82 FR 9333 - Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees
Executive Office of the President
Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 22 (February 3, 2017)
Page Range
9333-9338
FR Document
2017-02450
Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 22 (Friday, February 3, 2017)
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 2017)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 9333-9338]
From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02450]
[[Page 9331]]
Vol. 82
Friday,
No. 22
February 3, 2017
Part IV
The President
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Executive Order 13770--Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch
Appointees
Executive Order 13771--Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory
Costs
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 82 , No. 22 / Friday, February 3, 2017 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 9333]]
Executive Order 13770 of January 28, 2017
Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees
By the authority vested in me as President of the
United States by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States of America, including section 301 of
title 3, United States Code, and sections 3301 and 7301
of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as
follows:
Section 1. Ethics Pledge. Every appointee in every
executive agency appointed on or after January 20,
2017, shall sign, and upon signing shall be
contractually committed to, the following pledge upon
becoming an appointee:
``As a condition, and in consideration, of my
employment in the United States Government in an
appointee position invested with the public trust, I
commit myself to the following obligations, which I
understand are binding on me and are enforceable under
law:
``1. I will not, within 5 years after the
termination of my employment as an appointee in any
executive agency in which I am appointed to serve,
engage in lobbying activities with respect to that
agency.
``2. If, upon my departure from the Government, I
am covered by the post-employment restrictions on
communicating with employees of my former executive
agency set forth in section 207(c) of title 18, United
States Code, I agree that I will abide by those
restrictions.
``3. In addition to abiding by the limitations of
paragraphs 1 and 2, I also agree, upon leaving
Government service, not to engage in lobbying
activities with respect to any covered executive branch
official or non-career Senior Executive Service
appointee for the remainder of the Administration.
``4. I will not, at any time after the termination
of my employment in the United States Government,
engage in any activity on behalf of any foreign
government or foreign political party which, were it
undertaken on January 20, 2017, would require me to
register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of
1938, as amended.
``5. I will not accept gifts from registered
lobbyists or lobbying organizations for the duration of
my service as an appointee.
``6. I will not for a period of 2 years from the
date of my appointment participate in any particular
matter involving specific parties that is directly and
substantially related to my former employer or former
clients, including regulations and contracts.
``7. If I was a registered lobbyist within the 2
years before the date of my appointment, in addition to
abiding by the limitations of paragraph 6, I will not
for a period of 2 years after the date of my
appointment participate in any particular matter on
which I lobbied within the 2 years before the date of
my appointment or participate in the specific issue
area in which that particular matter falls.
``8. I agree that any hiring or other employment
decisions I make will be based on the candidate's
qualifications, competence, and experience.
``9. I acknowledge that the Executive Order
entitled 'Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch
Appointees,' issued by the President on January 28,
2017, which I have read before signing this document,
defines certain terms applicable to the foregoing
obligations and sets forth the methods for enforcing
them. I expressly accept the provisions of that
Executive Order as a
[[Page 9334]]
part of this agreement and as binding on me. I
understand that the obligations of this pledge are in
addition to any statutory or other legal restrictions
applicable to me by virtue of Government service.''
Sec. 2. Definitions. As used herein and in the pledge
set forth in section 1 of this order:
(a) ``Administration'' means all terms of office of
the incumbent President serving at the time of the
appointment of an appointee covered by this order.
(b) ``Appointee'' means every full-time, non-career
Presidential or Vice-Presidential appointee, non-career
appointee in the Senior Executive Service (or other
SES-type system), and appointee to a position that has
been excepted from the competitive service by reason of
being of a confidential or policymaking character
(Schedule C and other positions excepted under
comparable criteria) in an executive agency. It does
not include any person appointed as a member of the
Senior Foreign Service or solely as a uniformed service
commissioned officer.
(c) ``Covered executive branch official'' shall
have the definition set forth in the Lobbying
Disclosure Act.
(d) ``Directly and substantially related to my
former employer or former clients'' shall mean matters
in which the appointee's former employer or a former
client is a party or represents a party.
(e) ``Executive agency'' and ``agency'' mean
``executive agency'' as defined in section 105 of title
5, United States Code, except that the terms shall
include the Executive Office of the President, the
United States Postal Service, and the Postal Regulatory
Commission, and excludes the Government Accountability
Office. As used in paragraph 1 of the pledge,
``executive agency'' means the entire agency in which
the appointee is appointed to serve, except that:
(1) with respect to those appointees to whom such designations are
applicable under section 207(h) of title 18, United States Code, the term
means an agency or bureau designated by the Director of the Office of
Government Ethics under section 207(h) as a separate department or agency
at the time the appointee ceased to serve in that department or agency; and
(2) an appointee who is detailed from one executive agency to another for
more than 60 days in any calendar year shall be deemed to be an officer or
employee of both agencies during the period such person is detailed.
(f) ``Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as
amended'' means sections 611 through 621 of title 22,
United States Code.
(g) ``Foreign government'' means the ``government
of a foreign country,'' as defined in section 1(e) of
the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as
amended, 22 U.S.C. 611(e).
(h) ``Foreign political party'' has the same
meaning as that term has in section 1(f) of the Foreign
Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended, 22 U.S.C.
611(f).
(i) ``Former client'' is any person for whom the
appointee served personally as agent, attorney, or
consultant within the 2 years prior to the date of his
or her appointment, but excluding instances where the
service provided was limited to a speech or similar
appearance. It does not include clients of the
appointee's former employer to whom the appointee did
not personally provide services.
(j) ``Former employer'' is any person for whom the
appointee has within the 2 years prior to the date of
his or her appointment served as an employee, officer,
director, trustee, or general partner, except that
``former employer'' does not include any executive
agency or other entity of the Federal Government, State
or local government, the District of Columbia, Native
American tribe, or any United States territory or
possession.
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(k) ``Gift''
(1) shall have the definition set forth in section 2635.203(b) of title 5,
Code of Federal Regulations;
(2) shall include gifts that are solicited or accepted indirectly as
defined at section 2635.203(f) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations; and
(3) shall exclude those items excluded by sections 2635.204(b), (c), (e)(1)
& (3), (j), (k), and (l) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations.
(l) ``Government official'' means any employee of
the executive branch.
(m) ``Lobbied'' shall mean to have acted as a
registered lobbyist.
(n) ``Lobbying activities'' has the same meaning as
that term has in the Lobbying Disclosure Act, except
that the term does not include communicating or
appearing with regard to: a judicial proceeding; a
criminal or civil law enforcement inquiry,
investigation, or proceeding; or any agency process for
rulemaking, adjudication, or licensing, as defined in
and governed by the Administrative Procedure Act, as
amended, 5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.
(o) ``Lobbying Disclosure Act'' means sections 1601
et seq. of title 2, United States Code.
(p) ``Lobbyist'' shall have the definition set
forth in the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
(q) ``On behalf of another'' means on behalf of a
person or entity other than the individual signing the
pledge or his or her spouse, child, or parent.
(r) ``Particular matter'' shall have the same
meaning as set forth in section 207 of title 18, United
States Code, and section 2635.402(b)(3) of title 5,
Code of Federal Regulations.
(s) ``Particular matter involving specific
parties'' shall have the same meaning as set forth in
section 2641.201(h) of title 5, Code of Federal
Regulations, except that it shall also include any
meeting or other communication relating to the
performance of one's official duties with a former
employer or former client, unless the communication
applies to a particular matter of general applicability
and participation in the meeting or other event is open
to all interested parties.
(t) ``Participate'' means to participate personally
and substantially.
(u) ``Pledge'' means the ethics pledge set forth in
section 1 of this order.
(v) ``Post-employment restrictions'' shall include
the provisions and exceptions in section 207(c) of
title 18, United States Code, and the implementing
regulations.
(w) ``Registered lobbyist or lobbying
organization'' shall mean a lobbyist or an organization
filing a registration pursuant to section 1603(a) of
title 2, United States Code, and in the case of an
organization filing such a registration, ``registered
lobbyist'' shall include each of the lobbyists
identified therein.
(x) Terms that are used herein and in the pledge,
and also used in section 207 of title 18, United States
Code, shall be given the same meaning as they have in
section 207 and any implementing regulations issued or
to be issued by the Office of Government Ethics, except
to the extent those terms are otherwise defined in this
order.
(y) All references to provisions of law and
regulations shall refer to such provisions as in effect
on January 20, 2017.
Sec. 3. Waiver. (a) The President or his designee may
grant to any person a waiver of any restrictions
contained in the pledge signed by such person.
(b) A waiver shall take effect when the
certification is signed by the President or his
designee.
(c) A copy of the waiver certification shall be
furnished to the person covered by the waiver and
provided to the head of the agency in which that person
is or was appointed to serve.
[[Page 9336]]
Sec. 4. Administration. (a) The head of every executive
agency shall establish for that agency such rules or
procedures (conforming as nearly as practicable to the
agency's general ethics rules and procedures, including
those relating to designated agency ethics officers) as
are necessary or appropriate:
(1) to ensure that every appointee in the agency signs the pledge upon
assuming the appointed office or otherwise becoming an appointee; and
(2) to ensure compliance with this order within the agency.
(b) With respect to the Executive Office of the
President, the duties set forth in section 4(a) shall
be the responsibility of the Counsel to the President
or such other official or officials to whom the
President delegates those duties.
(c) The Director of the Office of Government Ethics
shall:
(1) ensure that the pledge and a copy of this Executive Order are made
available for use by agencies in fulfilling their duties under section
4(a);
(2) in consultation with the Attorney General or Counsel to the President,
when appropriate, assist designated agency ethics officers in providing
advice to current or former appointees regarding the application of the
pledge; and
(3) adopt such rules or procedures (conforming as nearly as practicable to
its generally applicable rules and procedures) as are necessary or
appropriate:
(i) to carry out the foregoing responsibilities;
(ii) to apply the lobbyist gift ban set forth in paragraph 5 of the
pledge to all executive branch employees;
(iii) to authorize limited exceptions to the lobbyist gift ban for
circumstances that do not implicate the purposes of the ban;
(iv) to make clear that no person shall have violated the lobbyist gift
ban if the person properly disposes of a gift as provided by section
2635.206 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations;
(v) to ensure that existing rules and procedures for Government employees
engaged in negotiations for future employment with private businesses that
are affected by their official actions do not affect the integrity of the
Government's programs and operations; and
(vi) to ensure, in consultation with the Director of the Office of
Personnel Management, that the requirement set forth in paragraph 8 of the
pledge is honored by every employee of the executive branch;
(d) An appointee who has signed the pledge is not
required to sign the pledge again upon appointment or
detail to a different office, except that a person who
has ceased to be an appointee, due to termination of
employment in the executive branch or otherwise, shall
sign the pledge prior to thereafter assuming office as
an appointee.
(e) All pledges signed by appointees, and all
waiver certifications with respect thereto, shall be
filed with the head of the appointee's agency for
permanent retention in the appointee's official
personnel folder or equivalent folder.
Sec. 5. Enforcement. (a) The contractual, fiduciary,
and ethical commitments in the pledge provided for
herein are solely enforceable by the United States by
any legally available means, including any or all of
the following: debarment proceedings within any
affected executive agency or civil judicial proceedings
for declaratory, injunctive, or monetary relief.
(b) Any former appointee who is determined, after
notice and hearing, by the duly designated authority
within any agency, to have violated his or her pledge
may be barred from engaging in lobbying activities with
respect to that agency for up to 5 years in addition to
the 5-year time period covered by the pledge. The head
of every executive agency shall, in consultation with
the Director of the Office of Government Ethics,
establish
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procedures to implement this subsection, which shall
include (but not be limited to) providing for
factfinding and investigation of possible violations of
this order and for referrals to the Attorney General
for his or her consideration pursuant to subsection
(c).
(c) The Attorney General or his or her designee is
authorized:
(1) upon receiving information regarding the possible breach of any
commitment in a signed pledge, to request any appropriate Federal
investigative authority to conduct such investigations as may be
appropriate; and
(2) upon determining that there is a reasonable basis to believe that a
breach of a commitment has occurred or will occur or continue, if not
enjoined, to commence a civil action on behalf of the United States against
the former officer or employee in any United States District Court with
jurisdiction to consider the matter.
(d) In such civil action, the Attorney General or
his or her designee is authorized to request any and
all relief authorized by law, including but not limited
to:
(1) such temporary restraining orders and preliminary and permanent
injunctions as may be appropriate to restrain future, recurring, or
continuing conduct by the former officer or employee in breach of the
commitments in the pledge he or she signed; and
(2) establishment of a constructive trust for the benefit of the United
States, requiring an accounting and payment to the United States Treasury
of all money and other things of value received by, or payable to, the
former officer or employee arising out of any breach or attempted breach of
the pledge signed by the former officer or employee.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) This order supersedes
Executive Order 13490 of January 21, 2009 (Ethics
Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel), and
therefore Executive Order 13490 is hereby revoked. No
other prior Executive Orders are repealed by this
order. To the extent that this order is inconsistent
with any provision of any prior Executive Order, this
order shall control.
(b) If any provision of this order or the
application of such provision is held to be invalid,
the remainder of this order and other dissimilar
applications of such provision shall not be affected.
(c) The pledge and this order are not intended to,
and do not, create any right or benefit, substantive or
procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party (other than by the United States) against the
United States, its departments, agencies, or entities,
its officers, employees, or agents, or any other
person.
(d) The definitions set forth in this order are
solely applicable to the terms of this order, and are
not otherwise intended to impair or affect existing
law.
(e) Nothing in this order shall be construed to
impair or otherwise affect:
(1) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the
head thereof; or
[[Page 9338]]
(2) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(f) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 28, 2017.
[FR Doc. 2017-02450
Filed 2-2-17; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F7-P