U.S. Office of Government Ethics
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The United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is an independent agency within the
executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...
of the
U.S. Federal Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 ...
which is responsible for directing executive branch policies relating to the prevention of conflicts of interest on the part of Federal executive branch officers and employees. Under the Ethics in Government Act, this agency was originally part of the Office of Personnel Management from 1978 until it separated in 1989.


Primary duties

The main duties of OGE include the following: *Establishing the standards of conduct for the executive branch; *Issuing rules and regulations interpreting the criminal conflict of interest restrictions; *Establishing the framework for the public and confidential financial disclosure systems for executive branch employees; *Developing training and education programs for use by executive branch ethics officials and employees; *Ensuring that individual agency ethics programs are functioning properly by setting the requirements for them, supporting them, and reviewing them.


History

Government ethics concerns in the United States were first addressed by Congress in 1853. The act, entitled "An Act to prevent Frauds upon the Treasury of the United States," made it a misdemeanor for "any officer of the United States" or "any Senator or Representative in Congress" to assist in or prosecute "any claim against the United States." Ethics concerns continued to obtain during the Civil War. Theodore Roosevelt, prior to becoming Vice-President, served as United States Civil Service Commissioner under President Benjamin Harrison. He drew on this experience to help create the modern merit system (now exemplified by the United States Merit Systems Protection Board) for federal employees, as President. This, in turn, led to further developments, including the focus on ethics in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1933 inaugural speech. Following Watergate, Congress passed the
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is a United States federal law that was passed in the wake of the Nixon Watergate scandal and the Saturday Night Massacre. It was intended to fight corruption in government. Summary The Ethics in Governme ...
as an attempt to curb the ongoing issues with Ethics in Government.


Office of Director

The Director of OGE is appointed by the President after confirmation by the U.S. Senate. The Director of OGE serves a five-year term, thereby overlapping presidential terms, and is subject to no term limit. The rest of the OGE employees are career civil servants. Created by the
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is a United States federal law that was passed in the wake of the Nixon Watergate scandal and the Saturday Night Massacre. It was intended to fight corruption in government. Summary The Ethics in Governme ...
, OGE separated from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in 1989 pursuant to reform legislation.
Emory Rounds Emory Arthur Rounds III is an American attorney and government ethics official who is the current Director of the United States Office of Government Ethics, nominated by President Donald Trump to serve a five-year term. Career Rounds served as a ...
is the current Director of the OGE, having been sworn into office on August 2, 2018.


Issues involving President Trump

A series of tweets on 30 November 2016 from the office's official Twitter account praised President-elect Donald Trump for planning to divest his business holdings in order to resolve potential conflicts of interest, following an announcement where Trump reaffirmed his intent to take himself out of business operations, despite him having made no firm commitment to a divestment like selling his businesses or a blind trust. A number of observers speculated that the office's account might have been hacked, a suggestion it later denied. The '' New York Times'' suggested that the apparent misunderstanding behind the postings were deliberately intended to reveal the independent agency had advised Trump's legal counsel that a divestment was the only adequate remedy for resolving any conflict, and, by extension, pressure Trump into doing so. A Freedom of Information Act request by news organization The Daily Dot revealed that OGE Director Walter M. Shaub personally ordered officials within the agency to post the nine tweets. Under the Trump Administration, the Office reversed its own internal policy prohibiting anonymous donations from lobbyists to White House staffers who have legal defense funds.


OGE certification of Ethics Agreement Compliance Form

On May 11, 2017, the Office of Government Ethics requested the Trump administration and its associates submit a form regarding divestment of assets and possible conflicts of interest.


List of directors of the OGE

* J. Jackson Walter, 1979–1982 * David H. Martin, 1983–1987 *
Frank Q. Nebeker Frank Quill Nebeker (April 23, 1930 – January 4, 2024) was an American jurist who served as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Life and career Born in Utah, Nebek ...
, 1987–1989 * Stephen D. Potts, 1990–2000 * Amy Comstock, 2000–2003 *Robert Cusick, 2006−2011 * Walter Shaub, 2013–2017 *
David J. Apol David J. Apol is General Counsel at the United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE). He served as an acting director of the OGE between the resignation of Walter Shaub on July 19, 2017 and the appointment of Emory Rounds on July 13, 2018. ...
, 2017–2018 (acting) * Emory A. Rounds III, 2018–


See also

* Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations


References


External links

* {{authority control Ethics organizations
Government Ethics Ethics in the public sector is a broad topic that is usually considered a branch of political ethics. In the public sector, ethics addresses the fundamental premise of a public administrator's duty as a "steward" to the public. In other words, it is ...
Year of establishment missing