IEC Journal

Gov Exec on Safavian Retrial

Government Executive has some analysis of the upcoming retrial of former senior procurement official David Safavian. Here's an excerpt:

Safavian has been in the crosshairs of federal prosecutors for the past five years over his relationship with Abramoff, a former lobbyist imprisoned for influencing government officials with extravagant gifts and trips. Safavian's first trial ended in a conviction, but an appeals court overturned the decision. He recently was re-indicted, and a new trial is expected to begin in December.

With Safavian, a character most describe as a small fish in Abramoff's big pond of infamous associates, the Justice Department's fervor in this case has many scratching their heads. "It's been overkill from the very beginning," says Stanley Brand, a specialist in ethics law. "I just don't know what else they want from the guy. . . . They should just move on."

The ex-administrator of federal procurement policy at the Office of Management Budget, Safavian was the highest ranking government official to be convicted in the Abramoff scandal. In the summer of 2002, while serving as chief of staff at the General Services Administration, Safavian traveled with Abramoff - a friend for about 20 years - and several others to Scotland and London for a weekend of golfing.

Prior to the trip, Safavian solicited the opinion of a GSA ethics officer about the appropriateness of accepting free travel from Abramoff. Safavian said at the time that Abramoff did not have business with GSA. The ethics officer wrote that Safavian could accept the trip for free. Nonetheless, before the trip began, Safavian wrote Abramoff a check for $3,100 - a figure that the lobbyist suggested would cover his portion of the costs, but which was not enough.

The Government Domain: Tracking the Transition

LLRX.com has an article with advice on resources for tracking developments in the Presidential transition.

January 8 IEC Meeting: Gov. Attorneys Entering Private Sector

Peggy Love and Steve Csontos will speak at the Jan. 8 IEC meeting on "seeking and post-employment obligations for government attorneys entering the private sector," the same topic as Ms. Love's DC Bar presentation mentioned here earlier. Thanks to John Szabo for the tip.

Cusick Article

The most recent issue of The Journal of Public Inquiry, the professional publication for Inspectors General, has an article by OGE Director Ric Cusick entitled "Outsourcing Public Integrity." The issue containing the article is available in PDF format. It's a 12 Mb download. The Cusick article begins on page 63.

December 4th Meeting

At our December 4th meeting we are pleased to present a program that should be of interest to ethics advisors interested in learning more about the rules on writing by Federal officials.  As personnel come and go, rules regarding book deals apply.  Such rules may differ depending upon the nature of the employee's appointment.  Seth Jaffe of the Office of Government Ethics will discuss these issues in light of the two thorough DAEOgrams that OGE issued on this topic this past spring.  As usual, we will meet from 12:15-1:30 in the OTS auditorium at 1700 G Street, N.W., Washington, DC.  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 this meeting can pre-register by contacting Patrick.Carney@fcc.gov not later than Monday, December 1st.  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.

Disciplinary Actions at DOI

The Denver Post reports that multiple employees of the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service's royalties- in-kind unit have been administratively disciplined as the result of conflicts of interest discovered by the agency's Inspector General and reported here in September. The Minerals Management Service withheld details due to the Privacy Act.

Clinton State Appointment Would Pose Ethics Issues

An MSNBC article discusses ethics issues that former President Bill Clinton's extensive charitable activities could present if Barack Obama nominates Hilary Clinton to be Secretary of State. Here's an excerpt:

[V]ast amounts of money and prestige are involved, and those factors could pose problems for lawyers at the State Department who work to prevent ethical conflicts from corrupting the nation's foreign policy.

Edwin D. Williamson, who served as the State Department's chief legal adviser under President George H.W. Bush, said he does not know how the agency would resolve the potential conflicts. "If a client came to me with this set of facts, I would describe it as nightmarish," he said.

CLE on Gov. Lawyers Moving Into Private Sector

The DC Bar Association will host a two hour CLE program on transition of government jobs into the private sector on December 3, 2008. The instructor is Peggy Love, of EPA. The DC Bar web site describes the program as follows:

The move from Federal government employment to the private or non-profit sector raises important ethics issues for attorneys.  As government attorneys face employment transitions in 2008, this course will help them avoid the pitfalls that leaving government service can pose.  The post employment restrictions do not always coincide with the Bar's ethics rules and carry criminal penalties if violated. Even those who are not planning to leave the government will benefit from a clear understanding of post-government employment ethics issues, including matters a federal attorney may be permanently barred from working on after leaving federal service. From potential conflicts of interest that must be considered during and after the employment search process, to rules about confidentiality and contact with one's former government employer, government attorneys will walk away from this course with a clear understanding of both the ethical standards in the applicable Rules of Professional Conduct and any relevant statutory requirements.  It is particularly important for government attorneys to understand that they face potential criminal liability and disciplinary action from the Bar for violating some of these rules. The course also will alert attendees to post-government employment issues on fee sharing, representation of a foreign entity and other issues that government attorneys need to understand when dealing with employment transitions.

DOJ Ethics Site

There are lots of good federal agency web sites out there, but the Department of Justice site has always struck us as one of the very best. It has many worthy features, including the well-organized way it lays out the key ethics rules so as to serve as a genuinely useful reference for agency employees. Keep up the good work.

We try to link to all federal agency web sites in the column at right. Please let us know any that we have missed.

Holiday Reminder

A timely reminder today can save a ton of headaches later. Here's a holiday reminder message on gifts and widely attended gatherings that one agency recently distributed to all hands via its intranet.

OSC Approves Post-Election Displays of Partisan Material

An Office of Special Counsel advisory opinion approves the post-election display of partisan material:

Even though Senators McCain and Obama will still be Presidential candidates until January 6, 2009, we do not believe that wearing their campaign t-shirts or displaying their pictures after Election Day is activity directed at the success of their candidacies.  Accordingly, the Hatch Act does not prohibit a federal employee from doing so, even while on duty or in the federal workplace.

In his Washington Post Federal Diary column, Joe Davidson noted the apparent incongruity of the OSC''s opinion emphasis on the fact that the election is not over until January 6.

Interior, Bureau of Land Mgmt Vacancy - Ethics Specialist (GS 13/14)

Incumbent serves as the Ethics Program Manager responsible for the development and implementation of ethics policies, procedures, and practices;  reviews current ethics policies and procedures to ensure consistency with established regulations and guidelines set forth by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and the Department's Ethics Office; develops new, or revises existing ethics policies and procedures for BLM to ensure that policies are consistent with pertinent statutes, laws, and regulations; provides recommendations relative to the effect of new or proposed legislation, regulations, or DOI ethics policies on the BLM ethics program; monitors and applies new publications and directions in the ethics arena; works in concert with the BLM National Training Center and others to develop, present and evaluate ethics training for the Bureau; and ensures ethics information is accessible to all BLM employees.

Applications due by NLT December 03, 2008.

See http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/ftva.asp?seeker=1&JobID=77348726

HHS, NIH Nat'l Cancer Instit vacancy - Director, Office of Ethics (GS 15)

The Office of Ethics, Office of Management, Office of the Director, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), invites applications for the Director, Office of Ethics, GS-301/601-15.  The NCI is the principal arm of the Federal government with responsibility for cancer research and for carrying out the National Cancer Program.  The NCI conducts biomedical research in its own facilities, directs research carried out under contracts and provides grant support of research and training in non-federal institutions in the United States and abroad.  The Office of Ethics administers a comprehensive ethics program that reflects statutory responsibility and integrity to the public and trains, advises, and enables employees and managers on the application of conflict of interest statutes, standards of ethical conduct, regulations and NIH policy.  This position serves as the Director, Office of Ethics and is responsible for the planning, implementation and evaluation of the Ethic Office’s programs and initiatives; supervising professional/administrative staff; and providing expert advisory services to the Director, NCI, and other senior NCI leadership on a comprehensive program of ethics and standards of conduct.

Applications must be received by December 11, 2008. Job annoncement number: NCI-09-306702-DE.

See http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=77421799&AVSDM=2008%2D11%2D13+00%3A03%3A01&Logo=0&q=office+of+ethics&FedEmp=N&sort=rv&vw=d&brd=3876&ss=0&FedPub=Y&SUBMIT1.x=0&SUBMIT1.y=0

Post-Employment Restrictions on Senior Level (SL) and Scientific and Professional (ST) Employees?

The Fedmanager newsletter has a summary of of the recent OGE guidance on Senior Level (SL) and Scientific and Professional (ST) Employees. One-sentence summary: OGE says that as a result of the Senior Professional Performance Act of 2008, many more SL and ST employees will be covered by the one-year post-employment restrictions as the locality pay they were previously receiving will now be part of their basic pay.

Paul Light Disses Civil Service

NYU professor and frequent TV talking head Paul Light has been writing an occasional column for the Washington Post about the Presidential transition. In the most recent installment, Less Room for Breakthrough Ideas, one of the constraints on innovation he cited was not exactly respectful toward civil servants:

[P]residents can no longer rely on the federal government to faithfully execute the laws. The thin, agile government that drew so many young Americans to public service in the 1960s has become a sluggish shell in which risk-taking is punished, time on the job is rewarded, and political appointees are free to meddle as they wish. Without aggressive reform, which would itself be a breakthrough idea, the federal government simply cannot honor the promises Obama makes.

2007 COI Prosecution Survey Published

See  DAEOgram 08-036 at http://www.usoge.gov/ethics_guidance/daeograms/dgr_files/2008/do08036.pdf

Obama's Plan includes Ethics

President-elect Obama proposes to shake up Government, making it less ineffective and more efficient, says a Washington Post article:

"If President-elect Barack Obama makes good on his campaign promises, the federal government may be headed for a major shakeup, including the reassignment of many middle-managers, a sharp reduction in the number of outside contracts, and new performance standards for workers..."  See full article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/05/AR2008110503742_pf.html

Specifically, he seeks to free the Executive Branch from Special Interest influence etc.  See page 17 if Obama's Blueprint for Change at http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf.

Some Political Activity Compatible With Hatch Act

Joe Davidson's Federal Diary column looks at federal workers who are active in politics, within the scope of activities allowed by the Hatch Act.

Challenges for Office of Special Counsel

In a Government Executive article, former Special Counsel Elaine Kaplan outlines some of the challenges facing the Office of Special Counsel in the wake of the recent departure of Scott Bloch:

"We think that the next administration really should pay a lot of attention to the agency because it has the potential to do a lot of really good and important stuff," said Elaine Kaplan, who ran OSC from 1998 to 2003 and now serves as senior deputy general counsel of the National Treasury Employees Union. "And in spite of the fact that there have been a lot of problems there during the past five years and that there has been a lot of turmoil, I still think it's entirely possible that this place can be turned around."

That job won't be easy though, she said, noting that Bloch's successor "will have a lot of rebuilding to do."

OGE Calendar: November

Excerpt from the 2008 OGE Calendar:

November 1 Reminder: Only 61 days remain in the Public Financial Disclosure calendar year. Remember that employees need to serve in a position for 61 days or more to file. (5 CFR § 2634.204)

November 30 DUE TO OGE TODAY: Agencies must submit an annual update of current agency separate component designations for 18 U.S.C. § 207(c). Agencies need not reply if their department or agency currently has no designated components and they do not wish to request the designation of any component. (5 CFR § 2641.201(e)(3)(ii))

November 30 Agencies must submit an annual update of positions previously exempted from senior employee designation under 18 U.S.C. § 207(c). (5 CFR § 2641.201(d)(3)(ii))

November 30 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 April 1, 2008 - September 30, 2008. (31 U.S.C. 1353)