U.S. Office of Government Ethics

Welcome to the Office of Government Ethics' Web site. Here you will be able to access data about OGE and the services it provides. We hope this site will help you understand the executive branch ethics program and our effort to reach Federal employees and the general public.

content

This section provides information on the latest developments at the Office of Government Ethics (OGE). You will find notices about the release of the most recent DAEOgrams, the passage of recent legislation pertaining to executive branch ethics, upcoming training sessions, and job vacancies at OGE. Page updated 04-30-08.

This section includes information about the background, mission, organization and functions of OGE. This section also provides referral information of matters that are outside of OGE's jurisdiction. Finally, there is specific guidance about how to make a Freedom of Information Act request for OGE records and information about EEO Complaint Statistics. Page updated 04-30-08.

This section contains a list of ethics statutes and regulations and links to the text of conflict of interest laws at 18 USC and to the text of ethics regulations at 5 CFR. You can also find links to Executive Orders and Federal Register Issuances that pertain to ethics. Finally, you can find other miscellanous resources, such as OLC opinions, court cases, and the annual conflict of interest prosecution survey. Page updated 03-24-08.

This section contains opinions issued by OGE's Office of General Counsel and Legal Policy in response to questions OGE receives about the conflict of interest laws and regulations, the standards of conduct, and financial disclosure requirements in the executive branch. It also contains information on searching the advisory opinions and ordering available printed opinions. Page updated 03-21-08.

DAEOgrams are memoranda from OGE to the executive branch Designated Agency Ethics Officials (DAEOs) providing guidance on how to interpret and comply with modifications or new issuances of conflict of interest regulations, standards of conduct regulations, or financial disclosure policies and procedures. Page updated 04-30-08.

OGE holds an annual Government Ethics Conference to update executive branch ethics officials on the most recent developments in the Government ethics area. In the months leading up to each conference, this section provides information about registration for that year's conference. After each conference, when made available, the handouts distributed at the conference are posted in this section. Page updated 02-22-08.

In addition to its annual conference, OGE offers numerous workshops and seminars throughout the year, both in Washington, DC and in other parts of the country, for executive branch ethics officials. This section lists information about upcoming courses. Page updated 04-23-08.

OGE has developed several computer and web-based training modules for executive branch employees. This section contains links to those modules as well as links to computer training modules developed by other executive branch agencies. Page updated 03-19-08

In this section you will find the following: the public and confidental financial disclosure forms, the model trust documents, the reviewer's guides for both the public and confidental financial disclosure forms, booklets and pamphlets, review tips and guidelines for OGE's review of agency programs, and other miscellaneous documents. Page updated 04-28-08.

Executive Branch employees should refer to this section if they have questions about how to fill out either the Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) or the Public Financial Disclosure Report (SF 278). This section contains answers to the most frequently asked questions about the OGE 450 and the SF 278 as well as examples of how to enter information into each form. Page updated 01-09-08.

OGE has created training videos and software to assist executive branch agencies in the administration of their ethics programs. This section lists the materials that are available and provides information about ordering the videos.

OGE's Office of International Assistance and Governance Initiatives administers the international technical assistance and cooperation program. At the request of foreign policy agencies and entities of the U.S. Government, OGE discusses its role as a corruption prevention organization and shares its ideas and experiences with foreign governments directly and within multilateral processes. This section contains speeches and papers presented by OGE staff members at international forums. It also contains French, Portuguese, and Spanish translations of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch. Page updated 10-02-07.

This section contains summaries of substantive ethics matters such as gifts, conflicting financial interests, impartiality, seeking employment and post-employment, misuse of position, outside activities, financial disclosure, and recusals, waivers amd trusts.

This section describes a wide range of practices agencies employ in administering elements of their ethics programs. While not every practice may be "best" for every ethics program, we are hopeful that sharing this information will provide ethics officials throughout the Federal government ideas that are useful in developing their own "best" practices. Page updated 02-20-08.

This section contains links to other government (federal, state and local) and non-government web sites containing ethics information. Important: Links to external internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein. OGE is not responsible for any information contained in any sites linked to from the OGE web site. Page updated 03-19-08.

This site is current as of Wednesday, April 30, 2008

TECHNICAL NOTES:

Adobe PDF files. We are now creating PDF files with Adobe Acrobat 8.0 in order to make them accessible and compliant with the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1998 and the web-based standards developed by the Access Board. In order to be able to view and print these files the Adobe Reader 8.0, available free from Adobe, must be downloaded and installed on your computer. Get the Adobe Reader 8.0 from the Adobe web site.

Links and underlining. You may configure your browser so that your links are not underlined. For instructions on how to do this please visit the technical assistance section of this web site.