18 U.S.C. § 202 — Definitions

(a) For sections 203, 205, 207, 208, and 209, "special Government employee" means an officer or employee of the executive or legislative branch, an independent federal agency, or the District of Columbia, who is hired — paid or not — to do temporary work for no more than 130 days out of any 365-day period, whether full-time or off and on. It also includes a part-time U.S. commissioner, a part-time U.S. magistrate judge, and — no matter how many days they work — an independent counsel appointed under chapter 40 of title 28, and anyone that counsel appoints under section 594(c) of title 28. Any part-time local representative of a Member of Congress in that member's home district or state also counts as a special Government employee, no matter what. Reserve officers, certain Space Force officers, and National Guard officers count as special Government employees while on active duty just for training, unless they are already federal officers or employees another way. If such an officer volunteers for more than 130 days of active duty, they count as a full officer of the United States instead. If they are serving involuntarily, they stay a special Government employee. Enlisted members of the armed forces are never counted as "officer or employee" or "special Government employee" under these sections. (b) For sections 205 and 207, "official responsibility" means having direct administrative or operating authority — whether at a middle level or final level, alone or shared with others, and whether exercised personally or through subordinates — to approve, reject, or otherwise direct what the government does. (c) Unless a section says otherwise, "officer" and "employee" in sections 203, 205, 207 through 209, and 218 do not include the President, the Vice President, a Member of Congress, or a federal judge. (d) In sections 204 and 207, "Member of Congress" means a United States Senator, or a Representative, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives. (e) In this chapter: "executive branch" includes every executive agency defined in title 5, plus any other executive-branch entity or unit. "Judicial branch" means the Supreme Court, the courts of appeals, the district courts, the Court of International Trade, the bankruptcy courts, any court created under Article I of the Constitution (including the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the Court of Federal Claims, and the Tax Court, but not a territorial court), the Federal Judicial Center, and any other judicial-branch agency, office, or entity. "Legislative branch" means Congress itself, plus the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, the United States Botanic Garden, the Government Accountability Office, the Government Publishing Office, the Library of Congress, the Office of Technology Assessment, the Congressional Budget Office, the United States Capitol Police, and any other legislative-branch agency, entity, office, or commission.