QUESTION

Article. The ethics in Government Act, Conflicts of Interest

Laws and Presidential Recruiting.

The Ethics in Government Act (1978) mandates “senior federal executives” to prepare “financial
disclosure report” to publicly disclose their financial assets to enable the public and the press
“scrutinize for potential conflicts of interest”. Financial assets include all sources of income,
assets, affiliations to other organizations and liabilities.
Despite the emergence of the financial disclosure rules which came about due to the ethics in
Government Act, the “applicable substantive law regarding conflicts of interest” remain
unchanged.
According to Jackson, three consequences arise with regards to presidential recruitment which
are,
1. Financial disclosure requirements.
2. Conflicts of interest laws that govern the review of the disclosed information.
3. Prospective remedies and cures for potential conflicts of interest.
Although some modifications are needed in ethics, the clearance processes and review present in
the OGE’s directors’ opinion letters contribute towards,
1. Increasing the confidence of the public in government integrity.
2. Ensuring improvement in the level of effectiveness of public officials.
3. “Preventing the use of public offices for private gains”
4. Ensuring the protection of the president and his nominees.

The “scope of interest criminal statutes is narrower than” it may appear in the formulation where
it relates solely to the financial interest of government officials, and it’s limited only to the
executive branch of the federal government.
Secondly, serious cases in the form of fraud or bribery are excluded when it comes to conflicts of
interest.
Thirdly, the regulation is focused on potential harm, but relatively “civil and prospective in
nature” although the laws of conflicts of interest are of criminal statutes.
Financial disclosure report reviewers focus on four sets of prohibitions present in the laws of
conflicts of interest which are,
1. “Restrictions against participation in matters where an official has a personal financial
interest”.
2. “Restriction against participation in external matters that involves the United States”.
3. “Restrictions against receipt of supplementary salary from non-governmental sources”.
4. Restriction on post-employment representational activities.
Aside the criminal conflicts of interest statutes are the “players and possible problems” where the
most important among all reviewers of public financial disclosure reports are the attorney in the
office of counsel to the president. They have access to confidential information regarding the
nominee’s personal financial situation which contains more information than it appears on the
public financial disclosure report.
In addition to the “prominent press coverage and civil sanctions, alleged violations of the
conflicts of interest status by government officials may be subject to criminal prosecution”.
Measures adopted to ensure the compliance of nominees includes disqualification, diversity,
blind trusts, and waivers under 18 U.S. 208 (b). These approaches are flexible enough to be
applied to individual cases.

In conclusion, Ethics in \Government Act is regarded as a significant barrier to presidential

recruitment which is seen as imprecise and somehow misleading. It reinforces the national
tradition of not tolerating the use of public office for personal gains and ensures that the conflicts
of interest review and clearance process contributes to the president’s nominee’s political
effectiveness.

References.
J. Jackson Walter. The Ethics in Government Act, Conflict of Interest Laws and Presidential
Recruiting. Public Administration Review, Nov. – Dec., 1981, Vol. 41, No. 6 (Nov. – Dec., 1981),
pp. 659-665.