gift rules

With less than one month to go before the 2018 elections, the ground is shifting for major political donors. Developments over the last several years, and especially in the last few months, show that the rules of the road are changing with respect to many of the common election law…
Continue Reading Election Law Compliance for High Net Worth Individuals and Family Offices

As sexual abuse, assault, harassment, and other misconduct have dominated national headlines, state capitols and lobbyists have not escaped scrutiny.  Amidst a spate of allegations and member resignations, some state legislatures and ethics commissions are taking action.  While a variety of measures are being considered, including tightening gift rules, it…
Continue Reading Fight Against Sexual Misconduct Bringing Regulations, Protections for Lobbyists

Organizations represented by lobbyists in Virginia should be aware of a new law enacted today.  The law eliminates a controversial exception to the state’s $100 limit on lobbyist gifts to legislators and officials, adds a key new exception to that law, and also includes an additional gift notification requirement for…
Continue Reading Virginia Makes Key Adjustments to Law Governing Gifts to Officials, Adds New Lobbyist Gift Notification

President Donald Trump this weekend signed his promised “drain the swamp” Executive Order, which imposes ethics restrictions on incoming and outgoing Trump Administration appointees. Incoming appointees would, of course, do well to carefully review the provisions of the Executive Order. But companies that deal with the Administration—whether by lobbying…
Continue Reading Covington Publishes Comprehensive Advisory Comparing Trump and Obama Executive Orders on Ethics

Earlier this month, newly-installed Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens issued Executive Order 2, applying strict ethics rules to executive branch employees in that state.  The order includes a ban on gifts from lobbyists, conflicts of interest rules, and a “revolving door” provision that prohibits employees who leave Greitens’ office from…
Continue Reading New Executive Order on Ethics in Missouri Includes Lobbyist Gift Ban, Revolving-Door Provision; Legislature Considering Additional Restrictions

The start of 2017 brings two changes to the federal Office of Government Ethics (“OGE”) rules for executive branch officers and employees.

First, important changes to the executive branch gift rules went into effect this week.  We detailed those changes in this alert.

Second, OGE’s overhaul of the Executive…
Continue Reading New Executive Branch Ethics Rules on Gifts and Procedures for New Hires, Appointees, and the Presidential Transition

Corporations, trade associations, and others who interact with federal executive branch employees should be aware of the Office of Government Ethics’ (OGE) recent amendments to the executive branch gift rules, which go into effect on January 1, 2017. Seeking to encourage transparency and advance public confidence in the integrity of…
Continue Reading New Year, New Gift Rules for the Federal Executive Branch

With Election Day 2016 in the books, the political world turns to the transition of power and the January 20, 2017 Inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence. With the swearing in of the new President and Vice President will come the traditional balls, parties, and receptions.
Continue Reading The 2017 Presidential Inauguration: Ethics and Compliance Issues

Over the next nine weeks, the Trump Presidential Transition team will formulate policy and staffing recommendations for the new administration. This alert gives a broad overview of the Transition and the laws that regulate interactions with Transition team members on issues related to appointments and policy recommendations. Persons interested in…
Continue Reading Guidelines for Interacting with President-Elect Trump’s Transition Team

As the nation looks forward to giving thanks with family and friends, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) will be proposing revisions to regulations that specify when employees of the federal executive branch must say, “No, thanks.” These changes are only proposals at this time and have not yet taken …
Continue Reading Thanksgiving Treat: Executive Branch Gift Rules in for Rewrite