Public Financial Disclosure - Frequently Asked Questions

To assist the public in accessing and understanding these reports, OGE has developed these Frequently Asked Questions.

Last updated: 5/13/2024

Candidate Reports (OGE Form 278e)

An individual who becomes a candidate for President as determined by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or a candidate for Vice President must file a public financial disclosure report (candidate report) with the FEC within 30 days of becoming a candidate. The individual must thereafter file a public financial disclosure report on May 15 of each successive year that they remain a candidate. The FEC may grant extensions of these deadlines. See PA-23-02 (PDF).

After the initial filing with the FEC and once the FEC transmits the candidate report to OGE, OGE reviews (PDF) the report for legal compliance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EIGA). If additional information or an amendment to the report is needed, OGE staff will contact the candidate or the candidate’s representative.

OGE strives to resolve all outstanding issues through an informal process within 60 days of OGE’s receipt of the report. After 60 days, OGE may initiate a formal, written information request and amendment request process. OGE will certify the financial disclosure report only when it is in compliance with the EIGA and the applicable regulations.

The candidate report details the personal financial interests of the filer, the filer's spouse, and any dependent children. The financial disclosure guide, available here, provides detailed information on reporting requirements for various financial interests.

Candidate financial disclosure reports are releasable to the public 30 days after receipt by OGE. Candidate reports certified by OGE are available by request after providing statutorily required information (collected by completing the OGE Form 201).

Nominee Reports (OGE Form 278e)

Filers who hope to enter Presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed (PAS) positions file a nominee report.

OGE reviews the reports for approximately 950 positions in which the PAS nominee is expected to serve in the position for more than 60 days in any one calendar year.

PAS nominees who are not expected to serve in the positions for more than 60 days in any one calendar year typically file confidential financial disclosure reports.

OGE does not review financial disclosure reports for all PAS nominees. The types of PAS nominees excluded from OGE review generally fall into four categories: (1) judicial officers; (2) members of the uniformed services; (3) Foreign Service Officers without the rank of ambassador; and (4) a select number of no-more-than-60-day PAS nominees, per agreement with the Senate. This workbook provides a list of all the PAS positions subject to OGE’s review.

The nominee report details the personal financial interests of the filer, the filer's spouse, and any dependent children. The financial disclosure guide available here provides detailed information on reporting requirements for various financial interests.

Prospective nominees for PAS positions file a draft public financial disclosure report in OGE’s electronic filing system. The draft report is reviewed by the nominee’s prospective agency and OGE for potential conflicts of interest and technical completeness. There are usually several rounds of revisions and changes made to the report during the review process which involve the prospective nominee, the prospective agency, and OGE.

When potential conflicts are identified, ethics officials identify steps that the nominee will need to take to avoid the conflicts and document those steps in an ethics agreement.

Once the financial disclosure report and ethics agreement are finalized, OGE preclears (i.e., tentatively approves) the nominee financial disclosure report and ethics agreement and awaits the announcement of the President’s nomination or the President-elect’s intent to nominate the nominee.

If/when the President nominates or the President-elect announces an intent to nominate that individual, the nominee certifies the pre-cleared financial disclosure report. The prospective agency’s ethics official certifies the report and then OGE’s Director certifies the report. OGE then transmits the report and ethics agreement to the Senate.

In the instance when the President nominates or the President-elect announces an intent to nominate an individual without preclearance, OGE waits for the report to begin the process for review and preclearance described above.

The nominee’s financial disclosure report and ethics agreement are available to the public after they are received by the Senate. Reports and ethics agreements for filers in the 67 positions at Pay Levels I and II (including Cabinet secretaries) are typically posted on OGE’s website and available for download two days after the report is received by the Senate. Nominee reports for other PAS filers are typically available by request after providing statutorily required information (collected by completing the OGE Form 201) two days after the report is received by the Senate.

New Entrant Reports (OGE Form 278e)

All public financial disclosure filers are required to complete either a nominee or a new entrant report. Filers who hope to enter Presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed positions file a nominee report.

All other public financial disclosure filers file a new entrant report. These reports are filed with the employing agency within 30 days of taking office. The new entrant report details the personal financial interests of the filer, the filer’s spouse, and any dependent children.

OGE provides a second-level review of the new entrant reports of filers for certain positions, including Designated Agency Ethics Officials (DAEOs), senior White House officials, senior officials in the Office of the Vice President, and the Postmaster General. For these positions, the reports are initially filed with the official’s employing agency, reviewed and certified by that agency, and then forwarded to OGE for a second level of review and certification or closure.

Ethics Agreements

Generally, an ethics agreement takes the form of a letter from a filer to the senior agency ethics official at the filer’s employing agency. It details the steps that the filer and the employing agency have agreed the filer must take to resolve potential conflicts of interest.

OGE must approve in advance any ethics agreement, or proposed modification to an ethics agreement of a PAS official whose report is reviewed by OGE. Modifications include substantive changes to the ethics agreement and any extensions of the previously agreed-upon time periods to comply with the ethics agreement.

No. Filers in positions that do not require Senate confirmation are not required to enter into formal written ethics agreements, unless their agencies require them.

Annual and Termination Financial Disclosure Reports (OGE Form 278e)

There are approximately 26,000 public financial disclosure filers in the executive branch comprising:

• the President and the Vice President;
• officers and employees in positions that have a rate of basic pay equal to or greater than 120% of the minimum rate of basic pay for GS-15 of the General Schedule;
• administrative law judges;
• employees in positions which are excepted from the competitive service because of their confidential or policymaking character;
• The Postmaster General, the Deputy Postmaster General, each Governor of the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service and each officer or employee of the United States Postal Service or Postal Regulatory Commission that have a basic rate of pay that is equal to or greater than 120% of the minimum rate of basic pay for GS-15 of the General Schedule;
• The Director of the Office of Government Ethics and each agency's Designated Agency Ethics Official; and
• civilian employees in the Executive Office of the President (other than special Government employees) who hold commissions of appointment from the President.

To see who files, where they file, and how to access their documents, click here: https://www.oge.gov/web/OGE.nsf/accessdocs_disclosure-quickstart?OpenForm

In 2024, unless an extension is granted, public filers must file their annual reports by May 15 and agencies must make the reports available within 30 days of receipt (reports filed before the deadline may not be available until 30 days after May 15). See the “2024 Schedule of Important Ethics Dates” (PDF) . The deadline for filing annual reports can be extended by the appropriate ethics official for up to 90 days.

Agencies must review reports within 60 days of receiving them and, if no additional information or remedy is required, agencies must also certify the reports before the 60-day period expires.

For public financial disclosure reports requiring a second-level review by OGE, agencies must forward the reports to OGE promptly after the agencies certify the reports. Those reports are available from OGE by request 30 days after receipt.

To be required to file an annual financial disclosure this year, an employee must have served in a position requiring filing for more than 60 days last year. However, the filer must file periodic transaction reports as applicable (see section on periodic transaction reports below).

Public financial disclosure filers are required to file termination public financial disclosure reports within 30 days of leaving a filing position, unless they are entering another filing position.

Availability of Reports and Related Documents

OGE provides a second-level review of about 1,100 of the approximately 26,000 public financial disclosure reports filed by officials in the executive branch. OGE reviews the reports filed by Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, the President, Vice President, Presidential appointees in positions requiring Senate confirmation, certain White House appointees, certain appointees in the Office of the Vice President, and the Designated Agency Ethics Official at each agency. Click here to view a spreadsheet listing nominee positions which file with OGE. The remaining approximately 25,000 public financial disclosure reports are available from the filing official’s agency.

The annual reports of filers at Executive Pay Levels I and II (the 67 highest-level presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed positions, including Cabinet secretaries) are available on OGE’s website 30 days after receipt. To access these reports from OGE’s homepage:

• Navigate to the “Access Ethics Documents” menu
• Click on "View Officials’ Individual Disclosures"
• Affirm that you will not use any report for unlawful purposes
• Search and sort within the collection to locate the filer
• Click to immediately download the documents

The other reports filed with OGE (e.g., presidential appointees confirmed by the Senate, senior White House personnel, and Designated Agency Ethics Officials) are available on OGE's website 30 days after receipt and after a requestor submits a completed OGE Form 201, as required by the Ethics in Government Act.

To access these reports from OGE’s homepage:

• Navigate to the “Access Ethics Documents” menu
• Click on "View Officials’ Individual Disclosures"
• Affirm that you will not use any report for unlawful purposes
• Search and sort within the collection to locate the filer
• Click on the prompt to complete the OGE Form 201
• Fill out the OGE Form 201 and submit it to OGE
• OGE will review your request and email you any responsive documents

To request one of the remaining more than 25,000 public financial disclosure reports required to be filed by executive branch officials, but not required to be reviewed by OGE, you may complete an OGE Form 201 (.pdf) and submit it to the official’s employing agency. (Agencies may use other systems or forms to accept requests.) Contact information for submitting the OGE Form 201 at a particular agency is located here.

The Ethics in Government Act, as amended, specifies which public financial disclosure reports are publicly posted and which must be released subject to a request process.

Publicly posted reports are those:

• submitted by the President and Vice President; and
• submitted by filers at Executive Pay Levels I (5 U.S.C. 5312) and II (5 U.S.C. 5313).

Reports released subject to the Ethics in Government Act process are those:

• submitted by approximately 1,000 other PAS filers whose reports OGE reviews (available to request from OGE or a filer’s employing agency via the submission of a completed OGE Form 201); and
• submitted by the remaining approximately 25,000 public filers that are not reviewed by OGE (available to request from the filer’s agency via the submission of a completed OGE Form 201).

Requests for financial disclosure reports of White House staff and appointees from prior administrations should be submitted to the National Archives and Records Administration:

Trump.library@nara.gov for Trump Administration records

Obama.library@nara.gov for Obama Administration records

Yes, the Act imposes restrictions on the use of the records. When making your request, you will have to certify that you are aware of the restrictions listed below.

The records cannot be used:

• for any unlawful purpose
• for any commercial purpose, other than by news and communications media for dissemination to the general public
• for determining or establishing the credit rating of any individual
• for use, directly or indirectly, in the solicitation of money for any political, charitable, or other purpose.

Periodic Transaction Reports (OGE form 278-T)

Filers of public financial disclosure reports are also required to file periodic transaction reports (PTRs) when they make certain kinds of financial transactions such as buying or selling stock. Unless an extension is granted, PTRs are required to be filed with the employing agency no later than 45 days after the transaction occurs.

Agencies are required to make these reports available 30 days after they are filed with the agency whether the PTR has been certified or not, if requested using the OGE Form 201. The 201 Form and agency points of contact for making these requests can be found here: https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/about_ethics-contact-list

For officials who are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, PTRs are forwarded to OGE from the filer’s agency after agency certification for second-level review and certification by OGE. Those reports are available from OGE by request 30 days after receipt. You can find these reports here: https://www.oge.gov/web/OGE.nsf/Officials%20Individual%20Disclosures%20Search%20Collection?OpenForm

Helpful Resources

Watch a short video explaining how to access ethics documents:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkC-ZSVWpBA

This table describes the types of ethics documents available from OGE's database:
https://www.oge.gov/web/OGE.nsf/accessdocs_disclosure-glossary?OpenForm

This table describes who files public financial disclosure reports and how to access them:
https://www.oge.gov/web/OGE.nsf/accessdocs_disclosure-quickstart?OpenForm

This table lists the applicable reporting periods for different public financial disclosure reports:
https://www.oge.gov/web/278eGuide.nsf/For_Ethics_Officials#_2.01:Reporting_Periods

This Guide provides illustrations of sample reporting, definitions, and frequently asked questions about completing public financial disclosure reports:
https://www.oge.gov/Web/278eGuide.nsf