Political appointments in the United States
According to the United States Office of Government Ethics, a political appointee is “any employee who is appointed by the President, the Vice President, or agency head”. In the United States, political appointees are subject to heavy ethical restrictions, more so than their elected counterparts. One of these restrictions requires political appointees to take an ethics pledge, in which they pledge not to accept gifts from lobbyists. This is because of Executive Order 13490 Under Section 102 of Executive Order 12674, political appointees who are appointed by the president are not allowed to receive any income from outside employment or activities.