IEC Journal

Northern Virginia Public Corruption Task Force

The Washington Post reports on the formation of the new Northern Virginia Public Corruption/Government Fraud Task Force, composed of eight federal agencies:

"We're not standing here saying that the environment is systemic of corruption," Joseph Persichini Jr., head of the FBI's Washington field office, said at a news conference announcing the initiative. "It's reasonable to believe that if a high amount of dollars are coming into a region, that's opportunity. ... We believe that every citizen is entitled to ethical public service." ...

Persichini said business leaders should be careful when they seek contracts and other government dollars. "If you are confronted with a public official who is attempting to extort you, that's the ethical decision you have to make," he said. "In the very difficult economic conditions we have today, we want to make sure that people know we are out there."

Nomination Deadline Friday

Friday, May 30 is the last day to submit nominations for the OGE 2008 Education and Communication Awards. The awards will be presented at the National Government Ethics Conference this fall in Orlando.

HUD VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

The Office of General Counsel, Ethics Law Division, Department of Housing and Urban Development, has an opening for a GS-15, Supervisory Attorney-Advisor. The Job Announcement # is H08-EX-186958-CW. It is listed on USAJOBS at OPM. Closing date is June 6.

GAO on Revolving Door at DoD

A Government Executive article examines a GAO report on the revolving door between the Department of Defense and defense contractors. One interesting fact is that about 65 percent of those former officials in positions that made them subject to post-employment restrictions were employed by one of seven contractors: Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC); Northrop Grumman Corp.; Lockheed Martin Corp.; Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.; L3 Communications Holding Inc.; General Dynamics and Raytheon Co.

The article notes:

According to GAO, Defense is not required to monitor former officials when they begin jobs with defense contractors. The department does provide guidance in the form of written ethics opinions to former officials who request them, but GAO concluded that the practice offered limited transparency.

Several new requirements were implemented recently to ensure contractors were aware of employment restrictions for former Defense officials. Requirements enacted in January 2008 through the fiscal 2008 Defense Authorization Act were designed to make the written ethics opinions given to former Defense officials more readily available to their contractor employers or potential employers. The department also was required to keep ethics opinions in a central database. But GAO said that database was not designed for Defense to monitor their former officials' post-government employment compliance.

GAO recommended that Defense consider what type of contractor disclosure and certification information on former officials was necessary to ensure compliance with post-government employment restrictions. Chaplain noted that existing laws not only protect against conflicts of interest, but also promote public trust in the integrity of the government's decision-making process.

DOJ Recruiting Lawyer Grades 13-15

The Department of Justice is recruiting an ethics lawyer in grade 13, 14 or 15. Details in the attachment:

Download DOJ_ethics.doc

Skybox Lobbying

In Iowa, the big business section topic is corn. In Seattle, it's the high tech industry. In Washington, a different industry dominates: government and lobbyists.

The Washington Post reported recently on a Washington Redskins marketing ploy. A handout for salesmen titled "Government Ethics Rules re: Suite Tickets" notes that "Government officials/employees can accept invitations to your Suite" through "Suite Guest Passes: These passes allow recipients who already have a ticket to the game to drop by an Executive Level Suite for a short visit." After discussing the use of such suites by House/Senate employees, the brochure goes on to talk more broadly about civil service employees:

Limited View/standing room only Tickets: These tickets cost $25. A government employee who bought such a ticket from the Redskins could accept a Suite Guest Pass (referenced above) from you to visit your suite without reimbursing you.

The Post story notes that several ethics experts have reservations about the practice described in the sales literature.

SEC Program Specialist GS 11 VACANCY

Securities and Exchange, Office of General Counsel, has a job opening for a Program Specialist, Grade 11, $63,149.00-$97,786.00. Announcement number 08-210-FB, closing date June 4, 2008; located in Washington, D.C.; open to status eligibles. https://www.avuecentral.com/casting/central/control/redirectApply;jsessionid=a13a53e530d6894ea2abb4c946629f73d82a36f7e038.e38PaN8TbNaTaO0LahaNc38RaO0

June 12th Meeting

At our next meeting, we will feature a panel discussion of the 2006 OGE informal opinions.  Digests of these opinions have been prepared by our panelists, Jeff Green, DoD, Dave LaCroix, Navy OGC, and Pat Carney, FCC, and are available on-line in the Ethics Resource Library on the DoD SOCO website.  The opinions, of course, are available on OGE’s website (DO-07-009 and DO-07-021).  IEC members are encouraged to read the opinions in advance of our June meeting.  In the interests of the greening of the IEC, we do not plan to hand out hard copies of the digests or opinions at the meeting.  Our June 12th meeting will take place from 12:15-1:30 in the OTS auditorium, 1700 G Street, N. W. -- the corner of 17th and G Streets.  As always, individuals who are on the IEC roster need not pre-register for this meeting.  Ethics officials who are not on our roster but who wish to attend our June meeting can pre-register by contacting Pat Carney not later than Monday, June 9th. Those who are neither on the IEC roster nor pre-registered can still be admitted to our meeting site by showing a Government ID to OTS Security personnel and signing in.

Rule-Based Regulation vs. Principle-Based

The Financial Page column in New Yorker magazine has a thought-provoking discussion about rule-based regulation vs. principle-based financial institution regulation that has some relevance to federal ethics regulation philosophies.

Here's an excerpt:

As the press has noted, the plan would consolidate our myriad and overlapping regulators into fewer, bigger ones. But the most interesting thing about it is something subtler: a push to move from our current system of regulation—often known as “rules-based”—toward a “principles-based” approach. In a rules-based system, lawmakers and regulators try to prescribe in great detail exactly what companies must and must not do to meet their obligations to shareholders and clients. In principles-based systems, which are more common in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe, regulators worry less about dotted “i”s and crossed “t”s, and instead evaluate companies’ behavior according to broad principles; the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority has eleven such principles, which are often deliberately vague (“A firm must observe proper standards of market conduct”). This approach gives companies more leeway in dealing with investors and customers—not every company needs to follow the same rules on, say, financial reporting—but it also gives regulators more leeway in judging whether a company is really acting in the best interests of shareholders and consumers.

Which ethics areas are best suited to principles-based approaches and which require rules-based approaches?

USDA Ethics Job Openings

USDA has asked us to pass along word that they have several GS-13 ethics specialist positions currently open.  Further information on these positions is available at OPM's USAJOBS website.