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December 13, 1995
DO-95-042
MEMORANDUM
TO: Designated Agency Ethics Officials
FROM: Stephen D. Potts
Director
SUBJECT: Ongoing Litigation and Standards Booklet & Regulations
The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) recently had printed a revised
edition (with a green cover) of the Booklet on the Standards of Ethical Conduct
for Employees of the Executive Branch for distribution to agency employees. The
purpose of this brief memorandum is to emphasize that departments and agencies
should remind employees receiving the Standards Booklet that two recent cases,
United States v. National Treasury Employees Union, 115 S. Ct. 1003 (1995), and
Sanjour v. Environmental Protection Agency, 56 F.3d 85 (D.C. Cir. 1995) (en
banc), affect both the Standards and honoraria/outside employment regulations,
as codified at 5 C.F.R. parts 2635 and 2636. OGE is still working with the
Department of Justice in these lawsuits to determine the precise impact of the
two cases on the pertinent executive branch ethics regulatory provisions. In
neither case has the District Court issued its final injunction.
Until the regulations can be amended to reflect these decisions, we are
asking agencies to encourage employees who wish to engage in compensated
speaking, teaching or writing, or to receive expense reimbursement therefor,
and who believe after reading the regulations that such compensation or
reimbursement for their proposed activities might be prohibited, to seek
guidance from their ethics officials before abandoning their plans.
OGE will provide agencies further guidance as to the litigation impact and
future revisions of the regulations under consideration as soon as possible.