TO PROVIDE A GUIDE ON ETHICAL STANDARDS

TO GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

WHEREAS the maintenance of high ethical and moral standarde in the conduct of the functions of the Federal Government is a matter of continuing concern; and

WHEREAS it is incumbent upon those who occupy positions of the highest responsibility and authority to set an impeccable example: NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows:

1. This Order shall apply to all heads and assistant heads of departments and agencies, full-time members of boards and commissions appointed by the President, and members of the White House Staff,

2. No such official shall engage in any outside employment or other outside activity not compatible with the full and proper discharge · of the responsibilities of his office or position. It shall be deemed incompatible with such discharge of responsibilities for any such official to accept any fee, compensation, gift, payment of expenses, or any other thing of monetary value in circumstances in which acceptance may result in, or create the appearance of, resulting in:

(a). Use of public office for private gain;

(b). An undertaking to give preferential treatment

to any person;

(c). Impeding government efficiency or economy;
(d). Any loss of complete independence or impartiality;
(e). The making of a Government decision outside

official channels; or

(f). Any adverse effect on the confidence of the public
in the integrity of the Government.

3. No such official shall receive compensation or anything of monetary value, other than that to which he is duly entitled from the Government, for the performance of any activity during his services as such official and within the scope of his official responsibilities.

4. No such official shall receive compensation or anything of monetary value for any consultation, lecture, discussion, writing or appearance the subject matter of which (a) is devoted substantially to the responsibilities, programs or operations of the official's department or agency, or (b) draws substantially upon official data or ideas which have not become part of the body of public information.

5. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Order shall not preclude

(a) Receipt of bona fide reimbursement, to the extent permitted by law, for actual expenses for travel and such other necessery subsistence as is compatible with this directive and in which no government payment or reimbursement is made; provided, however, that there shall be no reimbursement or payment on behalf of the official for entertainment, gifts, excessive personal living expenses, or other personal benefits;

(b) Participation in the affairs of charitable, religious, non-profit educational, public service or civic organizations, or the activities of national or state political parties not proscribed by law;

(c) Awards for meritorious public contribution given by public service or civic organizations.

6. Each department and agency head shall review or issue internal directives appropriate to his department or agency to assure the maintenance of high ethical and moral standards therein.

7. Nothing in this Order shall be construed to supersede, alter,

or interpret any existing law or regulation.

THE WHITE HOUSE

May 5, 1961.

JOHN F. KENNEDY

Presidential Documents

Title 3-THE PRESIDENT

Memorandum of May 2, 1963

[PREVENTING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ON THE PART OF SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES)

Memorandum to the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies INTRODUCTION

Over the past twenty or more years departments and agencies of the Government have made increasing use of temporary or intermittent consultants and advisers who serve individually or on advisory bodies. The employment of highly skilled persons on a temporary or intermittent basis is in the interest of the Government and provides it with an indispensable source of expert advice and knowledge. However, since such persons have their principal employment outside the Government, conflict of interest problems arise from time to time.

More particularly, many persons serving the Government temporarily or intermittently are individuals with specialized scientific knowledge and skills whose regular work is in industry, research institutes or educational institutions. An individual employed by a university may act as an intermittent consultant not only for the Government but for a private firm and either his university or the firm or both may be engaged in work for or supported by the Government. A consultant to the Government may have other financial connections with firms doing business with the Government in the general area of his expertise and, therefore, his consultancy. The many possible interrelationships between a consultant's service to the Government and his own and his employer's or client's financial interests demonstrate that conflicts problems may often arise.

The temporary or intermittent adviser or consultant and the department or agency which employs him both must be alert to the possibility of conflicts. It is, of course, incumbent upon the adviser or consultant to familiarize himself with the laws and regulations which are applicable to him. The responsibility of the department or agency is equally great. It is important that it oversee his activities in order to insure that the public interest is protected from improper conduct on his part and that he will not, through ignorance or inadvertence, embarrass the Government or himself. It must assist him to understand the pertinent laws and regulations. It must obtain from him such information concerning his financial interests as is necessary to disclose possible conflicts. It must take measures to avoid the use of his services in any situation in which a violation of law or regulation is likely to occur. And it must take prompt and proper disciplinary or remedial action when a violation, whether intentional or innocent, is detected.

Prior to January 21, 1963, the date on which P.L. 87-849 (76 Stat. 1119) came into force, the restraints imposed by the conflict of interest laws on temporary or intermittent employees of the United States were largely the same as those imposed on persons regularly employed by the Government. However, in enacting P.L. 87-849, Congress recognized that these restraints were unduly restrictive, as applied to temporary and intermittent employees, and hindered the Government in obtaining expert services for special needs. Congress dealt with these difficulties in the new statute by establishing a category of persons designated "special Government employees," and by making the restrictions imposed upon their private activities considerably less extensive than those applied to regular employees.

The term "special Government employee" is defined in new section 202 of Title 18, United States Code, which was enacted as a part of P.L. 87-849. The term includes, among others, officers and employees

THE PRESIDENT

of the departments and agencies, including the District of Columbia, who are retained, designated, appointed or employed to serve, with or without compensation, for not more than 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive days, either on a full-time or intermittent basis, under any type of appointment of whatever duration.

The enactment of P.L. 87-849 has made it necessary for the departments and agencies utilizing temporary or intermittent personnel to revise their conflict of interest regulations with regard to such personnel. While the problems arising from the employment of such personnel will undoubtedly vary from one Government organization to another, and different regulations may in some instances be appropriate or necessary, I believe it is desirable to achieve the maximum uniformity possible in order to insure general standards of common application throughout the Government. This memorandum is designed to achieve that purpose. It supersedes my Memorandum of February 9, 1962 to the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, entitled "Preventing Conflicts of Interest on the Part of Advisers and Consultants to the Government" (27 F.R. 1341), which is hereby rescinded.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATUTES

P.L. 87-849 repealed the six basic conflict of interest laws which were discussed in my Memorandum of February 9, 1962, and replaced them with six new sections of Title 18 numbered 202, 203, 205, 207, 208 and 209. Sections 203 and 205 contain prohibitions affecting the activities of Government employees in their private capacities. As already noted, the prohibitions applicable to special Government employees are less stringent than those which affect regular employees i.e., those who are appointed to serve more than 130 days a year. Section 207 contains prohibitions affecting the activities of persons who leave the service of the Government. It applies with the same force to former special Government employees as to former regular employees. Section 208 sets forth a restriction on the activities of a Government employee in performing his functions as such. This section also applies with the same force to both categories of employees. Section 209, which prohibits a regular employee's receipt of compensation from private sources in certain circumstances, specifically excludes special Government employees from its coverage.

The new sections are set forth in full in the appendix to this memorandum. It will be noted that all but 18 U.S.C. 202, which is devoted to the definition of terms, carry criminal penalties. The restraints imposed by the four criminal sections which are applicable to temporary and intermittent advisers or consultants, and to other persons falling within the definition of a special Government employee, are considered below.

18 U.S.C. 203 and 205. These two sections in general operate to preclude a regular Government employees, except in the discharge of his official duties, from representing another person before a department, agency or court, whether with or without compensation, in a matter in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest. However, the two sections impose only the following major restrictions upon a special Government employee:

1. He may not, except in the discharge of his official duties, represent anyone else before a court or Government agency in a matter involving a specific party or parties in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest and in which he has at any time participated personally and substantially in the course of his Government employment.

2. He may not, except in the discharge of his official duties, represent anyone else in a matter involving a specific party or parties in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest and which is pending before the agency he serves. However, this restraint is not applicable if he has served the agency no more than 60 days during the past 365. He is bound by the restraint, if applicable, regardless of whether the matter is one in which he has ever participated personally and substantially.

FEDERAL REGISTER

These restrictions prohibit both paid and unpaid representation and apply to a special Government employee on the days when he does not serve the Government as well as on the days when he does.

Each department and agency should observe the following rules in obtaining and utilizing the services of a consultant, adviser or other temporary or intermittent employee:

(a) At the time of his original appointment and the time of each appointment thereafter, the department or agency should make its best estimate of the number of days during the following 365 on which it will require the services of the appointee. A part of a day should be courted as a full day for the purposes of this estimate, and a Saturday, Sunday or holiday on which duty is to be performed should be counted equally with a regular work day.

(b) Unless otherwise provided by law, an appointment should not extend for more than 365 days. In cases where an appointment extends beyond that period, an estimate as required by paragraph (a) should be made at the inception of the appointment and a new estimate at the expiration of each 365 days thereafter.

(c) If a department or agency estimates, pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b), that an appointee will serve more than 130 days during the ensuing 365, the appointee should not be carried on the rolls as a special Government employee and the department or agency should instruct him that he is regarded as subject to the prohibitions of sections 203 and 205 to the same extent as if he were to serve as a full-time employee. If the estimate is that he will serve no more than 130 days during the following 365 days, he should be carried on the rolls of the department or agency as a special Government employee and instructed that he is regarded as subject only to the restrictions of sections 203 and 205 described in paragraphs 1 and 2 above. Even if it becomes apparent, prior to the end of a period of 365 days for which a department or agency has made an estimate with regard to an appointee, that he has not been accurately classified, he should nevertheless continue to be deemed a special Government employee or not, as the case may be, for the remainder of that 365-day period.

(d) An employee who undertakes service with two departments or agencies shall inform each of his arrangements with the other. If both his appointments are made on the same date, the aggregate of the estimates made by the departments or agencies under paragraph (a) or (b) shall be deemed determinative of his classification by each. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c), if after being employed by one department or agency, a special Government employee is appointed by a second to serve it in the same capacity, each department or agency should make an estimate of the amount of his service to it for the remaining portion of the 365-day period covered by the original estimate of the first. The sum of the two estimates and of the actual number of days of his service to the first department or agency during the prior portion of such 365-day period shall be deemed determinative of the classification of the appointee by each during the remaining portion. If an employee undertakes to serve more than two departments or agencies, they shall classify him in a manner similar to that prescribed in this paragraph in the case of two agencies. Each agency which employs special Government employees who serve other agencies shall designate an officer to coordinate the classification of such employees with such other agencies.

(e) In the case of a person who is serving as a member of an advisory committee, board or other group, and who is by virtue of his membership thereon an officer or employee of the United States, the requirements of paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) should be carried out to the same extent as if he were serving the sponsoring department or agency separately and individually.

(f) The 60-day standard affecting a special Government employee's private activities before his department or agency is a standard of actual past service, as contrasted with the 130-day standard of estimated future service discussed above. As appears from paragraph 2 above, a special Government employee is barred from repre