Ethics Pledge, Executive Order 13490

 

On January 21, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13490, Ethics Commitments for Executive Branch Personnel. One of the requirements under the Executive Order is that appointees of his Administration sign an Ethics Pledge confirming a commitment to abide by the provisions the President has set forth in the Order. Non-career appointees at the Department of Justice, with few exceptions, must execute the Ethics Pledge and are subject to its provisions. The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) has issued guidance on the Pledge provisions; their interpretive memoranda are linked below.
The applicability of certain Pledge restrictions depends largely upon a determination whether persons or entities are lobbyists or lobbying organizations "registered" under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), 2 U.S.C. § 1601, et seq. Lobbyist registration is determined through searchable databases maintained by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives. In interpreting the provisions of the Ethics Pledge, these are the only databases upon which appointees and ethics officials may rely in order to determine that a party is a registered lobbyist.
OGE Interpretive Memoranda

• DO-09-003 Executive Order; Ethics Pledge - January 22, 2009
   
• DO-09-005 Signing the Ethics Pledge - February 10, 2009
   
• DO-09-007 Lobbyist Gift Ban Guidance - February 11, 2009
   
• DO-09-008 Authorizations Pursuant to Section 3 of Executive Order 13490 - February 23, 2009
   
• DO-09-010 Who Must Sign the Ethics Pledge? - March 16, 2009
   
• DO-09-011 Ethics Pledge Revolving Door Ban -- All Appointees Entering Government - March 26, 2009
   
• DO-09-014 Holdover Appointees and the Ethics Pledge - April 28, 2009
   
• DO-09-20 Ethics Pledge Issues: Speeches and Pledge Paragraph 2; Intergovernmental Personnel Act Detailees - May 26, 2009