18 USC 208 generally prohibits a covered federal employee from participating personally and substantially in a particular government matter in which the employee knows a covered financial interest exists. It reaches specified related interests as well as the employee’s own holdings. The issue is not limited to taking a bribe or making a profit. [1]
Whose interests count?
The statute attributes interests involving a spouse, minor child, general partner, certain organizations in which the employee serves, and persons or organizations with which future employment is being negotiated or arranged. The exact relationship and matter must be examined.
OGE explains that stock, outside employment, organizational roles, and other financial relationships can create potential conflicts. A gain or loss need not already have occurred before recusal becomes necessary. [2]
Participation can be more than the final signature
Advice, recommendations, decisions, approvals, investigations, and other substantive involvement can matter under the statutory standard. Merely avoiding the final vote does not necessarily remove personal and substantial participation.
For example, helping evaluate a contract affecting a spouse’s employer can raise an issue even if someone else signs the award. An ethics review needs the relevant interest, role, and foreseeable effect of the particular matter.
Ways to resolve a conflict
Depending on the situation, recusal, reassignment, divestiture, resignation from an outside role, a regulatory exemption, or a legally authorized written waiver may be available. Exemptions and waivers have conditions; a supervisor’s informal reassurance is not automatically the required statutory waiver. [1]
- Disclose the interest to the agency ethics office promptly.
- Identify the specific government matters affected.
- Stop participating as necessary while the issue is reviewed.
- Keep written advice, recusals, and any authorized waiver.
Other ethics and disclosure rules can apply even when section 208 does not prohibit participation. Criminal, civil, and administrative consequences require their own legal analysis.
Compare federal bribery and official-act rules and foreign-national election restrictions. Those statutes address different conduct and should not replace a section 208 conflict review. Accurate disclosure is useful, but disclosure alone does not necessarily authorize participation in a prohibited matter.
Primary sources
Sources checked: October 31, 2026.