Outside earned income limitations applicable to certain Presidential appointees and other noncareer employees.
5 C.F.R. § 2635.804
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) Presidential appointees to full-time noncareer positions. A Presidential appointee to a full-time noncareer position shall not receive any outside earned income for outside employment, or for any other outside activity, performed during that Presidential appointment. This limitation does not apply to any outside earned income received for outside employment, or for any other outside activity, carried out in satisfaction of the employee's obligation under a contract entered into prior to April 12, 1989.
(b) Covered noncareer employees. Covered noncareer employees, as defined in § 2636.303(a) of this chapter, may not, in any calendar year, receive outside earned income attributable to that calendar year which exceeds 15 percent of the annual rate of basic pay for level II of the Executive Schedule under 5 U.S.C. 5313, as in effect on January 1 of such calendar year. Employees should consult the regulations implementing this limitation, which are contained in §§ 2636.301 through 2636.304 of this chapter.
(c) Definitions. For purposes of this section:
(1) Outside earned income has the meaning set forth in § 2636.303(b) of this chapter, except that § 2636.303(b)(7) shall not apply.
(2) Presidential appointee to a full-time noncareer position means any employee who is appointed by the President to a full-time position described in 5 U.S.C. 5312 through 5317 or to a position that, by statute or as a matter of practice, is filled by Presidential appointment, other than:
(i) A position filled under the authority of 3 U.S.C. 105 or 3 U.S.C. 107(a) for which the rate of basic pay is less than that for GS-9, step 1 of the General Schedule;
(ii) A position, within a White House operating unit, that is designated as not normally subject to change as a result of a Presidential transition;
(iii) A position within the uniformed services; or
(iv) A position in which a member of the foreign service is serving that does not require advice and consent of the Senate.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-5.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026