Reporting Payments from Non-Federal Sources: OGE Guidance & News Reports

OGE has issued additional guidance concerning required semiannual reports of payments for travel, subsistence and related expenses received from non-Federal sources in connection with the attendance of employees at certain meetings or similar functions (31 U.S.C. § 1353). The guidance clarifies the OGE role:

OGE is responsible for making the information provided by the agencies available to the public. It is each agency’s responsibility to file the accurate and complete reports and to make the appropriate conflict of interest analysis. (See 68 Federal Register 12602-12610 published March 17, 2003.)

Such payments to federal employees has been a hot topic in the Washington Post, which published feature stories about problems at the Consumer Products Safety Commission on  November 2, November 3 and November 6, as well as a November 3 editorial. The November 2 article attracted 338 public comments, a large number, before the Post editors closed it to additional comments.