Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-108_8n5a.pdf
Page Number: 8

4 

SNYDER v. UNITED STATES 

Opinion of the Court 

contains  comprehensive  prohibitions  on  bribes  and 
gratuities  to  federal  officials.  See  76  Stat.  1119.  As  to 
gratuities,  that  statute  imposes  criminal  penalties  on
federal officials who seek or accept “anything of value” for 
“any official act.”  18 U. S. C. §201(c)(1)(B).

The  U. S.  Office  of  Government  Ethics,  or  OGE,  has 
implemented  §201  and  promulgated  numerous  gratuities
rules and exceptions.  See 5 CFR §2635.202(c) (2023).  For 
example, OGE has stated that federal officials may accept 
gifts  that  are  “motivated  by  a  family  relationship  or 
personal friendship,” not by the “position of the employee.” 
§2635.204(b).  And OGE has also carved out exceptions for 
officials to accept gifts of $20 or less per occasion, awards
and  honorary  degrees,  refreshments  at  social  events,  and
the like.  See §2635.204. 

Importantly, because bribery can corrupt the official act,
Congress treats bribery as a far more serious offense than
gratuities.  For example, if a federal official accepts a bribe,
federal bribery law provides for a 15-year maximum prison 
sentence.  See 18 U. S. C. §201(b).  By contrast, if a federal
official accepts a prohibited gratuity, federal gratuities law 
sets a 2-year maximum prison sentence.  See §201(c). 

B 
In the 1970s and early 1980s, confusion emerged in the
Courts  of  Appeals  over  whether  the  federal  bribery  and
gratuities  laws  in  §201(b)  and  §201(c)  applied  not  only  to 
federal  officials  but  also  to  state  and  local  officials.    See 
In 
Salinas  v.  United  States,  522  U. S.  52,  58  (1997). 
response, Congress passed and President Reagan signed a 
law now codified at 18 U. S. C. §666.  See 98 Stat. 2143. 

As relevant here, §666 originally extended the gratuities
prohibition in §201(c) to most state and local officials.  See 
Salinas,  522  U. S.,  at  58;  18  U.  S.  C.  §666(b)  (1982  ed.,
Supp. II).

But  after  only  two  years,  Congress  reversed course.  In