Source: https://extapps2.oge.gov/annualquestionnaire/aq2017.nsf/7559f4f5ef67aaa485257e4b0043f87e/84ea539fd123b768852582a300488649?OpenDocument
Timestamp: 2020-02-26 23:06:54
Document Index: 700141842

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2638', '§ 208', '§ 208', '§ 208', '§ 208', '§ 208', '§ 208', 'art 2635', '§ 203', '§207', 'ART 11', 'ART 12', 'ART 12']

| US OGE2017 AGENCY ETHICS PROGRAM QUESTIONNAIRE
2017 AGENCY ETHICS PROGRAM QUESTIONNAIRE
OGE uses the data collected through the Questionnaire in many ways, including sharing information about the entire executive branch ethics program with the public, Congress, and the ethics community. OGE also uses the information to carry out its oversight role, to gain knowledge about individual programs as well as the overall ethics program, and to make informed decisions about resource allocations and priorities. OGE posts a summary of Questionnaire responses as well as each agency’s unedited responses on OGE’s website. Therefore, please ensure your responses are suitable for publication.
DUE DATE: By regulation, the Questionnaire is due to OGE by February 1, 2018. (5 CFR § 2638.207(a)).
Your response to this Questionnaire should reflect the 2017 calendar year (i.e., 1/1/2017 through 12/31/2017), except where specified. The answers provided should reflect the aggregated numbers for your agency in total. OGE will only accept one submission per agency.
Throughout the Questionnaire you will be offered an opportunity to provide comments or explanations for your responses. Please use these comment sections to explain any discrepancies between levels of required activity and actual activity. These comment sections should also be used to explain significant changes from your 2016 report. After OGE has reviewed your Questionnaire submission, you may be contacted for follow-up.
If you have any questions, please contact Wendy Pond at wgpond@oge.gov.
Which Internet browser should I use?
Why is the field highlighted yellow?
How do I save a copy of my Questionnaire for my records?
I submitted the Questionnaire but then realized I made an error. Can I still edit my response?
The font is small, can I increase the size?
Number of full-time agency employees as of December 31, 2017
3. Information about the Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO):
Vacant (As of December 31, 2017)?
Bradley A. Brooker
Acting General Counsel & DAEO
Was the DAEO eligible to retire as of December 31, 2017?
Has OGE been provided a copy of the DAEO's designation letter? (response required only for DAEOs who have served less than 1 year in the current DAEO position)
Position Vacant (As of December 31, 2017)?
Kerri A. Cox
Associate Deputy General Counsel (Ethics & Adnin
Was the ADAEO eligible to retire as of December 31, 2017?
Has OGE been provided a copy of the ADAEO's designation letter? (response required only for ADAEOs who have served less than 1 year in the current ADAEO position)
5. Number of employees who performed ethics program duties in 2017; e.g., financial disclosure, education and training, advice and counseling, program administration.
program duties in 2017.
DAEO, ADAEO, Some ethics officials (excluding DAEO/ADAEO)
12. Please estimate the percentage of time your agency spends on administering the following:
a.	Confidential financial disclosure program
b.	Public financial disclosure program
c. 201 Requests
13. Are additional resources needed for the ethics program? (e.g. budgetary, human capital, technology, etc.)
Yes (go to #14)
14. If you answered YES to 13. above, which additional resources are needed? Select all that apply.
Human Capital, Technology
15. Describe one concrete action the head of your agency took in 2017 to support or strengthen the agency’s ethics program:
16. Did the agency head meet with the ethics staff to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the ethics program in 2017?
17. Which of the following tools did your agency use to ensure short- and long-term continuity of operations (succession planning) of its ethics program in 2017? Check all that apply.
Competency/skills gap assessment, Developmental assignments (e.g., detail assignments, cross training, job rotation, use of agency developmental programs such as interns, fellows, or leadership development), Individual development plans, Mentoring
Provided by OGE, Provided by my agency
Programmatic tools
Job Aids, Knowledge library (intranet, videos, shared drives, etc.), Resources assessment (personnel and/or financial), Written standard operating procedures
18. Did your agency (e.g., ethics office, Inspector General, General Counsel) conduct a self-assessment to evaluate any aspect of the ethics program in 2017?
Yes (go to #19)
19. What did you assess?
Accuracy of advice and counsel, Timeliness of advice and counsel, Consistency of advice and counsel, Administration of confidential financial disclosure program, Administration of public financial disclosure program, Compliance with applicable ethics laws and regulations, Employee satisfaction with training offered, Employee knowledge of the ethics rules, Knowledge and skills of ethics officials
20. Do you have written policies procedures in place for the following?
21. Does your agency provide ethics program services for any board, commission, or agency that is independent of your agency?
22. Please list any significant accomplishments your ethics program achieved in 2017.
Brought on experienced ethics paralegal on a detail. Successfully began sending monthly reminders to senior officers, via the electronic filing system, about STOCK Act requirements. Successfully began notifying required OGE450 and OGE278 filers via the electronic filing system. Successfully began tracking annual ethics training via the electronic filing system. Successfully implemented new final rule (5 CFR 2638). Successfully began sending quarterly emails to newly appointed supervisors. Accomplished 100% on-time training for all OGE 278 and OGE 450 filers. Successfully completed onsite program review by OGE with minimal recommendations.
23. Please list the greatest challenges facing your ethics program in the short term (next 1-3 years).
With the presidential transition, ODNI continued to experience turnover of senior employees requiring substantial resources to be devoted to post-government employment counseling, nominee financial disclosure, and basic ethics training for new senior government employees.
24. How many employees (including Special Government Employees) were required to receive Initial Ethics Training (IET) by December 31, 2017?
a. How many of those employees received IET within the 3-month requirement?
b. How many of those employees received IET beyond the 3-month requirement?
c. How many of those employee have not received IET as of today?
If applicable, please explain why some employees received IET beyond the 3-month requirement or have yet to receive IET.
Example: An employee came on board December 15, 2017. You do not need to count the employee toward the number of employees who were required to have received IET in calendar year 2017 because you have until March 2017 to provide the employee IET.
25. Did the office(s) responsible for issuing ethics notices to prospective employees, pursuant to 5 CFR 2638.303, provide the DAEO with the certification required pursuant to 5 CFR 2638.310?
Select Yes or No (response required only from agencies with 1,000 or more full-time employees – see Q2)
Implemented, however the first certification was not due until 2018 (5 CFR 2638.310)
26. Did any office not under the direct supervision of the DAEO provide initial ethics training, pursuant to 5 CFR 2638.304?
Did that office provide the certification required pursuant to 5 CFR 2638.310?
27. How many non-supervisory positions at or below the GS-8 grade level, or the equivalent, were excluded from the requirement to receive IET during 2017?
28. Did the head of the agency complete either initial ethics training or annual ethics training in 2017?
29. Did the deputy head of the agency (e.g., Deputy Secretary, Deputy Administrator, etc.) complete either initial ethics training or annual ethics training in 2017?
30. How do you deliver IET to new employees?
31. Who developed the IET training materials?
32. How many new appointees were required to receive ethics briefings by December 31, 2017 (5 CFR 2638.305)?
a. How many of those appointees received their briefing no later than 15 days after the leader(s) appointment?
b. How many of those employees received their briefing beyond the 15 day requirement?
c. How many of those employees have yet to receive their briefing as of today?
If applicable, please explain why some appointees received their briefing beyond the 15 day requirement or have yet to receive their briefing.
33. Who provided the briefings to the appointees?
34. Required Annual Ethics Training
# Received (of those required)
Public filers (OGE Form 278e) – Executive Schedule Level I or Level II
Public filers (OGE Form 278e) - Non-Executive Schedule Level I or Level II
Other employees required by 2638.307(a) (employees appointed by the President; employees of the Executive Office of the President; Contracting Officers; or, other employees designated by the head of the agency.)
Some rq'd 450 filers were no longer employed or in a rq'd position by ethics training season
35. How do you deliver annual ethics training to Executive Schedule Level I or Level II employees?
36. How do you deliver annual ethics training to non-– Executive Schedule Level I or Level II public filers?
37. How do you deliver annual ethics training to confidential filers and other covered employees not required to file a public report?
38. Who developed the annual training materials?
39. Did you provide annual ethics training to other employees not otherwise required by regulation to receive training?
40. Did you provide additional, specialized ethics training during 2017?
Yes (go to #41)
41. Which groups did you target?
HR Officials, Supervisors, Other (specify below)
Provided to those seeking post government employment OGE 450 & OGE 278 reviewers specialized training for new ethics officials
42. From the list below, select the three topics that your employees most frequently sought guidance on in 2017.
Misuse of position, government resources, and information
43. Has your agency ethics program implemented any of the following practices?
Conduct customer satisfaction survey(s), Periodic supervisory review of advice given, Guided discussion among staff, Memorialize advice and counsel
Use advice and counsel templates, Use a database Check all that apply
to track timeliness
44. Number of notification statements of negotiation or recusal under section 17(a) of the STOCK Act submitted to the ethics office in 2017?
45. How do you make employees aware of the availability of post-employment counseling?
Part of out-processing, Emails, Training, Other (specify below)
Internal agency website and announcements at component staff meetings
46. Report the number of public financial disclosure reports (OGE Form 278e) required to be filed by December 31, 2017, excluding SGEs, and the number of reports actually filed (i.e., received in hand) by December 31, 2017.
OGE Form 278e Reports Required to be Filed in CY 2017
Example: For new entrant and termination reports: If an employee starts/ leaves the agency on December 15, 2017, and s/he files a new entrant/termination report prior to the end of the calendar year, then you can include the report in your required and filed numbers. If, on January 1, the employee has not filed a new entrant/termination report, then you do not have to count that report in your required numbers, because it was not required to be filed until January 15. You instead would include the employee in your 2018 Questionnaire’s new entrant numbers in 2019.
47. Does the human resources office(s) notify the DAEO of all appointments to and terminations from public filing positions?
48. Extension and late fees for new entrant, annual, termination, and combination public financial disclosure reports, excluding SGEs.*
49. Number of periodic transaction reports filed, excluding SGEs.*
50. Extensions and late fees for periodic transaction reports, excluding SGEs.
51. Number of public financial disclosure filers reported in calendar year 2017 to the Attorney General for failure to file.
52. How many requests for public financial disclosure reports did you receive in 2017?
53. Does your agency use an automated system (e.g., Excel, Access, custom database) to track the administration of the financial disclosure program?
54. Did you receive timely notification of all employees required to file a new entrant financial disclosure report?
55. Does your agency require an intermediate review by someone other than ethics staff (e.g., supervisors and team leads) for public financial disclosure reports?
56. What steps do you take to collect delinquent public financial disclosure reports? Check all that apply.
57. Does your agency use an electronic financial disclosure filing system (e-filing system)? Note: This includes Integrity.
Yes (go to 58)
58. Which system does your agency use?
Our agency uses the CIA's electronic financial disclosure system for OGE 450 & 278 filers.
59. Indicate your fiscal year 2017 actual and fiscal year 2018 projected costs for using the e-filing system. Note: Because OGE does not charge fees to use Integrity, there are no reportable costs associated with the use of Integrity.
a) Total FY 2017 actual costs
b) Total FY 2018 projected costs
$148229
c) amount paid to a non-federal vendor in FY 2017
d) amount projected to be paid to a non-federal vendor in FY 2018
e) amount paid to a federal agency in FY 2017
f) amount projected to be paid to a federal agency in FY 2018
g) amount for all internal costs associated with operating an e-filing system (e.g., FTE, overhead, etc.) in FY 2017
h) amount projected for all internal costs associated with operating an e-filing system (e.g., FTE, overhead, etc.) in FY 2018
i) number of public financial disclosure filers who filed in electronically in FY 2017
j) number of public financial disclosure filers projected to file electronically in FY 2018
k) number of confidential financial disclosure filers who filed electronically in FY 2017
l) number of confidential financial disclosure filers projected to file electronically in FY 2018
60. Indicate which forms your agency uses the e-filing system for.
Public Financial Disclosure (OGE Form 278e), Periodic Transaction (OGE Form 278-T), Confidential Disclosure Forms (OGE Form 450, 450A, or OGE-approved alternative form)
61. Report the number of confidential financial disclosure reports required to be filed by December 31, 2017, excluding SGEs, and the number of reports actually filed by December 31, 2017.
Confidential financial disclosure reports required to be filed in CY 2017:
Example: For new entrant reports: If an employee starts the agency on December 15, 2017, and files a new entrant report prior to the end of the calendar year, then you can include the report in your required and filed numbers. If, on January 1, the employee has not filed a new entrant report, then you do not have to count that report in your required numbers, because it was not required to be filed until January 15. You instead would include the employee in your 2018 Questionnaire’s new entrant numbers in 2019.
28 extensions = OGC not notified of new entrant filers 2 = annual filers
62. Number of OGE 450, 450A, or OGE-approved alternative forms granted filing extensions in 2017.
63. What steps do you take to collect delinquent confidential financial disclosure reports?
64. Number of public financial disclosure filers who took specific remedial actions because of information on a new entrant, annual, or termination report (e.g., divestiture, resignation from outside position, written disqualification, 18 U.S.C. § 208 waiver, reassignment, etc.) in 2017.
65. Number of individual remedial actions taken because of information on a new entrant, annual, or termination public financial disclosure (OGE Form 278e) report in 2017.
66. Number of public financial disclosure filers who took specific remedial actions because of information on periodic transaction reports (e.g., divestiture, resignation from outside position, written disqualification, U.S.C. § 208 waiver, reassignment, etc.) in 2017.
67. Number of remedial actions taken because of information on a periodic transaction report in 2017.
68. Number of § 208(b)(1) waivers granted in 2017.
69. Number of § 208(b)(1) waivers provided to OGE in 2017.
70. Number of § 208(b)(3) waivers granted in 2017.
71. Number of § 208(b)(3) waivers provided to OGE in 2017.
72. Number of disciplinary actions taken based wholly or in part upon violations of the Standards of Conduct provisions (5 CFR part 2635) in 2017. For purposes of this question, disciplinary actions include removals, demotions, suspensions, and written reprimands or their equivalents.
73. Number of disciplinary actions taken based wholly or in part upon violations of the criminal conflict of interest statutes, 18 U.S.C. §§ 203, 205, 208, and 209 in 2017. For purposes of this question, disciplinary actions include removals, demotions, suspensions, and written reprimands or their equivalents.
74. Number of referrals made to the Department of Justice of potential violations of the criminal conflict of interest statutes (including 18 U.S.C. §207) in 2017.
a. How many of those referrals were accepted for prosecution?
b. How many of those referrals were declined for prosecution?
c. How many of those referrals were pending DOJ’s decision as of December 31, 2017?
d. How many of those referrals resulted in disciplinary or corrective action?
e. How many of those referrals resulted in a determination not to take disciplinary or corrective action?
f. How many of those referrals are pending a determination as to whether disciplinary or corrective action will be taken?
75.	Which individual(s) is responsible for filing the Notification of Conflict of Interest Referral (Form 202) with OGE?
76. Did your agency submit all referral(s) and disposition(s) of the referral(s) to OGE via OGE Form 202 (as required by 5 CFR 2638.206(a)).
PART 11. ETHICS PLEDGE ASSESSMENT
77. Were any full-time non-career appointees (e.g., Presidentially Appointed Senate Confirmed (PAS), Presidentially Appointed (PA), non-career Senior Executive Service (SES), Schedule C, etc.) appointed to or by your agency from January 1 through December 31, 2017? NOTE: For guidance on what constitutes a full-time non-career appointee for purposes of the Ethics Pledge see LA 17-03 available at www.oge.gov.
78. For each category of appointee, provide the number of full-time non-career appointees appointed between January 1 and December 31, 2017, and indicate the number who did and did not sign the Ethics Pledge. (NOTE: Please include all appointees who did not sign, regardless of whether or not they were required to sign. Additional explanatory information is requested in the next question.)
Number of Full-Time Non-Career Appointees
Type of Full-Time Non-Career Appointees
Non- career SES
Appointed 01/01/2017 - 12/31/2017
Signed the Ethics Pledge
Did not sign the Ethics Pledge
If for any field above you are unable to provide a complete response, please explain in the box below. You may also add additional comments.
79. For each appointee who did not sign the Ethics Pledge, find the appropriate rationale(s) and indicate the total number of appointees who fit into that category.
Rationale for Not Signing the Ethics Pledge
Number and Type of Full-Time Non-Career Appointees
Who Did Not Sign the Ethics Pledge
a. Occupy an exempt non-policymaking position (Schedule C or other comparable authority)
b. Appointed without break in service after serving in another position for which the Ethics Pledge was already signed
c. Other (explain below)
If other, explain here. You may also use the box below to provide a complete response or to add additional comments.
80. How many appointees appointed between January 1 and December 31, 2017 and subject to the Ethics Pledge were registered lobbyists during the two years prior to their appointment?
Please type comments in the box below.
81. Section 3 of Executive Order 13770 provides a waiver mechanism for the restrictions contained in the Ethics Pledge. Indicate below how many waivers were granted; the names of individuals granted waivers by your agency in 2017; and which of the Pledge paragraphs were implicated.
Number of Ethics Pledge Waivers Granted
By Pledge Paragraph
Name(s) of Individual(s) Granted Ethics Pledge Waivers
(explain below)
If other, please explain here. Other comments may also be provided in the box below.
82. If applicable, please provide information on any violations of the Ethics Pledge and enforcement actions taken as a result.
Please type in the box below.
PART 12. ADVISORY COMMITTEES & SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (SGEs)
83. Does your agency have any FACA or Non-FACA advisory committees, boards, or commissions?
Yes (go to #84)
84. Number of FACA advisory committees.
85. Number of FACA advisory committee members.
86. Number of non-FACA advisory committees, boards, or commissions.
87. Number of non-FACA advisory committee, board, or commission members.
88. Does your agency have any SGEs (as of December 31, 2017)?
89. Number of special Government employees (SGEs) as of December 31, 2017.
90. Does your agency have written policies or procedures for designating SGE status?
91. Does the written policy or procedure include consultation with the ethics office?
92. How many SGEs serving on a board, commission, or committee were required to receive IET by December 31, 2017?
a. How many of those SGEs received IET before or at the beginning of the first meeting?
b. How many of those SGEs received IET after the first meeting?
c. How many of those SGEs have not received IET as of today?
If applicable, please explain why some SGEs received IET after the first meeting or have yet to receive IET.
93. If yes, which office provides the training?
94. Report the number of SGE public and confidential financial disclosure reports required to be filed by December 31, 2017 and the number of reports actually filed by December 31, 2017.
Financial disclosure reports required to be filed by SGEs in CY 2017:
Example: For new entrant reports: If an employee starts with the agency on December 15, 2017, and files a new entrant report prior to the end of the calendar year, then you can include the report in your required and filed numbers. If, on January 1, the employee has not filed a new entrant report, then you do not have to count that report in your required numbers, because it was not required to be filed until January 15. You instead would include the employee in your 2018 Questionnaire’s new entrant numbers in 2019.
95. Number of SGEs excluded from all or a portion of the confidential filing requirements per 5 CFR 2634.904(b).
96.	Extensions and late filing fees for SGE financial disclosure reports.
97. Number of SGE OGE Form 450 Reports or OGE-Approved Alternative Form filers granted filing extensions.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FOR PART 12. Please indicate the question number to which the comment corresponds.
The ODNI does not have any Special Government Employees