August 16, 2024
On May 17, 2024, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) published a final rule revising the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (5 C.F.R. part 2635), and a Legal Advisory highlighting some of the notable changes effectuated by the rulemaking.
As of August 15, 2024, the final rule is in effect.
The final rule revised the Standards based on OGE’s experience gained from application of the regulation since its inception, as well as input from ethics officials over the years. It also incorporated past interpretive guidance, improved clarity, modernized regulatory examples to make them more relevant and inclusive, updated citations, and corrected technical deficiencies.
Along with the publication of this final rule, OGE issued a Legal Advisory and gave a presentation to highlight some of the notable updates. OGE has also notated or otherwise updated trainings and documents, such as its advisories and series of nine Analyzing Potential Conflicts of Interest guides, to address the changes effectuated by the final rule.
The final rule is available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-05-17/pdf/2024-10339.pdf
OGE Legal Advisory LA-24-06 is available at: https://www.oge.gov/Web/oge.nsf/0/9A61D9731DA08D9485258B200048C986/$FILE/LA-24-06.pdf?open
OGE’s presentation on the Standards of Conduct amendments is available at: https://extapps2.oge.gov/Training/OGETraining.nsf/OGECourse.xsp?action=openDocument&documentId=DC8968B00D21BE2085258AE4004F7C71