The "Special Government Employees Transparency Act of 2025" limits the use of special government employees to 130 days per year, mandates a public database of these employees, and requires the release of their financial disclosures.
Ben Luján
Senator
NM
The "Special Government Employees Transparency Act of 2025" aims to limit the use of special Government employees to 130 days per year and increase transparency by requiring a public database of these employees, including their positions, pay rates, and tenures. The Act also mandates the public release of financial disclosures filed by these employees, with exceptions for national defense information. This bill seeks to ensure that individuals temporarily working for the government are appropriately classified and that their activities are transparent to the public.
New Bill Caps 'Special' Government Experts at 130 Days, Launches Public Database for Transparency
This bill, the "Special Government Employees Transparency Act of 2025," sets new rules for how the government uses temporary experts, known as special Government employees (SGEs). It aims to limit their service time and make their roles more transparent to the public.
Putting a Clock on 'Special' Experts
The biggest change is a hard limit: individuals generally can't serve as an SGE for more than 130 days within any 365-day period (Section 2). This isn't just about consecutive days; the clock ticks based on specific activities. According to Section 2(c), doing purely administrative tasks for over an hour counts as a full day, as does any time spent on non-administrative work like research or meeting prep, or any day they get paid for their SGE duties.
What happens if someone hits the 130-day ceiling? The employing agency has 30 days to figure out a proper, longer-term job classification for them under standard civil service rules, essentially moving them from a temporary 'special' status to a regular employee framework (Section 2(b)). This prevents agencies from keeping experts indefinitely in these temporary roles outside the usual employment structures.
Shining a Light: The SGE Database
Transparency gets a boost with a mandate for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to create a public, searchable online database of most SGEs within 210 days of the bill's enactment (Section 3). Think of it as a public directory. This "SGE Database" will list the expert's name, job title, employing agency, pay rate (if any), and appointment dates. It needs to be free to access, require no registration, and meet web accessibility standards.
Agencies will have to keep this database current, reporting personnel changes within 30 days. OPM is tasked with periodic audits to check accuracy and report back to Congress within three years on how well the system is working (Section 3). The idea is to give the public a clearer view of who is advising the government in these special capacities.
Following the Money (Mostly): Financial Disclosures Go Public
The bill also requires agencies to make the financial disclosure reports filed by most SGEs publicly available, similar to how disclosures for many permanent federal employees are handled (Section 3). This lets the public see potential financial interests that might relate to the SGE's government work.
However, there's a significant carve-out: this public disclosure requirement doesn't apply if the report contains classified "national defense information" or for certain individuals where disclosure might be exempted (Section 3). While aiming for transparency, this exception highlights the ongoing balance between openness and protecting sensitive information or potentially individuals in certain sensitive roles.