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 DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20220

May 25, 2023 

MEMORANDUM FOR Chief Marilynn Malerba

 Treasurer of the United States

FROM: Brian Sonfield 

Assistant General Counsel for Ethics and

Designated Agency Ethics Official 

SUBJECT: Limited Waiver of Executive Order 13989 

Pursuant to delegated authority under Section 3 of Executive Order 13989 (January 20, 2021) 

(“Executive Order”), and for the reasons stated below, I hereby grant you a limited waiver of the 

requirements of Section 1, Paragraph 2 (“Revolving Door Ban – All Appointees Entering 

Government”) of the Executive Order. I have determined this limited waiver is necessary and in 

the public interest so that you can effectively carry out your Treasury duties. 

Background 

The Executive Order requires all covered political appointees in the Biden-Harris Administration 

to abide by several commitments. In particular, Section 1, Paragraph 2 provides that a covered 

appointee may not, for a period of two years from the date of appointment, participate in any 

particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to a former 

employer or former client. The definition of that term includes giving an official speech at a 

conference sponsored by a former employer where the former employer charges an admission 

fee. This restriction would prevent you from discussing Treasury policies and priorities that 

promote economic growth and stability of Tribal Nations, including policies that address the 

unique challenges experienced by Tribal governments, during a panel at the Self-Governance 

Communication & Education Tribal Consortium’s (SGCETC) annual Tribal Self-Governance 

Conference. 

In your role as Treasurer of the United States, you oversee the Office of Tribal and Native 

Affairs. You serve as Treasury’s main point of contact for Tribal Nations and Treasury 

stakeholders; coordinate with Tribal governments on consultation requests and related matters; 

and coordinate with points of contact for Tribal consultations, the Treasury Tribal Advisory 

Committee (TTAC), Treasury subject matter experts, senior leaders, tribal liaisons, and other 

federal agencies on matters that may have tribal implications. To effectively carry out your role 

and better inform Administration policies, you must be able to understand the concerns and 

priorities of Tribal Nations, Tribal governments, and Tribal communities. 

The SGCETC is an IRC § 501(c)(3) non-profit consortium of Tribal Nations that elected to use 

self-governance for the delivery of programs and services to their citizens and communities. 

SGCETC assists Tribal Nations to achieve their goals of self-governance and seeks to ensure that 

the tenets and purpose of self-governance are accurately communicated and clearly understood 

by Congress, the executive branch, Tribal Nations, and other interested parties. SGCETC works 
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closely with federal agencies in the administration of the United States’ treaty and funding 

obligations to Tribal Nations. 

The Tribal Self-Governance Conference, sponsored by the SGCETC, in partnership with the 

Indian Health Service (IHS) and the Department of the Interior (DOI), is a decades-old annual 

event that brings together Tribal governments, federal agencies, Tribal organizations, and others 

for the purpose of improving the health and wellbeing of Tribal communities. Attendees observe 

and participate in panels, roundtables, and workshops that educate, identify challenges and 

solutions, share successes and best practices in the administration of programs, and further the 

nation-to-nation relationship between the U.S. and Tribal Nations. SGETC has asked that you 

discuss Treasury policies and priorities that promote economic growth and stability, including 

policies that address the unique challenges experienced by Tribal governments, during a panel at 

the conference. Top officials from DOI, IHS, and other federal agencies are also speaking at the 

conference. The 2023 Tribal Self-Governance Conference takes place from June 26-29, 2023 in 

Tulsa, Oklahoma, and you have been invited to speak at the 2024 Tribal Self-Governance 

Conference. The SGCETC charges an admission fee for participants. 

Up until your appointment as Treasurer, you served on the SGCETC Board of Directors, which 

is comprised of Tribal leaders representing ten diverse and unique Tribal Nations that elected to 

use self-governance authorities to assume control over federal programs that serve their citizens 

and communities. Your position with the SGCETC involved fiduciary duties of the kind 

exercised by officers, directors, or trustees. As such, the SGCETC is your “former employer” as 

defined by Section 1, Paragraph 2 of the Executive Order. 

Section 3 of the Executive Order permits the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), in consultation with the Counsel to the President, to grant a waiver of the restrictions 

contained in Section 1, Paragraph 2 upon a certification either that the literal application of the 

restriction is inconsistent with the purpose of the restriction, or that it is in the public interest to 

grant the waiver. The Director has delegated that authority to me as the Designated Agency 

Ethics Official for Treasury.

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Analysis 

In accordance with Section 3 of the Executive Order, I have concluded that it is in the public 

interest to grant you a limited waiver of the requirements of Section 1, Paragraph 2 of the 

Executive Order to enable you to effectively carry out your Treasury duties. 

In making that assessment, I have considered the factors set forth in Section 3 of the Executive 

Order, which include: (i) the government’s need for the individual’s services, including the 

existence of special circumstances related to national security, the economy, public health, or the 

environment; (ii) the uniqueness of the individual’s qualifications to meet the government’s 

needs; (iii) the scope and nature of the individual’s prior lobbying activities, including whether 

such activities were de minimis or rendered on behalf of a nonprofit organization; and (iv) the 

extent to which the purposes of the restriction may be satisfied through other limitations on the 

individual’s services. Since you were not a lobbyist and other restrictions on your ability to 

1 See Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Legal Advisory LA-21-04, “Waiver Authority and Making Waivers 

Public under Section 3 of Executive Order 13989, ‘Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel’” (Feb. 18, 

2021). 
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speak about Treasury priorities at the Tribal Self-Governance Conference are not available, 

factors (iii) and (iv) are not applicable.

Government Need

The government has a critical need for your services as the primary presidential appointee at 

Treasury responsible for Tribal priorities. Your official Treasury duties necessitate you speaking 

to and interacting with Tribal Nations. Your proposed participation in this event is limited to a 

speech that describes Treasury policies and priorities that promote economic growth and stability 

for Tribal Nations and is consistent with other speaking engagements as related to other similarly 

situated stakeholders. It would be difficult to assign the matter to another employee given the 

specific knowledge you possess about self-governance and the unique challenges experienced by 

Tribal governments. Further, top officials from IHS, DOI, the White House, and other federal 

agencies will participate. Your absence from this conference could cast doubt on the importance 

that Treasury places on Tribal affairs.

Unique Qualifications 

You are the chief of the Mohegan Tribe, a lifetime appointment by the Tribe’s Council of Elders, 

and are the first woman to be the Tribe’s chief in modern history. Prior to your appointment as 

Treasurer, your served on the TTAC, the Chairwoman of the Tribal Self-Governance Advisory 

Committee of the IHS, and as a member of both the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tribal Nations 

Leadership Council and the Tribal Advisory Committee for the National Institutes of Health. 

You also previously served in Tribal Government as the Executive Director of Health and 

Human Services for the Mohegan Tribe. 

Conclusion 

The significant public interest in Treasury’s ability to accomplish its mission to promote 

economic growth and stability among Tribal Nations requires you to fully engage with Tribal 

leaders, Tribal communities, and Tribal organizations, and preventing you from speaking at this 

event would severely impact your ability to effectively carry out your responsibilities. For these 

reasons, I grant you a limited waiver of the restrictions in Section 1, Paragraph 2 of the 

Executive Order. Pursuant to this waiver, you may speak at the Tribal Self-Governance 

Conference in 2023 and 2024, if invited. 

This waiver does not affect your obligation to comply with all other applicable government 

ethics rules and provisions of the Executive Order. Specifically, this waiver does not permit you 

to work on particular matters involving specific parties that are directly and substantially related 

to a former employer or former client besides those granted by this waiver.