The new regulation would allow some former feds to bypass the conflict-of-interest contact requirement

Former senior federal officials would be able to suspend self-imposed conflict-of-interest restrictions to contact employees of the Department of Health and Human Services, under a proposed rule released Tuesday.

Current federal regulations prohibit former senior employees from appearing before or intending to influence any employee of their agency for a period of one year after he or she leaves office, under a provision considered an ethical “grace period” designed to prevent former federal officials from influencing current employees. Federal officials associates.

However, there is an official exception to these statutes when the director of the Office of Government Ethics determines that the work of a constituent agency is “distinct and distinct from the other functions” of the parent agency, allowing a former senior employee of the constituent agency to communicate with officials of the parent agency or a former senior official to contact the component.

OGE is seeking to approve such an arrangement for senior staff in the HHS Strategic Preparedness and Response Administration. In the proposed rule released Tuesday, HHS officials ask OGE to designate the ASPR as a separate component of the department “because it performs functions that are separate and distinct from those of the parent agency and other components.”

ASPR was established in December 2006 and focuses on preventing and responding to public health emergencies, including responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as supporting therapeutic and vaccine research, coordinating medical supplies, and other activities. It currently has approximately 1,200 employees and a fiscal 2024 budget of $3.63 billion.

The proposed move follows ASPR’s reclassification from Human Resources to Operations within HHS in 2022 – effectively making it a stand-alone agency – which took effect in February 2023.

“According to HHS, designating ASPR as a separate agency component would not create the potential for undue influence or unfair advantage based on ASPR employees’ prior government service,” the proposed rule says. “As discussed above, ASPR is unique in that its mission is focused on helping the country prepare for, respond to, and recover from public health emergencies and disasters, and in furtherance of this mission, ASPR engages in the work that distinguish it from other components of HHS and the larger agency.”

Under the proposed regulations, OGE would redesignate the ASPR as a separate and distinct component from HHS and its other constituent agencies, which would mean that its former senior officials would not have any potential to exert undue influence or unfair advantage based on prior work in the government.

OGE will accept written public comments on the proposed rule no later than June 27.