Government and Civil Service Government Ethics and Accountability 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the revolving door issue in government ethics?
- Frequent changes in presidential cabinet positions
- Officials moving between government regulatory roles and the industries they regulated (Correct answer)
- High turnover in entry-level civil service positions
- Rotation of employees between agencies
Correct answer: Officials moving between government regulatory roles and the industries they regulated
The revolving door refers to the movement of individuals between government regulatory positions and private-sector jobs in the industries they previously regulated, raising conflict-of-interest concerns.
Question 2: Which law allows private citizens to sue on behalf of the government for fraud against federal programs?
- Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
- False Claims Act (Correct answer)
- Inspector General Act
- Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act
Correct answer: False Claims Act
The False Claims Act allows private citizens as relators to sue on behalf of the government for fraud against federal programs and rewards whistleblowers with a portion of recovered funds.
Question 3: What does the Hatch Act restrict for most federal civilian employees?
- Union membership and collective bargaining
- Partisan political activity while on duty or in uniform (Correct answer)
- Outside employment and moonlighting
- Financial investments in publicly traded companies
Correct answer: Partisan political activity while on duty or in uniform
The Hatch Act prohibits most federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity during work hours, using government resources for political purposes, or running for partisan office.
Question 4: What is recusal and when must a federal employee recuse themselves?
- Requesting a transfer to another agency
- Disqualifying oneself from participating in a matter involving a personal conflict of interest (Correct answer)
- Filing an ethics complaint against a supervisor
- Reporting suspected fraud to the IG
Correct answer: Disqualifying oneself from participating in a matter involving a personal conflict of interest
Recusal means voluntarily removing oneself from participation in a matter because of a personal conflict of interest, such as a financial interest in the outcome.
Question 5: The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) primarily investigates what type of wrongdoing?
- Corruption by foreign officials
- Prohibited personnel practices and Hatch Act violations (Correct answer)
- Financial fraud by federal contractors
- Civil rights violations by federal employees
Correct answer: Prohibited personnel practices and Hatch Act violations
The OSC is an independent agency that investigates and prosecutes prohibited personnel practices such as retaliation against whistleblowers and Hatch Act violations.
Question 6: What is the purpose of the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act?
- Allow officials to keep all foreign gifts received
- Regulate and limit gifts that federal employees may accept from foreign governments (Correct answer)
- Require reporting of all international travel gifts
- Ban all gifts from foreign nationals
Correct answer: Regulate and limit gifts that federal employees may accept from foreign governments
The Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act limits the value of gifts federal employees may accept from foreign governments and requires those exceeding the limit to be turned over to the government.
Government and Civil Service Government Ethics and Accountability 2
What is the revolving door issue in government ethics?