In 1962, the U.S. government enacted conflict of interest laws that were designed to protect against the improper use of influence and government information by former employees, as well as to limit the potential influence that a prospective employment arrangement may have on current federal officials when dealing with prospective private clients or future employers while still in government service. Congress broadened post-employment restrictions as part of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, including, for example, a restriction against certain former government officials representing, aiding, or advising on foreign entities. The executive branch promotes compliance with post-employment restrictions through agency ethics-in-government programs, which are guided by OGE, an executive branch agency. OGE is responsible for providing overall direction to executive branch policies related to preventing conflicts of interests on the part of officers and employees of any executive agency. Individual agencies are responsible for the day-to-day administration of their own ethics programs. In contrast to post-employment restrictions specific to former government personnel, there are federal disclosure statutes concerning foreign representation and lobbying activities that affect all individuals. Enacted in 1938, FARA is a disclosure law that requires all individuals in the United States working as agents of a foreign principal to publicly disclose these connections. LDA is a disclosure law that requires all individuals working a certain percentage of the time as lobbyists to publicly disclose these activities. Lobbying regulations began with the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946, which required lobbyists to disclose the identities of their clients, report the receipts and expenses involved, and describe the nature of the legislative objectives that were pursued for each client. Lobbying was interpreted under the 1946 act as direct communication with a member of Congress in an attempt to influence the passage or defeat of any proposed or pending legislation. Congress replaced this law with the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, which expanded the definition of lobbying to include communications with “covered” employees in both the legislative and executive branch regarding legislation, regulations, policies, or the nomination or confirmation of a person for a position subject to confirmation by the Senate. Post-employment restrictions in the Revolving Door law prohibit federal employees from engaging in certain conduct with the intent to influence government officials for a specified period of time after leaving federal employment. In contrast to post-employment restrictions for former government officials, the disclosure laws in FARA and LDA are not specific to former government employees. FARA and LDA do not prohibit any activities; rather, they require individuals engaging in certain foreign representation and lobbying activities to make these activities public. Table 1 describes the key attributes of the three laws. The post-employment restrictions contained in the Revolving Door law prohibit categories of former federal employees from conducting certain activities, with the intent to influence government officials, for various periods of time once they have left federal government employment. Most executive branch employees are affected by only one restriction: a life- time ban on “switching sides,” that is, representing any person with the intent to influence, in a communication to or appearance before a government official, in connection with a matter (1) in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest, (2) in which the former executive branch employee had worked personally and substantially for the government, and (3) that involved specific parties at the time of the former employee’s participation. Additional restrictions, however, apply to senior or very senior employees: a 1-year “cooling off” period bars certain former senior employees from representing anyone with the intent to influence individuals at their former agency and a 2-year “cooling off” period bars former very senior employees’ representation and attempted influence concerning any matter. These former senior and very senior employees are also banned for 1 year from representing, aiding, or advising foreign entities with the intent to influence a decision of a government official, and former U.S. Trade Representatives and Deputy Trade Representatives are banned for life from such activity. Level of pay and certain designated positions are used to categorize employees as “senior” or “very senior.” Senior employees include employees whose rate of pay is specified in or fixed according to the Executive Schedule, as well as certain other employees who hold specific appointed positions or who meet a specific financial threshold—86.5 percent of Executive Schedule Level II. Most employees in the Senior Executive Service are considered senior employees under the Revolving Door law because their pay exceeds this financial threshold. “Very senior employees” include employees whose rate of pay is equal to the rate of pay for Level I of the Executive Schedule, and employees in certain other named and appointed positions. The number of senior and very senior officials separating from USTR, ITA, and USITC, and to whom certain Revolving Door restrictions apply, varies from year to year. From 2004 through 2009, a total of 19 senior or very senior officials separated from USTR, 47 separated from ITA, and 5 , 47 separated from ITA, and 5 separated from USITC (see fig. 1). separated from USITC (see fig. 1). One section of the Revolving Door law is of specific relevance to former officials who participated in treaty negotiations. This section prohibits all former employees (regardless of level) who participated personally and substantially in ongoing treaty negotiations for 1 year from aiding or advising any other person in that treaty negotiation, on the basis of certain “covered” information to which the employee had access. This section of the law also used to apply to employees who negotiated certain trade agreements; however, the specific definition of “trade agreements” as used in the section of the law refers only to the “fast track” trade agreement authority that expired in 1993. According to OGE, when Congress restored similar fast track authority in 2002, it did so by creating new authority rather than by amending the prior fast track provisions that are referenced in the section of the Revolving Door law, and made no conforming changes to reference the new fast track provisions. Consequently, the prohibition no longer applies to former government employees who negotiated trade agreements. As a result, former employees may advise another party on “covered” information related to trade negotiations as long as doing so would not violate other provisions of the Revolving Door law. OGE did not take a position on whether this section of the law should be amended to again cover fast track trade agreement authority. However, an OGE official told us that the Revolving Door prohibition relating to trade negotiations had applied only in relatively narrow circumstances, for example when the employee used information that he or she knew was designated as exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. See appendix II for a more detailed discussion of all post-employment restrictions in the Revolving Door law. Ethics officials at USTR, ITA, and USITC described a variety of activities they use to inform senior employees of the post-employment restrictions, such as conducting training programs and providing counseling to former employees. Ethics officials at all three agencies told us that they provide special, one-on-one counseling to senior officials separating from the government regarding what post-employment activities are permitted. They said that they also advise former employees who contact them with questions on post-employment restrictions. The ethics officials at the three agencies described the ethics training they provide that is specific to post- employment restrictions: USTR. According to USTR’s designated ethics official, all new employees receive training from the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Administration as well as an additional briefing from a USTR ethics official on issues of particular concern to USTR. New senior employees receive one-on-one training. Current employees receive annual ethics training during which employees are encouraged to contact the ethics official with any questions or concerns regarding contact they receive from former employees. All separating employees receive one-on-one training that addresses the post-employment provisions applicable to them; they also receive an outline of the post-employment restrictions. This counseling is documented on the employees sign out form, which is retained by the agency. Senior employees complete financial disclosure reports that identify any agreements they have for future employment. Separating employees are informed that they may contact the USTR ethics official after leaving the agency to ask questions on post-employment restrictions. The USTR ethics official said that many former employees do contact the ethics office; specific advice provided is documented in either an e-mail or in notes of the conversation. ITA. According to a Commerce ethics official, all new ITA employees located in the Washington, D.C., area receive an in-person briefing at the time of appointment; employees located outside of Washington, D.C., receive a written copy of the summary of ethics rules for new employees. All ITA officials appointed by the President receive individual ethics briefings from the Assistant General Counsel for Administration, upon appointment and each year thereafter, including a post-employment briefing. Current ITA employees who are required to file a private or public financial disclosure report (which includes all senior officials) receive a written copy of the summary of ethics rules and those in the Washington, D.C., area attend an in-person ethics briefing every year. The ethics office also routinely provides in-person briefings at regional conferences to ITA employees stationed at foreign posts. The office also provides individual briefings to separating ITA officials upon request. The office typically provides a 1-page summary of the post-employment restrictions and/or a 17-page detailed summary of the post-employment restrictions for employees requesting post-employment guidance. A Commerce ethics official reported that former ITA officials have contacted the ethics office for post-employment guidance on numerous occasions. USITC. According to an USITC ethics official, all employees separating from the USITC have one-on-one meetings with an ethics official to receive counseling and documentation on post-employment restrictions. Senior officials receive specific information regarding the parts of the Revolving Door restrictions specific to them. All separating employees must sign a form to acknowledge receipt of a memorandum describing the post-employment restrictions.