Special Government Employee: 130-Day Rule and Who Qualifies

A Special Government Employee is a federal officer or employee brought on to perform temporary or intermittent duties for no more than 130 days in any rolling 365-day period. The classification is defined at 18 U.S.C. § 202(a) and covers appointments across the executive branch, the legislative branch, independent agencies, and the District of Columbia, whether the person is paid or serves without compensation.¹ Ethics rules apply to SGEs, but a lighter set than the one governing full-time federal employees, and the exact restrictions depend on how many days a person actually serves.

How the 130-Day Rule Works

The 130-day cap is set at appointment based on the agency’s reasonable estimate of how many days the person will serve during the next 365 days. If the expected workload is at or below 130 days, the appointee is classified as an SGE. If the agency expects more than that from the outset, the person should be brought on as a regular employee instead.

Any portion of a day spent on government business counts as a full day. A 30-minute teleconference, an hour reviewing documents, a travel day, a weekend spent on assignment: each one burns a day.² The 365-day window is rolling from the appointment date, not a calendar year, so there is no January reset. Agencies have to track service against that rolling period continuously.

Going over the limit does not strip SGE status mid-appointment. If someone designated as an SGE unexpectedly works more than 130 days in a 365-day period, they remain an SGE for the rest of that period, and the agency must reevaluate the classification before the next 365-day cycle begins.² If the pattern shows the workload will keep exceeding 130 days, the agency should convert the person to regular employee status going forward.

Who Serves as a Special Government Employee

The largest group of SGEs are experts and consultants hired under 5 U.S.C. § 3109, which lets agency heads contract for temporary services without running the normal competitive hiring process.³ That streamlined hiring path is the whole reason the SGE framework exists: agencies get specialized talent quickly without a permanent hiring commitment. Typical SGEs in this category are scientists, engineers, medical specialists, financial analysts, and legal professionals brought in for a defined project or review.

Members of federal advisory committees are the other main group. The Federal Advisory Committee Act governs these boards, which advise the President or executive branch agencies on subjects from drug safety to cybersecurity.⁴ Not every advisory committee member is an SGE. People appointed to speak for an outside organization or interest group serve as representatives, not as SGEs, and they do not hold employee status or face the same ethics obligations. Academic researchers frequently serve as SGEs when agencies need peer review, technical evaluations, or independent assessments of proposed rules.

The statute also automatically treats part-time U.S. magistrate judges and independent counsel as SGEs regardless of how many days they work.

Pay and the Salary Supplementation Exception

SGEs hired as experts or consultants under 5 U.S.C. § 3109 are generally paid a daily rate. Unless the agency has separate statutory authority to pay more, compensation is capped at the daily equivalent of the highest General Schedule rate, GS-15 Step 10.³ Some agencies have appropriations authority that permits higher rates, up to the Executive Schedule Level II rate of $228,000 per year in 2026.

The critical financial feature of SGE status is what does not apply. The supplementation-of-salary ban in 18 U.S.C. § 209 does not cover SGEs, so a private employer can keep paying an appointee’s regular salary during federal service.⁵ A regular federal employee accepting outside salary payments for their government work would face criminal liability. For SGEs it is lawful, and that carve-out is what lets agencies recruit senior private-sector professionals who cannot afford to give up their existing income.

Ethics and Conflict of Interest Rules

SGEs are federal employees for ethics purposes. The Standards of Ethical Conduct at 5 C.F.R. Part 2635 define “employee” to include any Special Government Employee, and that status is unaffected by pay, leave status, or whether the SGE is on duty on a given day.⁶

The criminal conflict-of-interest statute, 18 U.S.C. § 208, applies to SGEs by name. You cannot participate in any government matter that would have a direct and predictable effect on your own financial interests, those of your spouse or minor children, or those of an organization where you serve as an officer or employee.⁷ Willful violations carry up to five years in prison.⁸

Two other criminal statutes limit representational work. Under 18 U.S.C. § 203, an SGE cannot accept compensation for representational services in a matter in which they personally participated as a government employee.⁹ Under 18 U.S.C. § 205, an SGE cannot act as an agent or attorney for anyone else in such a matter.¹⁰ Both apply regardless of how many days the SGE serves.

The 60-Day Threshold

Inside the 130-day window sits a second line that changes the rules substantially. If an SGE serves more than 60 days in the preceding 365-day period, both § 203 and § 205 expand: the restrictions no longer cover only matters the SGE personally worked on, but reach any covered matter pending anywhere in the SGE’s department or agency.⁹ At 60 days or fewer, that broader agency-wide restriction does not apply.¹⁰

For someone who also maintains a private practice, this matters. An SGE attorney serving 45 days a year can continue representing private clients in matters pending at the same agency, as long as those matters are not ones the SGE personally worked on. Cross the 60-day line and that whole category of outside work becomes off-limits. The 60-day threshold also affects financial disclosure and post-employment restrictions, which makes it the most consequential number in SGE law after the 130-day cap.

Financial Disclosure

Most SGEs file a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450) if they sit on a federal advisory committee, play a substantial role in shaping agency policy, or otherwise meet the criteria at 5 C.F.R. § 2634.904.¹¹ The report lists assets, income sources, and outside positions that could conflict with federal duties. It is due within 30 days of appointment and again each year at reappointment.¹²

An agency head can exempt an SGE from filing when the duties make a conflict remote.¹¹ Going the other direction, an SGE whose position would otherwise trigger public financial disclosure (typically because of pay above GS-15 or significant decision-making authority) must file a public report instead of the confidential one once they serve more than 60 days. An SGE originally expected to serve 60 days or fewer who then exceeds that threshold has 15 calendar days after the 60th day to file the public report.¹²

Post-Employment Restrictions

Leaving an SGE position does not free the former appointee to trade on government contacts. The post-employment rules in 18 U.S.C. § 207 apply to former SGEs on the same terms as former regular employees, with one exception tied to the 60-day threshold.

The permanent restriction: a former SGE can never lobby or communicate with the government on behalf of someone else about a specific matter they personally and substantially worked on.¹³ A separate two-year bar covers matters that were pending under the SGE’s official responsibility during their last year of service, even if they did not personally work on them.

Senior SGEs paid at or above 86.5% of Executive Schedule Level II face an additional one-year cooling-off period barring contacts with their former department or agency on behalf of anyone else. The statute carves out an exception: this one-year restriction does not apply to an SGE who served fewer than 60 days in the year before their service ended.¹³ Former SGEs who are scientists or engineers also get a narrow allowance to make communications that consist solely of scientific or technological information, though the exception does not extend to fields like law, economics, or political science.¹⁴

Hatch Act Political Activity Rules

The Hatch Act restricts political activity by federal employees, and it treats SGEs more leniently than full-time staff. Regular federal employees are bound around the clock. SGEs are restricted only during the portion of the day when they are actually performing official duties.¹⁵ Off duty, an SGE can engage in political activity, though not using federal premises or equipment.

This on-duty-only framework holds even if the SGE exceeds 130 days. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has confirmed that an SGE who unexpectedly works past the cap keeps SGE status for the rest of that 365-day period, and Hatch Act restrictions continue to apply only during hours of official duty.¹⁶ The agency must reevaluate classification for the next cycle, but during the existing appointment the SGE is not converted into a 24/7 federal employee for political activity purposes.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 202 – Definitions
2
NIH Ethics Program. What is a Special Government Employee (SGE)
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S.C. 3109 – Employment of Experts and Consultants; Temporary or Intermittent
4
U.S. General Services Administration. Federal Advisory Committee Act Management Overview
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 209 – Salary of Government Officials and Employees Payable Only by United States
6
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 2635 – Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 208 – Acts Affecting a Personal Financial Interest
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 216 – Penalties and Injunctions
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 203 – Compensation to Members of Congress, Officers, and Others in Matters Affecting the Government
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 205 – Activities of Officers and Employees in Claims Against and Other Matters Affecting the Government
11
eCFR. 5 CFR 2634.904 – Confidential Filer Defined
12
U.S. Office of Government Ethics. Confidential Financial Disclosure Guide
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 207 – Restrictions on Former Officers, Employees, and Elected Officials of the Executive and Legislative Branches
14
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 2641 – Post-Employment Conflict of Interest Restrictions
15
Federal Labor Relations Authority. Ethics Rules for Special Government Employees (SGEs)
16
U.S. Office of Special Counsel. Advisory Opinion: Hatch Act Application to Special Government Employees Who Work More Than 130 Days