| 2.03: Cover Page of the OGE Form 278e
The Cover Page of the OGE Form 278e contains the following information:
1. Filer’s Name
2. Report Type: The type of report must be specified. Based on the type of report, one or more of the following fields may be required:
- Date of Appointment (for New Entrant Reports)
- Year (for Annual Reports)
- Date of Termination (for Termination Reports)
- Name of Congressional Committee(s) Considering Nomination (for Nominee Reports)
3. Position: This field refers to the title of the position for which a report is being filed.
4. Agency: This field refers to the agency in which the position is located.
5. Other Federal Positions Held During the Preceding 12 Months: Filers should list any positions (other than the one for which they are filing) that they held with the United States Government during the twelve months prior to the date of filing, including any positions in the legislative and judicial branches. Filers should also provide the month and year in which they started and ended their service in the positions. Ongoing service should be reflected as “to Present.”
6. Filer’s Certification: Individuals filing hard copies of the OGE Form 278e must sign and date their reports in ink. By signing the report, the filer certifies that the information contained in the report is true, complete, and correct to the filer’s knowledge. The original signature should appear on the copy of the form that agency reviewers certify. Reviewers may certify photocopies, but OGE does not recommend this practice. Individuals filing within Integrity or other electronic filing system will certify their reports through an electronic signature.
7. For Reviewer’s Use Only:
- Extension: Reviewers must specify the number of days of any extension granted. For hard copy reports, reviewers may enter the information in the “Comments of Reviewing Officials” section.
- Receipt Date: Reviewers of hard copy reports must enter the date of agency receipt in the “Comments of Reviewing Officials” section. The filer’s electronic signature date constitutes the receipt date for reports filed using Integrity or another electronic filing system.
- Comments of Reviewing Officials: Reviewers of hard copy reports should use the “Comments of Reviewing Officials” section for annotations to the report. Reviewers using Integrity would make annotations through the “public annotation” feature. See “Report Amendments and Annotations” for additional information.
- Agency Ethics Official Opinion: The agency’s final reviewing official certifies that, on the basis of the information contained in the report, the official concludes that the filer is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, subject to any annotations in the “Comments of Reviewing Officials” section. Before signing, the official should be aware of the certification requirements (see “Certification Requirements”). Certification ends the review process.
- Other Review: The preliminary reviewing official should sign and date here if the agency requires an intermediate review. Individuals who are not examining the report for both technical sufficiency and potential conflicts of interest should not sign the Cover Page. For example, a supervisor who is only checking a filer’s disclosed interests for potential conflicts would not sign here. Integrity records such reviews internally within the system. For hard copy reports, a limited review may be noted in the “Comments of Reviewing Officials” section or in the agency’s background notes to the report. If a limited review is recorded in the “Other Review” field, the limited nature of the review should be noted.
- U.S. Office of Government Ethics Certification: The Director of OGE, or a designee, certifies those reports subject to OGE review after the reports have been certified at the agency level.
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