(CNN) The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is crafting a new advisory on legal defense funds for the first time in 24 years, according to an official with knowledge of the plan. The updated guidance addresses a controversy that recently arose about the agency's policies on the funds and comes at a critical moment for some White House staff who are racking up bills from attorneys.

The forthcoming OGE guidance will make clear that the identities of donors to these funds should be disclosed, said the official, who has seen the draft document.

It will also call for political appointees to comply with the Trump administration's ethics pledge, which prohibits gifts from lobbyists.

The document will not change long-standing practice and advice OGE has been providing for at least 20 years. But the official said OGE wanted to formalize its position on a 1993 legal opinion that allowed anonymous donations. Changes to a header on that document this year stoked controversy and questions over whether the agency currently permits anonymous donations, the official said.

But the revised guidance may leave some questions unanswered, because the agency is facing a new set of circumstances it has rarely had to consider, according to the source.

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