriations.
Report, Fiscal Year 2020, p. 2.
Oversight of OGE is conducted by the House Oversight and
Education
Reform Committee; the House Judiciary Committee,
Subcommittee on the Constitution; and the Senate
OGE provides ongoing training and education opportunities
Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.
to DAEOs. These include job aids, quick reference guides,
and posters for DAEOs to use within their agencies.
Training tools and templates can be found at
Jacob R. Straus, Specialist on the Congress
https://www.oge.gov/Web/OGE.nsf/
IF10634
ethicsofficials_education-through-training. Additionally,
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Office of Government Ethics: A Primer
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you
wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.
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