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OGE training explains process for 18 U.S.C. 208(b)(1) waivers: submission, review, retention and public release
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Summary
In a recorded Office of Government Ethics training, senior instructor Cheryl Kane Piasecki and assistant counsel Melba Melton walked agencies through submitting draft 18 U.S.C. 208(b)(1) waivers to OGE, the consultation review steps, final signing, six‑year retention rules, and public‑release procedures.
Cheryl Kane Piasecki, senior instructor with the Office of Government Ethics’ Institute for Ethics and Government, and Melba Melton, assistant counsel in OGE’s ethics, law, and policy branch, presented a recorded training session explaining how agencies should process draft 18 U.S.C. 208(b)(1) waivers.
The trainers said the waiver process begins when an agency prepares a draft waiver and submits it to its assigned OGE desk officer. "Your waivers journey begins with its submission to OGE to initiate the consultation process," Melton said, describing assignment to a desk officer and subsequent referral to OGE’s ethics law and policy branch for assignment to an OGE attorney.
Why it matters: the assigned OGE attorney conducts a legal‑sufficiency review, communicates comments (typically via edits or email), and may schedule phone calls if multiple issues arise. Melton said consultation ends only after the agency addresses OGE’s comments and there are no outstanding concerns; agencies should confirm with their OGE reviewer if they are unsure whether consultation is complete.
Once consultation is complete, the agency must prepare a final signed waiver. Melton said the signing official should be the authority responsible for the employee’s appointment or a person delegated that authority, and that "the employee should receive a copy of the final waiver." The trainers also emphasized a disclosure rule: an agency may not state that it "consulted with OGE" in the waiver unless the consultation is complete and OGE did not object to issuance.
Recordkeeping and public access: Piasecki stated that final 18 U.S.C. 208 waivers are federal records covered by an approved National Archives disposition authority and that agencies must retain waivers by fiscal year. She said these waivers are generally subject to a six‑year retention period by fiscal year and may be destroyed at the end of that period unless there is ongoing litigation or an investigation requiring longer retention.
On public release, Piasecki instructed agencies to make final waivers publicly available upon request and to follow the release procedures and limitations cited in the training (the transcript cites 5 U.S.C. 13107 and 5 C.F.R. 2640.304 as the authorities referenced for release procedures). She reiterated that agencies must send a copy of every final signed waiver to OGE, "even if the agency did not consult with OGE."
The session closed with the trainers encouraging agencies to consult their OGE desk officer with questions about drafting, consultation status, signature authority, retention, or public‑release procedures. "If you have not seen our second video, please be sure to check it out," Melton added, and both presenters thanked viewers for joining the series.
The training did not include agency‑specific case determinations or formal OGE rulings on individual waivers; it described the procedural steps agencies should follow when preparing, consulting on, issuing, retaining, and releasing 208(b)(1) waivers.
