Ethics Guidance

U.S. Office of Government Ethics
1201 New York Avenue, NW.
Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005

202.482.9300

USA.govE.govRegulations.gov

Other Ethics Guidance

Legal Summaries and Other Ethics Guidance

Summary of the criminal statute at 18 U.S.C. § 209, (PDF) (HTML) which prohibits the supplementation of a Government employee's salary by outside sources. The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is currently studying possible revisions of the statutes found in Chapter 11 of Title 18, and, in light of that review, has decided not to issue regulations addressing Section 209 at this time. However, much of the content of any such regulation would have been based on existing case law, Office of Legal Counsel opinions, and OGE Informal Advisory Opinions. This summary has been prepared based on that material, and is designed to assist in the interpretation and application of Section 209. See DAEOgram DO-02-016 (PDF) (HTML) dated July 1, 2002.

Summary of the criminal statute at 18 U.S.C. § 207 (PDF), as it applies to post-Government employment of executive branch employees. The summary was originally prepared in 1990, to provide preliminary interpretation of § 207 as amended by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989. Last issued in November 1992, this summary has now been edited and updated to reflect additional statutory changes. While it has been coordinated with the Department of Justice, the summary still reflects only a preliminary interpretation of 18 U.S.C. § 207, as revised by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, pending completion of new regulatory guidance. The summary is intended to facilitate agency ethics officials with their counseling and advice to departing employees, especially during the upcoming Presidential transition. See DAEOgram DO-04-023 (TXT) dated July 29, 2004.

Conflict of Interest and the Special Government Employee: A Summary of Ethical Requirements Applicable to SGEs (PDF).This document provides a comprehensive digest of the conflict of interest laws and ethics regulations as they apply to SGEs. In addition to a discussion of substantive statutory and regulatory requirements, the document also contains a discussion of the definition of SGE and the criteria for distinguishing SGEs from both non-employees and regular Government employees. See DAEOgram DO-00-003 (TXT) dated February 15, 2000.