(a) Except as permitted by subsection
(b) hereof, whoever, being an officer or employee of the executive
branch of the United States Government, or of any independent agency
of the United States, a Federal Reserve bank director, officer, or
employee, or an officer or employee of the District of Columbia, including
a special Government employee, participates personally and substantially
as a Government officer or employee, through decision, approval, disapproval,
recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation, or otherwise,
in a judicial proceeding or other application, request for a ruling
in other determination, contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation,
arrest, or other particular matter in which, to his knowledge, he,
his spouse, minor child, partner or organization in which he is serving
as officer, director, trustee, general partner or employee, or any
person or organization with whom he is negotiating or has any arrangement
concerning financial interest—
Shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section
216 of this title.
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(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply—
(1) if the officer or employee
first advises the Government official responsible for appointment
to his or her position of the nature and circumstances of the judicial
or other proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination,
contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation, arrest, or other
particular matter and makes full disclosure of the financial interest
and receives in advance a written determination made by such official
that the interest is not so substantial as to be deemed likely to
affect the integrity of the services which the Government may expect
from such officer or employee;
(2) if, by regulation issued by the Director
of the Office of Government Ethics, applicable to all or a portion
of all officers and employees covered by this section, and published
in the Federal Register, the financial interest has been exempted
from the requirements of subsection (a) as being too remote or too
inconsequential to affect the integrity of the services of the Government
officers or employees to which such regulation applies;
1-450.1
(3) in the case of a special Government
employee serving on an advisory committee within the meaning of chapter
10 of title 5 (including an individual being considered for an appointment
to such a position), the official responsible for the employee’s
appointment, after review of the financial disclosure report filed
by the individual pursuant to chapter 131 of title 5, certifies in
writing that the need for the individual’s services outweighs
the potential for a conflict of interest created by the financial
interest involved; or
1-450.2
(4) if
the financial interest that would be affected by the particular matter
involved is that resulting solely from the interest of the officer
or employee, or his or her spouse or minor child, in birthrights—
(A) in an Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or
community, including any Alaska Native village corporation as defined
in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Act, which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and
services provided by the United States to Indians because of their
status as Indians,
(B) in an Indian allotment the title to which is held in trust by
the United States or which is inalienable by the allottee without
the consent of the United States, or
(C) in an Indian claims fund held in
trust or administered by the United States,
if the particular matter does not involve the Indian allotment
or claims fund or the Indian tribe, band, nation, organized group
or community, or Alaska Native village corporation as a specific party
or parties.
1-450.3
(c) (1) For the purpose of
paragraph (1) of subsection (b), in the case of class A and B directors
of Federal Reserve banks, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System shall be deemed to be the Government official responsible for
appointment.
(2) The
potential availability of an exemption under any particular paragraph
of subsection (b) does not preclude an exemption being granted pursuant
to another paragraph of subsection (b).
1-450.4
(d) (1) Upon request, a copy
of any determination granting an exemption under subsection (b)(1)
or (b)(3) shall be made available to the public by the agency granting
the exemption pursuant to the procedures set forth in section 13107
of title 5. In making such determination available, the agency may
withhold from disclosure any information contained in the determination
that would be exempt from disclosure under section 552 of title 5.
For purposes of determinations under subsection (b)(3), the information
describing each financial interest shall be no more extensive than
that required of the individual in his or her financial disclosure
report under chapter 131 of title 5.
1-450.5
(2) The Office of Government Ethics, after
consultation with the Attorney General, shall issue uniform regulations
for the issuance of waivers and exemptions under subsection (b) which
shall—
(A) list and describe exemptions; and
(B) provide guidance
with respect to the types of interests that are not so substantial
as to be deemed likely to affect the integrity of the services the
Government may expect from the employee.
[18 USC 208.
As amended by acts of Nov. 16, 1977 (91 Stat. 1388); Nov. 30, 1989
(103 Stat. 1751); May 4, 1990 (104 Stat. 159); Sept. 13, 1994 (108
Stat. 2140, 2142); and Dec. 27, 2022 (136 Stat. 4320, 4357).]
