Ethics in Government Act

E77594

The Ethics in Government Act is a U.S. federal law enacted in 1978 that established financial disclosure requirements for public officials and created mechanisms such as the Office of Government Ethics and the independent counsel to promote transparency and prevent conflicts of interest in government.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 2

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute
administeredBy U.S. Office of Government Ethics
surface form: Office of Government Ethics
aimsTo deter corruption among public officials
increase public confidence in government
alsoKnownAs Ethics in Government Act
surface form: Ethics in Government Act of 1978
amendedBy Ethics Reform Act of 1989
Independent Counsel Reauthorization Act of 1987
appliesTo Members of Congress
federal judicial officers
high-level federal executive branch officials
codifiedInTitle 5 of the United States Code Appendix
containsProvision Title I financial disclosure requirements
U.S. Office of Government Ethics
surface form: Title II Office of Government Ethics

Title VI independent counsel provisions
context post-Watergate reforms
country United States of America
surface form: United States
createdMechanismFor appointment of independent counsel
investigation of high-ranking federal officials
dateSigned 1978-10-26
enactedBy United States Congress
enactedInYear 1978
established U.S. Office of Government Ethics
surface form: Office of Government Ethics

independent counsel mechanism
focusesOn blind trusts
financial disclosure
honoraria restrictions
outside earned income limits
post-employment restrictions
governs acceptance of gifts and outside income by certain officials
independentCounselProvisionsExpiredInYear 1999
influenced later federal ethics reforms
jurisdiction United States government
surface form: federal government of the United States
legislativeHistoryContext enacted in response to Watergate scandal
partiallyExpired independent counsel provisions
primaryPurpose prevent conflicts of interest in government
promote transparency in government
regulate ethical conduct of federal officials
providesFor civil and criminal penalties for noncompliance with disclosure requirements
publicLawNumber Public Law 95-521
relatedTo conflict of interest law in the United States
federal ethics regulations
requires annual financial disclosure reports
financial disclosure by certain public officials
public reporting of certain financial interests
sets standards for qualified blind trusts
signedIntoLawBy Jimmy Carter
typeOfEthicsLaw government ethics and transparency law

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ethics in Government Act alsoKnownAs Ethics in Government Act
this entity surface form: Ethics in Government Act of 1978
U.S. Office of Government Ethics legalBasis Ethics in Government Act
this entity surface form: Ethics in Government Act of 1978
95th Congress passedLegislation Ethics in Government Act
subject surface form: 95th United States Congress