1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Executive Branch Ethics and Financial Conflicts of Interest: Disqualification January 31, 2019 Newly proposed legislation in the 116th Congress concerns government ethics reform, including conflicts of in
2、terest among executive branch officials. Federal officials have a basic duty not to allow private gain to influence their government service, which includes “not holding financial interests that conflict with the conscientious performance of duty.” Federal statutes, as well as a code of conduct for
3、executive branch employees, make this principle part of a federal regulatory scheme intended to prevent officials from benefiting personally from their offices. The current federal statutory scheme regulating conflicts between an officials personal financial interests and his or her official duties
4、has three prongs: disclosure, disqualification, and divestiture (i.e., a 3-D system). This discussion of the disqualification requirement, also known as recusal, is the second in a three-part series examining conflicts of interest in the executive branch. Disqualification Requirements in the Executi