The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) submits this comment on the notice of proposed rulemaking concerning legal expense funds, 87 Fed. Reg. 23769, that the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issued on April 21, 2022.

While POGO commends OGE for undertaking this rulemaking, the effort is rendered meaningless by an exception that swallows the rule. A loophole in the regulation would allow officials to ignore the new restrictions it establishes. Unless this loophole is closed, OGE would permit officials to continue existing fundraising practices for legal expenses — practices that OGE admits in its rulemaking notice have “lacked transparency and created concerns regarding the appearance of corruption.”

America deserves better than optional government ethics.

OGE also proposes to loosen its gift rules without adequate safeguards. The regulation would, for the first time in OGE’s history, expressly allow federal employees to accept large gifts of cash from sources outside the government. Unless OGE requires employees to implement broad and lengthy recusals from matters affecting the donors of such gifts, this change risks creating an appearance of corruption. OGE has chosen, instead, to require only a narrow and short-lived recusal. Worse, employees could choose not to recuse at all if they decide — for themselves — that a reasonable person would trust their impartiality.

These are not the only concerns. The regulation would compel anonymous whistleblowers to submit...

Read Full Story: https://www.pogo.org/letter/2022/06/office-of-government-ethics-proposes-ethi...