Government Procurement Certification Government Procurement Ethics & Integrity 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under 18 U.S.C. § 208, a federal employee is prohibited from participating in a procurement matter in which they have:
- A personal financial interest (Correct answer)
- Prior work experience in the industry
- Knowledge of the offerors
- A security clearance
Correct answer: A personal financial interest
18 U.S.C. § 208 bars federal employees from participating in any official matter where they or their immediate family have a direct personal financial interest.
Question 2: Which federal statute prohibits offering, giving, or promising anything of value to a government official to influence an official act?
- 18 U.S.C. § 201 – Bribery of Public Officials (Correct answer)
- 41 U.S.C. § 423 – Procurement Integrity Act
- FAR 3.104 – Procurement Integrity
- 31 U.S.C. § 1352 – Lobbying Disclosure
Correct answer: 18 U.S.C. § 201 – Bribery of Public Officials
18 U.S.C. § 201 makes it a federal crime to bribe public officials or witnesses with anything of value in exchange for influencing official conduct.
Question 3: The Procurement Integrity Act (41 U.S.C. § 2102) prohibits a current or former official from disclosing which type of information to an offeror?
- Contractor bid or proposal information and source selection information (Correct answer)
- Publicly released solicitation documents
- Agency budget totals published in the President's budget
- Awarded contract amounts posted in SAM.gov
Correct answer: Contractor bid or proposal information and source selection information
The Procurement Integrity Act specifically bars disclosure of proprietary bid/proposal data and sensitive source selection information that could give an offeror an unfair advantage.
Question 4: A contracting official who moves to a private firm that was awarded a contract they oversaw may violate which post-employment restriction?
- The 'revolving door' restrictions under 18 U.S.C. § 207 (Correct answer)
- The Anti-Kickback Act
- The Competition in Contracting Act
- The Truth in Negotiations Act
Correct answer: The 'revolving door' restrictions under 18 U.S.C. § 207
18 U.S.C. § 207 imposes cooling-off periods that restrict former officials from representing private parties before the government on matters they were personally involved in.
Question 5: Under FAR 3.101-1, the fundamental standard of conduct expected of all government procurement participants is:
- Conduct transactions in a manner above reproach and avoid any appearance of impropriety (Correct answer)
- Always select the lowest priced offeror
- Maximize the number of solicitations issued per year
- Minimize protest risk by limiting competition
Correct answer: Conduct transactions in a manner above reproach and avoid any appearance of impropriety
FAR 3.101-1 requires that all procurement participants conduct business in a manner that would withstand public scrutiny and never creates even the appearance of impropriety.
Question 6: A contractor's employee provides a government official with a gift valued at $22 during contract performance. Under the Standards of Ethical Conduct (5 C.F.R. § 2635.202), this gift is:
- Prohibited because it exceeds the $20 aggregate limit per source per year (Correct answer)
- Permitted because it is below $25
- Required to be reported but may be kept
- Permitted as a market value item
Correct answer: Prohibited because it exceeds the $20 aggregate limit per source per year
The $20 rule caps aggregate gifts from a single source at $20 per year; a single gift of $22 exceeds that threshold and must be refused or returned.
Government Procurement Certification Government Procurement Ethics & Integrity 1
Under 18 U.S.C. § 208, a federal employee is prohibited from participating in a procurement matter in which they have: