September 22, 2016
The Ethics in Government Act requires each executive branch agency to submit an annual report to OGE regarding its government ethics operations. In order to standardize the agencies’ submissions, OGE requires agencies to yearly complete an ethics program questionnaire.
I am pleased to announce that we have made the agencies’ responses to the 2015 Annual Agency Ethics Program Questionnaire available on OGE’s website. We have also published key statistics about the executive branch ethics program in a summary report. This information provides valuable insights into individual agencies and the executive branch ethics program as a whole.
In October, we will host a training session for executive branch ethics officials to discuss the results of the 2015 survey results. We will encourage ethics officials to use the data to benchmark and improve their agency ethics programs.
Posting the raw data and the summary statistics also supports OGE’s goal of promoting transparency regarding the executive branch ethics program. The agencies’ responses are useful for surveying the structure and capacity of the executive branch ethics program and for helping to shape OGE’s priorities. For example, OGE’s Compliance Division uses the data as part of its process for conducting oversight of agency ethics programs through its program reviews.