Executive Order 12674 of April 12, 1989
(as modified by E.O. 12731)
"PRINCIPLES OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR
GOVENMENT OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES"
"By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in
order to establish fair and exacting standards of ethical conduct
for all executive branch employees, it is hereby ordered as follows:
"Part I Principles of Ethical Conduct
"Section 101. Principles of Ethical Conduct. To ensure that
every citizen can have complete confidence in the integrity of the
Federal Government, each Federal employee shall respect and adhere to
the fundamental principles of ethical service as implemented in
regulations promulgated under sections 201 and 301 of this order:
"(a) Public service is a public trust. requiring employees to
place loyalty to the Constitution, the laws, and ethical principles
above private gain.
"(b) Employees shall not hold financial interests that conflict
with the conscientious performance of duty.
"(c) Employees shall not engage in financial transactions using
nonpublic Government information or allow the improper use of such
information to futher any private interest.
"(d) An employee shall not, except pursuant to such reasonable
exceptions as are provided by regulation, solicit or accept any gift
or other item of monetary value from any person or entity seeking
official action from. doing business with, or conducting activities
regulated by the employee's agency, or whose interests may be
substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the
employee's duties.
"(e) Employees shall put forth honest effort in the performance of
their duties.
"(f) Employees shall make no unauthorized commitments or promises
of any kind purporting to bind the Government.
"(g) Employees shall not use public office for private gain.
"(h) Employees shall act impartially and not give preferential
treatment to any private organization or individual.
"(i) Employees shall protect and conserve Federal property and
shall not use it for other than authorized activities.
"(j) Employees shall not engage in outside employment or
activities, including seeking or negotiating for employment, that
confiict with official Government duties and responsibIlities.
"(k) Employees shall disclose waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption
to appropriate authorities.
"(l) Employees shall satisfy In good faith their obligations as
citizens, including all just financial obligations, especially
those such as Federal, State, or local taxes-that are imposed by law.
"(m) Employees shall adhere to all laws and regulations that
provide equal opportunity for all Arnericaas reger:lless of race,
color, religion, sex, national origin. age, or handicap.
"(n) Employees shall endeavnor to avoid any actions creating the
appearance that they are violating the law or the ethical standards
promulgated pursuant to this order.
"Sec. 102. Limitations on Outside Earned Income.
"(a) No employee who is appointed by the President to a full-time
noncar reer position in the executive branch (including full-time
noncareer employees in the White House Office, the Office of Policy
Development, and the Office of Cabinet Affairs), shall receive any
earned income for any outside employment or activity performed during
that Presidential appointment.
"(b) The prohibition set forth in subsection (a) shall not apply
to any full-time noncareer employees employed pursuant to 3 U.S.C.
105 and 3 U.S.C. 107(a) at salaries below the minimum rate of basic
pay then paid for GS-9 of the General Schedule. Any outside
employment must comply with relevant agency standards of conduct,
including any requirements for approval of outside employment.
"Part II Office of Government Ethics Authority
"Sec. 201. The Office of Government Ethics. The Office of
Government Ethics shall be responsible for administering this order
by:
"(a) Promulgating, in consultation with the Attorney General and
the Office of Personnel Management, regulations that establish a
single, comprehensive, and clear set of executive-branch standards
of conduct that shall be objective, reasonable, and enforceable.
"(b) Developing, disseminating, and periodically updating an
ethics manual for employees of the executive branch describing the
applicable statutes, rules, decisions, and policies.
"(c) Promulgating, with the concurrence of the Attorney General,
regulations interpreting the provisions of the post-employment
statute, section 207 of title 18, United States Code; the general
conflict-of-interest statute, section 208 of title 18, United States
Code; and the statute prohibiting supplementation of salaries,
section 209 of title 18, United States Code.
"(d) Promulgating, in consultation with the Attorney General and
the Office of Personnel Management, regulations establishing a system
of non-public (confidential) financial disclosure by executive branch
employees to complement the system of public disclosure under the
Ethics in Government Act of 1978. Such regulations shall include
criteria to guide agencies in determining which employees shall submit
these reports.
"(e) Ensuring that any implementing regulations issued by agencies
under this order are consistent with and promulgated in accordance
with this order.
"Sec. 202. Executive Office of the President. In that the
agencies within the Executive Office of the President (EOP) currently
exercise functions that are not distinct and separate from each other
within the meaning and for the purposes of section 207(e) of title 18,
United States Code, those agencies shall be treated as one agency
under section 207(c) of title 18, United States Code.
"Part III Agency Responsibilities
"Sec. 301. Agency Responsibilities. Each agency head is
directed to:
"(a) Supplement, as necessary and appropriate the comprehensive
executive branch-wide regulations of the Office of Government
Ethics, with regulations of special applicability to the particular
functions and activities of that agency. Any supplementary agency
regulations shall be prepared as addenda to the branch-wide
regulations and promulgated jointly with the Office of Government
Ethics, at the agency's expense, for inclusion in Title 5 of the Code
of Federal Regulations.
"(b) Ensure the review by all employees of this order and
regulations promulgated pursuant to the order.
"(c) Coordinate with the Office of Government Ethics in developing
annual agency ethics training plans. Such training shall include
mandatory annual briefings on ethics and standards of conduct for all
employees appointed by the President, all employees in the Executive
Office of the President, all officials required to file public or
nonpublic financial disclosure reports, all employees who are
contracting officers and procurement officials, and any other
employees designated by the agency head.
"(d) Where practicable, consult formally or informally with the
Office of Government Ethics prior to granting any exemption under
section 208 of title 18, United States Code, and provide the Director
of the Office of Government Ethics a copy of any exemption granted.
"(e) Ensure that the rank, responsibilities, authority, staffing,
and resources of the Designated Agency Ethics Official are sufficient
to ensure the effectiveness of the agency ethics program. Support
should include the provision of a separate budget line item for ethics
activities, where practicable.
"Part IV Delegations of Authority
"Sec. 4O1. Delegations to Agency Heads. Except in the case of
the head of an agency, the authority of the President under sections
203(d), 205(e), and 208(b) of title l8, United States Code, to grant
exemptions or approvals to individuals is delegated to the head of the
agency in which an individual requiring an exemption or approval is
employed or to which the individual (or the committee, commission
board, or similar group employing the individual) is attached for
purposes of administration.
"Sec. 402. Delegations to the Counsel to the President.
"(a) Except as provided in section 401, the authority of the Presi-
dent under sections 205(d), 205(e), end 208(b) of title 18, United States
Code, to grant exemptions or approvals for Presidential appointees to
committees, commissions, boards, or similar groups establIshed by the
President is delegated to the Counsel to the President.
"(b) The authority of the President under sections 208(d), 205(e), and
208(b) of title 18, United States Code, to grant exemptions or approvals
for individuals appointed pursuant to 3 U.S.C. 105 and 3 U.S.C. 107(a),
is delegated to the Counsel to the President.
"Sec. 4O3. Delegation Reguarding Civil Service. The Office of
Personnel Management and the Office of Government Ethics, as appropriate,
are delegated the authority vested in the President by 5 U.S.C. 7301 to
establish general regulations for the implementation of this Executive
order.
Part V General Provisions
"Sec. 501. Revocations. The following Executive orders are hereby
revoked:
"(a) Executive Order No. 11222 of May 8, 1965.
"(b) Executive Order No. 12565 of September 25, 1986.
"Sec. 502. Savings Provision.
"(a) All actions already taken by the President or by his
delegates concerning matters affected by this order and in force
when this order is issued, including any regulations issued under
Executive Order 11222, Executive Order 12565, or statutory
authority, shall, except as they are irreconcilable with the
provisions of this order or terminate by operation of law or by
Presidential action, remain in effect until properly amended,
modified, or revoked pursuant to the authority conferred by this order
or any regulations promulgated under this order. Notwithstanding
anything in section 102 of this order, employees may carry out
preexisting contractual obligations entered into before April 12, 1989.
"(b) Financial reports filed in confidence (pursuant to the
authority of Executive Order No. 11222, 5 C.F.R. part 735, and
individual agency regulations) shall continue to be held in
confidence.
"Sec 503. Definitions. For purposes of this order, the term:
"(a) Contracting officers and procurement officials' means all
such officers end officials as defined in the Office of Federal
Procurement Policy Act Amendments of 1988.
"(b)Employee' means any officer or employee of an agency,
including a special Government employee.
"(c) `Agency' means any executive agency as defined in 5 U.S.C.
105, including any executive department as defined in 5 U.S.C. 101,
Government corporation as defined in 5 U.S.C. 103, or an independent
establishment in the executive branch as defined in 5 U.S.C. 104
(other then the General Accounting Office), and the United States
Postal Service end Postal Rate Commission.
"(d) `Head of en agency' means, in the case of as agency headed by
more then one person, the chair or comparable member of such agency.
"(e) `Special Government employee' means a special Government em-
ployee as defined in 18 U.S.C. 202(a).
"Sec. 504. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to
improve the internal management of the executive brench end is not
intended to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law by a party against the United States, its agencies,
its officers, or any person.".
GEORGE BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
October 17, 1990.