Office of Government Ethics – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

OGE proposes to revise an existing Governmentwide system of records under the Privacy Act, covering Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Reports and Other Name-Retrieved Ethics Program Records.

After this first round notice and public comment period, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) plans to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) renew its approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act for a modified version of an existing information collection, entitled the OGE Form 450 Executive Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report.

In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics is issuing this final rule to make the 2024 annual adjustments to the Ethics in Government Act civil monetary penalties.

The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) proposes to revise one of its existing internal systems of records pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974. This system of records currently contains personally identifiable information (PII) collected from Federal employees and/or members of the public who register to attend or otherwise participate in OGE meetings and events. The system is currently designated OGE/INTERNAL-6, Online Registration for OGE-Hosted Meetings and Events. OGE proposes to revise the system of records to contain additional records associated with OGE professional development offerings, including ongoing educational and certification programs, as well as the one-time events currently covered. OGE also proposes to change the name to reflect these changes.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is announcing Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of new information collection requirements contained in a final rule published in the Federal Register on May 25, 2023, ``Legal Expense Fund Regulation.''

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is updating its executive branch regulation on financial disclosure to reflect the retroactive statutory increase of the reporting thresholds for gifts and travel reimbursements. OGE is also updating the executive branchwide standards of ethical conduct regulation to raise the widely attended gatherings nonsponsor gifts exception dollar ceiling tied to these thresholds. This change is not retroactive.

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is adding a new subpart to the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (Standards). The new subpart contains the standards for an employee's acceptance of payments for legal expenses through a legal expense fund and an employee's acceptance of pro bono legal services for a matter arising in connection with the employee's official position, the employee's prior position on a campaign of a candidate for President or Vice President, or the employee's prior position on a Presidential Transition Team. OGE is also making related amendments to the portions of the Standards that govern the solicitation and acceptance of gifts from outside sources and the portions of the Executive Branch Financial Disclosure regulation that govern confidential financial disclosure reports.

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) requests comments on proposed changes to the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (Standards). The proposed amendments seek to update the Standards based on OGE's experience gained from application of the regulation since its inception. The proposed amendments also would incorporate past interpretive guidance, add and update regulatory examples, improve clarity, update citations, and make technical corrections.

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is hosting a public meeting to obtain input from interested parties regarding potential improvements to the OGE Form 278e and the OGE Form 450 as part of a form revision planning process that will precede the next requested renewal of these forms under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The next scheduled renewal is in 2024; however, OGE may decide to make changes earlier.

After this second round notice and public comment period, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) intends to submit modified versions of the 12 OGE model certificates and model documents for qualified trusts to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Comments: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics is issuing this final rule to make the 2022 annual adjustments to the Ethics in Government Act civil monetary penalties.

The US. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) proposes to revise four and rescind one of its existing internal systems of records under the Privacy Act. The system of records to be rescinded is OGE/INTERNAL-2, which covers telephone call detail records that were used to verify employee telephone usage and to resolve billing discrepancies. The four systems of records to be revised are the following: OGE/INTERNAL-1 Pay, Leave and Travel Records, which contains records related to OGE employees' pay, leave, and travel, including information regarding leave accrual rate, usage, and balances, salary withholdings, travel expenses, and usage of the transit fare subsidy program; OGE/INTERNAL-3 Grievance Records, which contains records relating to grievances filed by OGE employees; OGE/INTERNAL-4 Computer Systems Activity and Access Records, which contains information on the use of official email systems, user access to OGE's computer networks, and records related to the verification or authorization of an individual's access to systems, files, or applications; and OGE/INTERNAL-5 Employee Locator and Emergency Notification Records, which contains information regarding the organizational location, telephone extension, and hours of duty of OGE employees, as well as their personal contact information and the name, relationship, and telephone number of employees' emergency contacts.

After publication of this second round notice, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) intends to submit a renewed Generic Information Collection Request for the collection of qualitative feedback on agency service delivery for review and approval of a three-year extension under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Comments: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

After this first round notice and public comment period, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) plans to request that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) renew its approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act for an existing information collection, entitled the OGE Form 450 Executive Branch Confidential Financial Disclosure Report.

After this first round notice and public comment period, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) intends to submit a renewed Generic Information Collection Request for the collection of qualitative feedback on agency service delivery for review and approval of a three- year extension under the Paperwork Reduction Act.

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is issuing this final rule to revise the component designations of one agency for purposes of the one-year post-employment conflict of interest restriction for senior employees. Specifically, based on the recommendation of the Department of Defense, OGE is designating one new component to its regulations.

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is issuing a proposed rule to revise the component designations of one agency for purposes of the one-year post-employment conflict of interest restriction for senior employees. Specifically, based on the recommendation of the Department of Defense, OGE is proposing to designate one new component to its regulations.

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is publishing this notice to announce a new guidance portal on its website for guidance documents, as required by Executive Order 13891 ``Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents.''

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is updating its executive branch regulation on financial disclosure to reflect the retroactive statutory increase of the reporting thresholds for gifts and travel reimbursements. OGE is also updating the executive branchwide standards of ethical conduct regulation to raise the widely attended gatherings nonsponsor gifts exception dollar ceiling tied to these thresholds. This change is not retroactive.

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is issuing a proposed rule to revise the component designations of three agencies for purposes of the one-year post-employment conflict of interest restriction for senior employees. Specifically, based on the recommendations of the agencies concerned, OGE is proposing to designate two new components in appendix B to 5 CFR part 2641, and to correct an inadvertent error in the current appendix B listing of a previously-designated component.

The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) proposes to create a new system of records pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974. This system of records contains personally identifiable information (PII) collected from Federal employees and/or members of the public who register to attend or otherwise participate in OGE- hosted meetings and events. The system will maintain the information necessary for OGE to collect information on participants that can be used to administratively organize a meeting or event.

After this first round notice and public comment period, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) plans to submit a proposed modified OGE Form 201, Request to Inspect or Receive Copies of Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Reports or Other Covered Records, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval of a three-year extension under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The OGE Form 201 is used by persons requesting access to executive branch public financial disclosure reports and other covered records.

After this first round notice and public comment period, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) intends to submit modified versions of the 12 OGE model certificates and model documents for qualified trusts to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

OGE proposes to revise an existing Governmentwide system of records under the Privacy Act, covering Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Reports and Other Name-Retrieved Ethics Program Records.

The U.S. Office of Government Ethics invites comments on this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) for consideration in developing a legal expense fund regulation.