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.

CAUTION: misuse of gov computer can raise more than ethics violations

Fedsmith article on Federal employee who used Gov. computer for on-line dating and got embroiled in an identity scam.  http://www.fedsmith.com/article/1598/

TRAC: Fewer Public Corruption Prosecutions

TRAC, Syracuse University's Transactional Reports Action Clearinghouse, reports that public corruption prosecutions declined last year.

OGE Training Award Nominations Due May 30

There are only a couple of weeks left before the May 30, 2008 deadline for nominations for OGE's 2008 Education and Communication Awards. The awards will be presented at the September OGE National Government Ethics Conference in Orlando. The OGE web site has details.

Unauthorized IRS Employee Data Access

Kevin Poulson's Wired magazine blog has a post about five IRS employees disciplined for "UNAX," or unauthorized access of taxpayer information. Several of the reader comments section are instructive in demonstrating the extreme negative public reaction, including the following:

OK well from the above stats, and those stats showing a rise in cases (a twenty percent rise since 1998 assuming an upward trend), the problem is obvious. LACK OF PROSECUTION AND ENFORCEMENT. In other words laws with teeth-sending people to jail, is the only thing that will diminish this, if not stop it.

Looking at the numbers, let's assume an average of 500 cases per year of UAX (unauthorized access) AND these are only the KNOWN cases. So over ten years that's approx. 5,000 cases of UNAX, yet as stated above there have only been 187 prosecutions in that whole time frame. That's less than a 4 % prosecution rate of UAX!!! 4 %!

96 % of the cases went without prosecutions. Again that's not taking into account UNKNOWN UAX, and assuming a 100 % conviction rate.

That's ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE! RIDICULOUS! As long as the IRS gives its employees no punishment, the crime will continue. Somebody needs to hold congressional hearings, widescale, BIGTIME. Even assuming the average case per year is lower, and that this is some spike, that's still less than 10 % (assuming the average number is half) of UAX cases facing prosecution. Yeah, go ahead look at private tax information, oh and when you get back from your vacation, try not to do it again. Lack of accountability=fox guarding hen house.

Federal Employee Tax Delinquencies

The Washington Post's Federal Diary column examines an IRS report on federal income tax deliquency rates of federal workers. The good news is that the IRS believes the compliance rate for the government is generally better than that of the population at large. The bad news is that the federal employee tax delinquency rate (have unresolved tax liability or have not filed a return) is an estimated 3.79 percent as of October 2007.

Principles of Ethical Conduct,  Principle # 12:  "Employees shall satisfy in good faith their obligations as citizens, including all just financial obligations, especially those - such as Federal, State, or local taxes - that are imposed by law."

Key May Due Date Reminders

May 15 is the filing deadline for certain SF 278s that are sent to OGE for final review and certification. DAEOgram DO-08-018 has details. Extensions are possible.

May 27 is the deadline to submit comments on the FAR Council's proposal on addressing service contractor employees' personal conflicts of interest in light of the concerns raised by OGE, the findings of a GAO report, the recommendations of the Services Acquisition Reform Act panel, two recent FAR cases (2006-07 and 2007-06), and some agency approaches to the issue. under 31 U.S.C. § 1353. DAEOgram DO-08-017 has more information.

Conflicts Cause Supreme Court To Reject Case

Have you encountered employees who believe conflicts of interest from their investments should be ignored because they are not important enough to affect their judgment? CCN reports that the U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to hear a case because of too many judges having conflicts.

The rare situation was triggered because three justices have conflicts due to stock holdings and one justice has a son that works for Credit Suisse Group Inc. (CS), a defendant in the case. The court needs six justices to act on an appeal.

When lacking a quorum, the Supreme Court is required to affirm a lower court ruling that went against the companies, many of them major international corporations. Both the U.S. and South African governments also urged the high court to hear the case.

Thanks to John Szabo for the tip.

POGO Meets the IGs

The Project on Government Oversight (POGO) has some interaction with the Deputy Director of Management and Budget, and Chair of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficience at a recent IG conference. Among the topics discussed: IG independence.

OGE Seeks Program Analysts

OGE is recruiting four program analysts, at grades from GS-9 to GS-13. The closing date is May 20.

Dept of State, Senior Ethics Program Specialist GS 13

The position is located in the Financial Disclosure Unit of the Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Employment Law (L/EMP/FD).  The office provides legal advice and technical services concerning the standard of ethical conduct and financial disclosure reporting  for the entire Department. The incumbent will serve as the Senior Ethics Program Specialist and a source of expertise regarding the
financial disclosure reporting program.  It is a GS-0301-13.

See http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=71527470&AVSDM=2008%2D05%2D05+15%3A49%3A35&Logo=0&q=ethics&sort=rv&jts=NOT+iraq&jbf513=NOT+REE**&FedEmp=Y&FedPub=Y&jbf574=ST00&lid=316&vw=d&brd=3876&ss=0&caller=/a9st00.asp

Podcasts for Training

OGE lists "podcasts" as one of the one of the media that is ripe for receiving its training awards. Podcasts are sound recordings distributed via the Internet. They can be used not just on the very popular iPods and similar portable music players, but on most PCs in use in the federal government. They are an inexpensive way to distribute lectures to an audience. The USA.gov web site has a section explaining podcasts.

The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center uses podcasts effectively for training criminal procedure, etc. We are not aware of any agency that uses them yet for ethics training, but it seems like a natural function.

OSC Is Investigated

Gov Exec reports on an investigation of controversial Office of Special Counsel head Scott Bloch.

Templates for Financial Disclosure Review

Thanks to Wayne Johnson for sharing two spreadsheet templates he designed to assist in reviewing SF 278 and SF-450 filings:

Download sf_278_spread_sheet_generic.xls
Download oge_450_generic_spread_sheet.xls

Wayne notes that the "comments" column can be used for following outside activities, as potential conflicts may be noted even in agencies that don't require prior review.

We dislike reinventing the wheel, and strongly encourage others with useful templates to make them available to the broader community.

FTC Recruiting GS-13/15 Lawyers

FTC is recruiting for one or more lawyers in the GS-13 through 15 range. The jobs include ethics responsibilities among many other duties, including antitrust, consumer protection, administrative law, information disclosure law, constitutional law, and interpretation of the FTC Act and related federal statutes. Closing date is Thursday, May 29, 2008. Details at USA Jobs web site.

GSA Administrator Fired

Government Executive magazine has a story about the tenure of recently ousted GSA head Lurita Doan, and another story about its interview with the controversial former agency chief.

Court of Claims Interprets 18 U.S.C. 207

Thanks to Jeff Green for drawing our attention to CNA Corp. v. United States, an April 30 opinion in which the United States Court of Federal Claims interprets the phrase “particular matters involving specific parties” in 18 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1) and the phrase “personally and substantially” in 18 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1)(B). The court allowed a former NIH employee to represent a would-be contractor on a decades-long research project (NCS) concluding that:

Given the massiveness and the time line of this effort, it is unreasonable to be insensitive to the temporary, part-time, relatively small involvement of those who are not even involved, to any degree in the procurement end of the business, but who essentially provided, as part of a team, a small, draft, set of the scientific proposals for others to consider, reject, adopt, and modify over time. It also is unreasonable and not in keeping with the regulatory guidance to be insensitive to the nature of the NCS, which is the technical collection and reporting of factual, scientific data, as opposed to, for example, advocating and attempting to influence for marketing and business development purposes.

Jeff suggests this opinion may be inconsistent with OGE's Yucca Mountain decision.

Cause of Poor Federal Image?

A Government Executive Management Matters column suggests that dissatisfaction with broad federal policy decisions are as much or more to blame for any perception that the federal government is unethical than workplace issues addressed by the Standards of Conduct.

OGE 2008 Calendar: May

Excerpts from the 2008 OGE Calendar:

May 1 -- DUE TO OGE TODAY: An updated list of Presidential appointees confirmed by the Senate (PAS), Designated Agency Ethics Officials (DAEO), and other persons whose Public Financial Disclosure reports are required to be forwarded to OGE for review and certification.
(5 CFR § 2638.601)

May 15 -- DUE TO AGENCY ETHICS OFFICALS TODAY: All annual Public Financial Disclosure reports are due today, unless the filer has been granted an extension. Remember to document the extension. (5 CFR § 2634.201(a))

May 15 -- DUE TO AGENCY ETHICS OFFICALS TODAY: All annual Confidential Financial Disclosure reports granted second 45-day extensions. (5 CFR § 2634.903(d))

May 30 -- DUE TO OGE TODAY: A list of extensions granted, and the length thereof, to PAS, DAEO, and other persons whose Public Financial Disclosure reports are required to be forwarded to OGE for review and certification.

May 31 --  DUE TO OGE TODAY: The 1353 travel report for payments of travel accepted from non-federal sources is due today. Agencies must submit either a positive or a negative report. The 1353 travel report should cover the period of October 1, 2007 - March 31 2008. (31 U.S.C. 1353). An April 23, 2008 DAEOgram has more information.