The Ethics, Legislative, and Regulatory Service is under the direction of a Deputy General Counsel who reports directly to the General Counsel. The Deputy General Counsel supervises and coordinates the work of three Divisions, each of which is headed by an Assistant General Counsel and Deputy Assistant General Counsel:

The Legislative Counsel Division drafts the Department’s legislation and related documents, reviews all education-related legislation pending in Congress, and acts as the Department’s liaison to the Office of Management and Budget with respect to the clearance of legislative matters.

The Regulatory Services Division leads the development of the Department’s regulations and other documents published in the Federal Register, gives legal advice on rulemaking law, drafts selected regulations, and provides legal services respecting rulemaking and other regulatory issues. The Division also participates in government-wide and Department-wide regulatory groups.

The Ethics Division is responsible for counseling current and past Department employees on ethics statutes and regulations, the Hatch Act, and anti-lobbying provisions; reviewing and approving public and confidential financial disclosure statements; financial reports filed by regular and special government employees; reviewing and clearing all requests for approval of outside activity and requests to accept travel expenses from non-Federal sources; training employees on ethics statutes and regulations; and advising the Department on actions necessary to ensure compliance with ethics laws and policies. In addition, the Ethics Division serves as the liaison with the Office of Government Ethics and the Office of the President Counsel on ethics matters.