Discussed in this section are eleven federal statutory prohibitions and related regulations addressing conflicts of interest on the part of present or former officers or employees of the Federal (and in some instances of the District of Columbia) government. None of the statutory prohibitions is limited in application solely to lawyers, but all apply to lawyers, and that application gets particular attention in this discussion. The conflicts dealt with by the several provisions are, in each instance, conflicts between public responsibilities and private interests. All of the statutory provisions are found in Chapter 11 (Bribery, Graft and Conflicts of Interest) of Title 18 of the United States Code, the Federal Criminal Code.

Seven of the statutory provisions are post-government-employment restrictions, all found in various subsections of 18 USC § 207 and deriving in their present form from Pub. L. No. 87-849, 76 Stat.1119 (1962), as amended by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, Pub. L. No. 95-521, 92 Stat. 1824, and the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, Pub. L. No.101-194, 103 Stat. 1716 (hereinafter, collectively, the "Act"). (There are a few other federal statutory provisions, not addressed in this discussion, that impose post-employment restrictions with respect to particular agencies: see, e.g., 12 USC § 2242(a), relating to Members of the Board of the Farm Credit Administration; 12 USC § 1812(e), relating to Members of the Board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and 28 USC § 594(j)(2), relating to Independent Counsels and their staff.)The other four restrictions, also deriving in their present form from Public Law 87-849 (1962), address various potential conflicts between governmental responsibilities and private interests of government employees arising while they are in office.

The Statutory Post-Employment Restrictions
The seven post-employment restrictions are discussed below in an order slightly different from the order in which they appear in section 207, since the subject matter of one provision, section 207(b), fits it more comfortably at the end rather than in the middle of the series of post-employment provisions. The seven restrictions, in the order in which they are here discussed, are as follows:

1. A permanent prohibition (roughly paralleled, as to lawyers, by Rule 1.11) on former executive branch officers or employees making representational communications with or appearances before government agencies in particular matters involving a specific party or parties, in which they participated personally and substantially while in government. (18 USC § 207(a)(1), discussed under 1.11:610, below)
2. A two-year prohibition on former executive branch employees making representational communications with or appearances before government agencies in particular matters involving a specific party or parties, that were under their "official responsibility" while in government. (18 USC § 207(a)(2), discussed under 1.11:620, below)
3. A one-year prohibition on former senior executive branch employees making representational communications with or appearances before their former agencies in any matter. (18 USC § 207(c), discussed under 1.11:630, below).
4. A one-year prohibition on former very senior executive branch employees making communications with or appearance before either their former agencies or senior employees of other executive branch agencies. (18 USC § 207(d), discussed under 1.11:640, below).
5. A one-year prohibition on former members of Congress and certain categories of former employees of the legislative branch making representational communications with or appearances before specified categories of persons and entities in the legislative branch. (18 USC § 207(e), discussed under 1.11:650, below).
6. A one-year prohibition on former members of Congress and former employees of the legislative and executive branches who are subject to the preceding three prohibitions (i.e., those imposed by 18 USC §§ 207(c), (d) and (e)) representing, aiding or advising foreign governments or political parties with the intent to influence any officer or employee of any department or agency of the United States. (18 USC § 207(f), discussed under 1.11:660, below).
7. A one-year prohibition on former members of Congress and former employees of either the executive or the legislative branch aiding or advising any person (other than the United States) regarding trade negotiations in which the former members or employees had participated while in government. (18 USC § 207(b), discussed under 1.11:670, below).

      Three of these seven prohibitions—nos. [1], [2] and [4] in the listing above—apply to former employees of the District of Columbia, as well as of the federal government; the other four apply only to former federal employees.

General Exceptions to the Statutory Post-Employment Prohibitions
Section 207(j) sets out seven general exceptions each of which is applicable to either some or all of the seven post-employment prohibitions contained in section 207. They are as follows:

1. Official Government Duties: "[A]cts done in carrying out official duties on behalf of the United States or the District of Columbia or as an elected official of a State or local government." (Applicable to all seven of the post-employment prohibitions in section 207.)
2. State and Local Governments and Institutions, Hospitals and Organizations: Acts done in carrying out official duties as an employee and on behalf of an agency or instrumentality of a state or local government or of any accredited degree-giving institution of higher learning or hospital or medical research organization. (Applicable only to subsections (c), (d) and (e) of section 207.)
3. International Organizations: "[An appearance or communication on behalf of, or advice or aid to, an international organization in which the United States participates, if the Secretary of State certifies in advance that such activity is in the interests of the United States." (Applicable to all seven of the post-employment prohibitions in section 207.)
4. Special Knowledge: Making or providing a statement that is based on the individual’s own special knowledge in a particular area, provided that no compensation is received therefor. (Applicable only to subsections (c), (d) and (e) of section 207.)
5. Scientific or Technological Information: "[M]aking of communications solely for the purpose of furnishing scientific or technological information, if such communications are made under procedures acceptable to the department or agency concerned . . .." (Applicable only to subsections (a), (c) and (d) of section 207.) 5 CFR § 2637.206 casts some light on this exception, although as a technical matter it implements a predecessor provision,
6. Testimony: Giving testimony under oath or making statements required to be made under penalty of perjury, subject to certain restrictions on serving as an expert witness. (Applicable to all seven of the post-employment prohibitions in section 207.) 5 CFR § 2637.208 , again implementing a predecessor provision, is also applicable to this exception.
7. Political Parties and Campaign Committees: Communication or appearance made solely on behalf of a candidate in his or her capacity as a candidate, an authorized committee, a national committee, a national federal campaign committee, a state committee or a political party. Certain limitations apply. (Applicable only to subsections (c), (d) and (e) of section 207.)

The "Clinton Pledge"
Two of the post-employment prohibitions have been effectively expanded by Exec. Order No. 12834, 58 Fed. Reg. 5911 (1993), titled Ethical Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees, and commonly known as the "Clinton Pledge," which was issued on January 20, 1993, at the commencement of the Clinton administration. The Executive Order imposes upon certain categories of Executive Branch employees the requirement of a pledge whose effect is to impose a contractual commitment extending the post-employment period for which restrictions of the kind imposed by the statutory prohibitions (albeit not, like the latter, enforced by criminal penalty) must be observed. These commitments consist of a four-part pledge required of "senior appointees" in every executive agency, and a single pledge required of every "trade negotiator," whether or not also a "senior appointee." The substance of those pledges is described in the discussion below of the two statutory provisions that they reflect, namely, section 207(c) (discussed under 1.11:630, below), and section 207(f) (discussed under 1.11:660, below). Enforcement of the pledges is by debarment proceedings, barring a former officer who has violate the pledge from lobbying a particular agency for up to five years, or by civil judicial proceeding for declaratory, injunctive or monetary relief (including establishment of a constructive trust).

The Statutory Restrictions on Conflicts of Interest During Government Service
The four statutory provisions regarding conflicts between governmental responsibilities and private interests of government employees, all of which apply to employees of the District of Columbia as well as the federal government, are the following:

8. A prohibition on both payment to and receipt by present or former government employees of compensation derived from services rendered by such an employee or anyone else in representing someone before the government. (18 USC § 203, discussed under 1.11:680, below).
9. A prohibition on certain representational activities relating to claims against and other matters affecting the government. (18 USC § 205, discussed under 1.11:690, below.)
10. A prohibition on certain acts by government employees affecting a personal financial interest—applying, inter alia, to negotiations for post-government employment. (18 USC § 208, discussed under 1.11:695, below).
11. A prohibition on receipt by government employees of compensation from non-governmental sources for governmental service. (18 USC § 209, discussed under 1.11:699, below).

Interpretive Authority
Authoritative interpretive guidance with regard to most of these statutory prohibitions is sparse.

Regulations issued by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) that appear as 5 CFR Part 2637 provide authoritative guidance for application of the post-employment provisions as they stood prior to the 1989 amendments: that guidance is in terms applicable only to employees who left government employment before January 1, 1991, the effective date of those amendments, and as to them only with respect to the lifetime prohibition of section 207(a)(1)(the only provision of section 207 that, because of the time limits on the others, remains effective as to such employees). With respect to the amended provisions, and application of the Act to post-1990 departures, the regulations in Part 2637 have some value, but that value necessarily varies inversely with the degree to which the amendments made substantive changes in the statutory provisions. As of the time this text was prepared (April 1999), OGE had issued, in 5 CFR Part 2641, regulations interpreting and implementing section 207(c), as amended - discussed under 1.1:630, below—but had not yet adopted (or, indeed, exposed for comment) regulations interpreting the other provisions of the Act as amended. OGE did promulgate in November 1992 a memorandum titled Summary of Post-Employment Restrictions of 18 USC § 207 (herein the OGE Summary), which carries the disclaimer that it "reflects only a preliminary interpretation" of the 1989 amendments. Id. at 1.

As to the restrictions on conflicts of interest during government service, only section 208 is illuminated by formal regulations, which are found in Subparts D, E and F of 5 CFR 2635 and in 5 CFR Part 2640 .

Some authority is also to be found with respect to almost all of the statutory provisions in Informal Advisory Opinions of OGE, a sprinkling of court decisions, and an occasional opinion by the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in the Department of Justice.

Penalties and Other Remedies
18 USC § 216 sets out criminal penalties and other remedies for all eleven of the statutory prohibitions. The criminal penalties are imprisonment for up to one or up to five years, depending on whether the offense was committee willfully, and/or a fine (as specified by the general fine statute, 18 USC § 3571) of up to $100,000 for a misdemeanor or $250,000 for a felony up to one or to five years in prison, depending on whether the offense was willfully committed; and fines of double these amounts in the case of organizational defendants. In addition, Section 216 makes provision for the Attorney General to bring actions for a civil penalty of $50,000 or the amount of compensation paid or offered for the prohibited conduct, whichever is larger; and for injunctive relief.

"Special Government Employees"
A category of employee that is specifically mentioned in most (though not all) of the eleven statutory prohibitions is that of "special Government employee," a term defined in 18 USC § 202(a) as an officer or employee of the executive or legislative branch or any agency of the United States government or of the District of Columbia who is employed to perform temporary duties, with or without compensation, for no more than 130 days out of any period of 365 consecutive days, or an independent counsel appointed under Chapter 40 of Title 28, or any person appointed by an independent counsel. The term also includes any person serving as a part-time local representative of a Member of Congress in the Member’s home district or state, and reserve officers of the armed forces or officers of the National Guard while on active duty for training. An individual is designated a "special Government employee" only if at the time of his or her appointment it is estimated that he or she will fit the literal definition of the term. See OGE Informal Advisory Opinion 81 x 24 (July 23, 1981).