Official websites use .mil
Secure .mil websites use HTTPS
The Office of Government Ethics issued DAEOgram DO-06-022 (PDF-HTML-TXT) on July 26, 2006 announcing the publication of the 2005 Conflict of Interest Prosecution Survey. The survey contains summaries of cases involving conflict of interest violations tried by the Department of Justice. These cases supplement the recently updated Encyclopedia of Ethical Failure and are useful for training and reminding personnel about conflicts of interest. You may also find the survey in the Laws and Regulations section of OGE's website under Other Ethics Guidance.
The Ethical Implications of Emergency Response Conference Report is the result of a 6 month effort of a working group comprised of staff from the Office of Government Ethics and numerous ethics officials. The working group was initiated in response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita and ethics officials request that the community come together to develop common solutions to shared problems and experiences. The effort culminated in a conference that was held March 21 and 22, 2006. In addition to the conference report, many speakers prepared PowerPoint presentations which are listed on the report. If you would like a copy of those presentations, please contact Cheryl Kane-Piasecki at 202-482-9252 or at clkanepi@oge.gov. You may also find this report in the Forms and Publications section of their web site.
OGE issued DAEOgram DO-06-023 (PDF-HTML-TXT) on August 9, 2006, consisting of a comprehensive set of questions and answers dealing with ethics issues that can arise when employees work with Federal contractors. You may access the DAEOgram along with the attachment via the DAEOgram section of OGE's website. DoD published similar guidance on July 28, 2006.
On August 10, 2006, OGE published a final rule amending 5 C.F.R. part 2635 to clarify that detailees to an agency, under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act, are covered by the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch. See 71 Federal Register 45735-45736 (PDF-HTML-TXT). The rule also provides that IPA detailees are covered by requirements in agency supplemental regulations to the extent that such regulations expressly provide. See DAEOgram DO-06-024 (PDF-HTML-TXT) for more information.
The Office of Personnel Management issued a final rule updating 5 CFR Part 735, Employee Responsibilities and Conduct in the August 11, 2006, Federal Register at page 46073. The rule becomes effective September 11, 2006.
The rule prohibits gambling on Government property or on duty, and also prohibits conduct prejudicial to the Government. It may be found at here.
Citing what the Senate considered to be excessive costs for conferences, the Senate approved language in the FY07 National Defense Authorization Act to limit spending on DoD domestic conferences to $70M. Discussions criticized conferences in Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Florida (in the winter). Conferences are often cited as examples of perks that are excessive and wasteful. The Authorization Act awaits House/Senate conference in September.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) chastised the State Department for failing to substantiate almost two-thirds of the $140M DoS spend on premium-class travel in 2003 and 2004. The report noted that because DoS lacked data on premium-class travel, GAO was unable to determine if the approvals were appropriate. The report criticized the practice in DoS that allows subordinates of agency executives to approve the upgrades for their superiors. The report may be found here. (GAO-06-298)
The report may be useful when reviewing your organization's travel-approval procedures, or when convincing your boss that using his points to upgrade is the way to go.
DISCLAIMER: The purpose of this advisory is to disseminate relevant information and sources of general guidance, policy and law on Government Ethics issues to the Department of Defense ethics community. Advisories are not intended to be and should not be cited as authoritative guidance, DoD policy, or law.