November 1, 2023
Shelley Finalyson, Acting Director
Irrespective of the outcome of a Presidential election, the executive branch sees a significant change in the leadership of executive branch departments and agencies. These high-level vacancies make the nation vulnerable to national security and other risks and require OGE and the entire ethics program to prepare to carry out our unique role in the Presidential appointments process.
Being ready to assist new leaders to take on their responsibilities free from ethics concerns requires OGE and every executive branch agency to plan and prepare. Therefore, OGE requires agency ethics officials to have assessed their readiness to support a potential Presidential transition and provides engagement, training, and resources to support these efforts.
Specifically, over the next year OGE will:
• Serve as a government-wide service provider, along with OMB, GSA, NARA, and DOJ.
• Engage and actively participate on government-wide transition councils.
• Review financial disclosures and provide ethics support to Presidential candidates.
• Update key resources for Presidential campaigns, future Presidential transition teams, incoming Presidential nominees, the public, and the media.
• Hold a year-long Summit on topics related to election readiness, such as reviewing termination and nominee financial disclosure reports, advising on seeking post-employment and the post-government employment rules, and communicating with new leaders.
Preparing for a Presidential election is a vital function of the executive branch ethics program. OGE takes seriously its responsibility to make sure the program and ethics officials are prepared. Over the next twelve months, this will be a major focus of OGE’s work and the work of executive branch ethics programs.