Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Department of Agriculture

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture ("USDA" or "Department"), with the concurrence of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE), is issuing this proposed rule for attorneys of USDA's Office of the General Counsel (OGC). This proposed rule further supplements the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (OGE Standards) issued by OGE by revising USDA's existing supplemental regulation concerning the outside practice of law by USDA OGC attorneys. The current regulation requires OGC attorneys to obtain written approval before engaging in the outside practice of law. To more fully address ethical issues unique to OGC attorneys, the proposed revision retains this prior approval requirement and imposes additional restrictions on the outside practice of law, subject to certain exceptions.