Reading Room Document

Constitutionality of the Disclosure Provisions of the Ethics in Government Act as Applied to Officials' Spouses

Whatever test is applied to test their constitutionally, the provisions of the Ethics in Government Act that require certain high-level officials to disclose information concerning their spouses' financial interests do not invade any constitutionally protected privacy right. The financial disclosure provisions at issue are narrowly drawn to promote Congress's interest in using disclosure to enforce substantive prohibitions vis-à-vis high-level officials. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/22436/download.

January 9, 1980