SUMMARY
This document provides NTSB employees guidance on the most common ethics issues to be mindful of during a lapse in appropriations. Since a furlough does not alter NTSB employment status, employees remain subject to the Hatch Act, the Standards of Ethical Conduct, and criminal conflicts of interest laws even during a shutdown.
Please note: The Office of General Counsel’s ethics officials will not be available to answer questions during the shutdown. If you are concerned that your actions may violate the ethics rules, Standards of Ethical Conduct, or NTSB regulations, refrain from taking that action until you can obtain the necessary guidance or authorization.
Outside Activities/Employment:
1. May I seek and accept a non-federal job during the shutdown? Yes, you may participate in outside activities and hold outside employment, as long as your external job does not create a conflict of interest with your NTSB duties. Outside employment is unlikely to conflict with your official duties unless the outside employer is an organization with which you are likely to interact or otherwise affect in the course of your government duties. See the answers below for the types of outside activities and employment prohibited or requiring prior supervisory or office director approval.
2. What outside activities and employment are prohibited? You are prohibited from being involved in matters where the agency is a party or represents a party unless a waiver was received from the Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO), Managing Director, or Chair before the shutdown.
During the shutdown, activities that involve a subject matter, policy, or program that is in your office’s area of responsibility (e.g., working for an NTSB contractor who provides products or services to the agency) are not permissible because they require approval from your supervisor or office director and an ethics official. These approvals will not be available during the shutdown period.
3. What outside activities/employment are permissible without prior approval? Generally, no prior approval is required for outside employment in activities unlikely to conflict with your NTSB duties. For example, sales positions at a retail store or service positions at restaurants.
4. Must I seek review and approval of outside activities and employment that began during the shutdown? Yes. When you return to work, provide information on any outside activity or employment, whether ongoing or only during the shutdown period, to the ethics team at [email protected]. The team will contact you with any further questions and provide any necessary written guidance and approval.
5. May I use NTSB equipment, email, or resources to assist my outside employment? You cannot use NTSB devices, email, equipment, or other tools to perform outside activities or employment.
6. May I volunteer to continue to carry out my NTSB duties during a shutdown? No. If you are furloughed (deemed non-excepted), you may NOT volunteer to perform agency business during a government shutdown.
7. May I use my official title or position in connection with my outside activity or employment? No. You must NOT use your official status or position to obtain outside employment, nor may you use your title or position to benefit the outside entity. However, simply submitting your resume that contains your NTSB title and position is permissible.
Hatch Act:
8. May I volunteer for a partisan political campaign or candidate during the shutdown? It depends. Under the Hatch Act (5 U.S.C. § 7321–7326), employees have different restrictions on their political activities based on their positions at the NTSB. Refer to the Office of Special Counsel’s website (www.osc.gov). If there is a risk that performing the activity violates the Hatch Act, refrain from participating in the activity.
9. May I participate in rallies or other group activities before Congress? Yes, you may participate in rallies in your personal capacity, but you must make clear that you are not speaking on behalf of the NTSB and you cannot use NTSB equipment, resources, or email addresses to engage in this sort of personal activity.
10. May I contact my congressional representatives about the shutdown? May I post on my social media platforms opinions regarding the shutdown? In your personal capacity, you may contact your legislators and post opinions on social media. You may refer in passing to the NTSB or federal employment, but you cannot use NTSB equipment, resources, or email addresses to engage in this kind of activity during a shutdown.
Gifts:
11. Do the gift rules apply during a shutdown? Yes, all of the ethics rules continue to apply to federal employees during a government shutdown. The general rule concerning gifts from an outside source is that a federal employee may not accept a gift from a prohibited source or be given a gift because of his/her official position. There are a few exceptions to this rule, addressed below.
12. May I accept free meals or discounts offered to all federal workers or the general public? Yes. Many restaurants and other businesses extend offers of free meals, discounts, and other support to federal workers during a government shutdown. As long as the offer is extended to all federal employees, it may be accepted as a benefit available to a class consisting of all government employees even if the offer is restricted by geography. For example, you may accept a free meal or Metro ride made available to anyone in the Metro Washington D.C. area who shows a federal employee ID card. Additionally, you may ask for and accept assistance from organizations that provide aid to members of the general public, such as food banks or religious institutions.
13. May I accept benefits offered only to furloughed federal workers? It depends on who is offering the benefit and to whom they are offering it to. You may accept gifts:
- Offered by an organization or person who is not a “prohibited source” (prohibited source is an organization or person that has business with the NTSB), and
- To a class of federal employees, if the offer does not discriminate based on official duties or rank. For example, you may accept a free month of gym membership available to all furloughed federal employees as long as the gym is not a prohibited source.
14. May I present my government identification badge to receive a permissible discount offered to all federal employees? Yes. You may show your government ID to prove you are eligible for an existing discount. However, you may not use your government ID to solicit or encourage a gift or special treatment, as this would be a misuse of position.
15. May I – or someone on my behalf – start an online campaign to solicit donations while I am not being paid (e.g. a GoFundMe)? Generally, no. You (or someone acting on your behalf, such as a spouse) may not solicit a gift based on your federal employment. Therefore, your agency, title, or status as a federal employee should not be used in such a solicitation. Additionally, you cannot generally accept gifts from prohibited sources. Therefore, you would need to be able to identify and reject such prohibited donations. You could accept donations from your friends or relatives when it is clear that any donations accepted are based on that friendship or family relationship. You may also accept assistance from a crowdsourcing campaign designed to aid federal employees in non-pay status if:
- The assistance is offered to a broad class of government employees that does not discriminate on responsibility, rank, or rate of pay (such as all furloughed federal employees), and
- The campaign organizer is not a prohibited source.
16. May I accept a gift from a prohibited source or offered because of my federal position if the gift is valued at $20 or less? It depends. The gift rules may permit receipt of a gift as an exception to the standing prohibition, but if receipt of a gift from an outside source would raise a concern about your impartiality, it would be wise not to accept it. (For example, during the shutdown, Microsoft offers an upgrade to its suite of programming products to NTSB technicians for their personal computers. It is valued at $19.99. A number of NTSB technicians are evaluating programming needs under a pending IT contract. Microsoft is one of the bidders under the pending contract. To avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, the IT technicians working on the pending contract should decline Microsoft’s offer.)
Updated 39 September 2025
