FCC Ethics Program

Among the missions of the Administrative Law Division of the FCC’s Office of General Counsel are the prevention of conflicts of interest on the part of the Commission’s employees, and the prompt resolution of any such conflicts that may occur.  On his first full day in office President Obama signed an ethics Executive Order establishing some of the strongest ethics guidelines ever set for Federal employees, including those working at the FCC.   The FCC is fully committed to ensuring that these ethics rules are faithfully followed, and has a team in place that is dedicated full-time to assisting its employees in interpreting and complying with the Federal ethical standards. 

Our goal in promoting these high ethical standards for all of our employees is to assure the American people that the decisions made and that actions take by its dedicated civil servants are motivated solely by the interests of the public and are free of any inappropriate outside influences.  In an earlier blog, my colleague, Larry Schecker has described some of the steps that the FCC has taken and continues to take, under the authority of the Freedom of Information Act, to foster openness in government and to further the public’s understanding of and confidence in the actions taken by the Commission.  Apart from the FCC-wide approaches that Larry describes, there are several additional vehicles for promoting openness in government that are under the oversight of the FCC’s ethics advisors. 

For example, any gift that has been made to the FCC is listed in a semi-annual report to Congress and the record of all such gifts is available for public review upon request.  Similarly, the financial disclosure reports filed by senior FCC officials are available to the public upon request, as is a list of those FCC officials who are covered by the Lobbying Disclosure Act.  For more information on the ethics program in place at the FCC, please contact the Administrative Law Division in our Office of General Counsel.  We’re available at 202-418-1720, and would be pleased to talk with you about the steps we’re taking to ensure your confidence in the actions taken by your public servants here at the FCC.