United States Office of Government Ethics

The main duties of OGE include the following:

• Establishing the standards of conduct for the executive branch;
• Issuing rules and regulations interpreting the criminal conflict of interest restrictions;
• Establishing the framework for the public and confidential financial disclosure systems for executive branch employees;
• Developing training and education programs for use by executive branch ethics officials and employees;
• Ensuring that individual agency ethics programs are functioning properly by setting the requirements for them, supporting them, and reviewing them.

Government ethics concerns in the United States were first addressed by Congress in 1853.{{cite journal |last1=Davies|first1=Mark|last2=Leventhal|first2=Steven|last3=Mullaney|first3=Thomas|date=Fall 2003|title=An Abbreviated History of Government Ethics Laws—Part II|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/conflicts/downloads/pdf2/municipal_ethics_laws_ny_state/history_govt_ethicslaws_davies_pt2.pdf|journal=Municipal Lawyer|publisher=New York State Bar Association|volume=27|issue=3|access-date=3 March 2021}}{{cite act |type=Act|date=26 February 1853|index=10 Stat. 170 (1853)|legislature=United States Congress|title=An Act to prevent Frauds upon the Treasury of the United States|url=https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/32nd-congress/session-2/c32s2ch81.pdf|language=en}} The act, entitled "An Act to prevent Frauds upon the Treasury of the United States," made it a misdemeanor for "any officer of the United States" or "any Senator or Representative in Congress" to assist in or prosecute "any claim against the United States."

Ethics concerns continued to obtain during the Civil War. Theodore Roosevelt, prior to becoming Vice-President, served as United States Civil Service Commissioner under President Benjamin Harrison. He drew on this experience to help create the modern merit system (now exemplified by the United States Merit Systems Protection Board) for federal employees, as President. This, in turn, led to further developments, including the focus on ethics in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1933 inaugural speech.

Following Watergate, Congress passed the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 as an attempt to curb the ongoing issues with Ethics in Government.

The Director of OGE is appointed by the President after confirmation by the U.S. Senate. The Director of OGE serves a five-year term, thereby overlapping presidential terms, and is subject to no term limit. The rest of the OGE employees are career civil servants. Created by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, OGE separated from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in 1989 pursuant to reform legislation.{{cite book |last1=Pan|first1=Jock|title=The United States Outer executive Departments and Independent Federal Agencies |date=2010|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=9781450086752|pages=346–7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aaqNAAAAQBAJ |access-date=1 December 2016}}{{self-published source|date=December 2017}}{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}

David Huitema was the last director of the OGE, having been sworn into office on December 16, 2024.{{Cite web |date=December 16, 2024 |title=David Huitema, sworn into office as Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics |url=https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/News+Releases/9FB111ADF7202D3285258BF500659128 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218034810/https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/News+Releases/9FB111ADF7202D3285258BF500659128 |archive-date=December 18, 2024 |access-date=December 17, 2024 |website=OGE.gov}} He was removed by Donald Trump on February 10, 2025.{{Cite web |date=February 10, 2025 |title=President is removing David Huitema as the Director of OGE |url=https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/News+Releases/FCCCCDB6367A7C0A85258C2D00683079?opendocument |website=OGE.gov}}

A series of tweets on 30 November 2016 from the office's official Twitter account praised President-elect Donald Trump for planning to divest his business holdings in order to resolve potential conflicts of interest, following an announcement where Trump reaffirmed his intent to take himself out of business operations, despite him having made no firm commitment to a divestment like selling his businesses or a blind trust. A number of observers speculated that the office's account might have been hacked, a suggestion it later denied.{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/30/503879587/not-a-hack-u-s-office-of-government-ethics-tweets-at-trump|title=Trump's Conflict of Interest Gets Twitter Response From Government Watchdog : The Two-Way : NPR|last=Selyukh|first=Alina|date=30 November 2016|work=NPR|access-date=1 December 2016}} The New York Times suggested that the apparent misunderstanding behind the postings were deliberately intended to reveal the independent agency had advised Trump's legal counsel that a divestment was the only adequate remedy for resolving any conflict, and, by extension, pressure Trump into doing so.{{cite news|last1=Shear|first1=Michael D.|last2=Lipton|first2=Eric|title=Ethics Office Praises Donald Trump for a Move He Hasn't Committed To|url=https://nytimes.com/2016/11/30/us/politics/donald-trump-business-president-elect.html|access-date=1 December 2016|work=New York Times|date=November 30, 2016}} A Freedom of Information Act request by news organization The Daily Dot revealed that OGE Director Walter M. Shaub personally ordered officials within the agency to post the nine tweets.{{Cite news|url=http://www.dailydot.com/layer8/oge-trump-tweets-walter-shaub/|title=Government Ethics director ordered controversial tweets praising Trump, email reveals|date=2016-12-30|newspaper=The Daily Dot|access-date=2016-12-30}}

Under the Trump Administration, the Office reversed its own internal policy prohibiting anonymous donations from lobbyists to White House staffers who have legal defense funds.{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/13/trump-ethics-watchdog-legal-defense-242690 |title=Trump ethics watchdog moves to allow anonymous gifts to legal defense funds |author=Darren Samuelsohn |date=September 13, 2017 |website=Politico.com |access-date=September 21, 2017}}

On May 11, 2017, the Office of Government Ethics requested the Trump administration and its associates submit a form regarding divestment of assets and possible conflicts of interest.{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/05/11/527964148/federal-ethics-office-wants-to-know-if-trump-appointees-are-keeping-their-promis|title=Federal Ethics Office Wants To Know If Trump Appointees Are Keeping Their Promises : NPR|date=11 May 2017|work=NPR|access-date=11 May 2017}}

• J. Jackson Walter, 1979–1982{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072303435.html|title=J. Jackson Walter; Ethics Watchdog, Preservationist|first=Adam|last=Bernstein|date=July 24, 2008|access-date=January 10, 2018|via=www.WashingtonPost.com}}
• David H. Martin, 1983–1987{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/david-h-martin-former-director-of-the-office-of-government-ethics-dies-at-74/2014/04/10/558586fe-bffa-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html|title=David H. Martin, former director of the Office of Government Ethics, dies at 74|first=Emily|last=Langer|date=April 10, 2014|access-date=January 10, 2018|via=www.WashingtonPost.com}}
• Frank Q. Nebeker, 1987–1989{{cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/100th-congress/611|title=PN611 - Nomination of Frank Q. Nebeker for Office of Personnel Management, 100th Congress (1987-1988)|date=November 20, 1987|website=www.Congress.gov|access-date=January 8, 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/19/us/president-nominates-washington-lawyer-to-be-ethics-director.html|title=President Nominates Washington Lawyer To Be Ethics Director|date=June 19, 1990|website=The New York Times|access-date=January 8, 2018}}
• Stephen D. Potts, 1990–2000[https://www.fbcoverup.com/docs/library/2000-08-01-Stephen-D-Potts-Retires-Government-Ethics-Newsgram-Summer-2000-Vol-17-No-2-Aug-01-2000.pdf “Director’s Column”], Government Ethics Newsgram, U.S. Office of Government Ethics (Summer 2000).
• Amy Comstock, 2000–2003{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/12/05/ethics-agencys-director-resigns/ebda57b0-16d4-43fe-b69e-48aa14b251c2/|title=Ethics Agency's Director Resigns|first=Christopher|last=Lee|date=December 5, 2003|access-date=January 8, 2018|via=www.WashingtonPost.com}}
• Robert Cusick, 2006−2011[https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/Resources/The+Passing+of+the+Honorable+Robert+I.+“RIC”+Cusick,+former+Director+of+the+U.S.+Office+of+Government+Ethics “The Passing of the Honorable Robert I. ‘RIC’ Cusick, former Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics], U.S. Office of Government Ethics (November 26, 2014).
• Walter Shaub, January 9, 2013 – July 19, 2017{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/07/06/535781749/ethics-office-director-walter-shaub-resigns-saying-rules-need-to-be-tougher|title=Ethics Office Director Walter Shaub Resigns, Saying Rules Need To Be Tougher|date=July 6, 2017|website=NPR.org|access-date=January 8, 2018}}
• David J. Apol, July 20, 2017 – July 13, 2018 (acting){{Cite web|url=https://www.oge.gov/web/OGE.nsf/News%20Releases/B8D0D452B764B2E385258164005599E7?opendocument|title=President Trump Designates David J. Apol as OGE Acting Director|date=21 July 2017|website=United States Office of Government Ethics|access-date=12 January 2019}}
• Emory A. Rounds III, July 13, 2018 – July 3, 2023{{Cite web |date=2 August 2018 |title=Emory A. Rounds, III, sworn into office as Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics |url=https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/News+Releases/CBFC4DEC0895180D852582DD006A0770?opendocument |access-date=12 January 2019 |website=United States Office of Government Ethics}}
• Shelley Finlayson, July 3, 2023 – December 16, 2024 (acting){{cite web | url=https://www.oge.gov/web/OGE.nsf/about_leadership | title=USOGE | About }}
• David Huitema, December 16, 2024 – February 10, 2025
• Shelley Finlayson, February 10, 2025 – February 12, 2025{{cite web | url=https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/News+Releases/FCCCCDB6367A7C0A85258C2D00683079?opendocument | title=OGE has been notified that the President is removing David Huitema as the Director of OGE. OGE is reverting to an Acting Director.}}
• Doug Collins, February 12, 2025 -present{{cite web | url= https://www.veterans.senate.gov/2025/2/blumenthal-calls-on-doug-collins-to-focus-on-veterans-step-aside-as-acting-head-of-office-government-ethics-and-office-of-special-counsel | title=Blumenthal Calls on Doug Collins to Focus on Veterans, Step Aside as Acting Head of Office Government Ethics and Office of Special Counsel}}

• Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations
• Florida Commission on Ethics

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