Feds Quietly Exempt Some Employees From Ethics Reports
Published Date: 7/23/2026
Rule
Summary
Starting July 23, 2026, certain career federal employees won’t have to file public financial disclosure reports if they weren’t required to before. This change makes life easier for these employees and ethics staff without hurting government honesty or public trust. If you have thoughts, you’ve got until August 24, 2026, to share them!
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Many Schedule Policy/Career Employees Exempted
Starting July 23, 2026, employees in positions placed into Schedule Policy/Career will generally not be required to file public financial disclosure reports if the only reason they would have to file is that their position was moved into Schedule Policy/Career. The rule preserves the pre-existing filing status for employees in approximately 7,600 positions and excludes roughly 6,400 employees who do not currently file from becoming new public filers.
Current Filers Must Still File
If you already file a public financial disclosure report or a confidential report under Sec. 2634.904, you must continue to do so even after this rule takes effect on July 23, 2026. The rule excludes only those whose only basis for public filing would be their placement in Schedule Policy/Career; existing filers remain subject to reporting.
Estimated Government Cost Savings
OGE estimates implementation costs of about $0.85 million in the first year and initial cost savings of about $14.6 million, yielding a net first-year savings of about $13.7 million. OGE also estimates ongoing annual savings of approximately $1.0 million after the initial cohort is processed.
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Key Dates
Related Federal Register Documents
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