Accountability for Acting Officials Act

Accountability for Acting Officials Act

This bill makes a series of changes with respect to the appointment, tenure, and qualifications of acting officials of executive agencies.

Among other things, the bill specifies that, for a position that requires an appointment by the President (by and with the advice and consent of the Senate),

• the first assistant to the office may temporarily fill the position only if the individual has been the first assistant for at least 30 days during the preceding year;
• an officer or employee of the agency who is directed by the President to temporarily fill the position may only do so if the officer or employee has served at the agency for at least the entire preceding year (rather than 90 days); and
• an individual who is a presidential appointee and is directed by the President to temporarily fill the position, including an acting Inspector General, must possess the requisite qualifications for the position as provided by law or regulation.

The bill also limits the tenure of acting heads of agencies to no more than 120 days (rather than 210 days).

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2994 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2994

To amend title 5, United States Code, to modify the provisions of that 
  title relating to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2021

   Ms. Porter (for herself, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. 
   Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Nadler, Mr. 
  Connolly, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Grijalva, and Mr. Takano) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
                                 Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to modify the provisions of that 
  title relating to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Accountability for Acting Officials 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL VACANCIES REFORM ACT OF 1998.

    (a) First Assistant Requirements.--Section 3345 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended as follows:
            (1) In subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end before 
                the semi-colon the following: ``, but, and except as 
                provided in subsection (e), only if the individual 
                serving in the position of first assistant has occupied 
                such position for a period of at least 30 days during 
                the 365-day period preceding the date of the death, 
                resignation, or beginning of inability to serve''; and
                    (B) by striking subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) 
                and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) the officer or employee served in a position 
                in such agency for a period of at least 1 year 
                preceding the date of death, resignation, or beginning 
                of inability to serve of the applicable officer; and''.
            (2) By adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) For purposes of this section, a position shall be considered 
to be the first assistant to the office with respect to which a vacancy 
occurs only if such position has been designated, at least 30 days 
before the date of the vacancy, by law, rule, or regulation as the 
first assistant position. The previous sentence shall begin to apply on 
the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of the 
Accountability for Acting Officials Act.
    ``(e) The 30-day service requirement in subsection (a)(1) shall not 
apply to any individual who is a first assistant if--
            ``(1) the office of such first assistant is an office for 
        which appointment is required to be made by the President, by 
        and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and
            ``(2) the Senate has approved the appointment of such 
        individual to such office.''.
    (b) Qualifications.--Section 3345(b) of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(3) Any individual directed to perform the functions and duties 
of the vacant office temporarily in an acting capacity under subsection 
(a)(2) or (f) shall possess the qualifications (if any) set forth in 
law, rule, or regulation that are otherwise applicable to an individual 
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, to occupy such office.''.
    (c) Application to Individuals Removed From Office.--Paragraph (2) 
of section 3345(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after ``the expiration of a term of office'' the following: 
``or removal (voluntarily or involuntarily) from office''.
    (d) Vacancy of Inspector General Positions.--
            (1) In general.--Section 3345 of title 5, United States 
        Code, as amended by subsection (a)(2), is further amended by 
        adding at the end the following:
    ``(f)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if an Inspector General 
position that requires appointment by the President by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate to be filled is vacant, the first 
assistant of such position shall perform the functions and duties of 
the Inspector General temporarily in an acting capacity subject to the 
time limitations of section 3346.
    ``(2) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if for purposes of carrying 
out paragraph (1) of this subsection, by reason of absence, disability, 
or vacancy, the first assistant to the position of Inspector General is 
not available to perform the functions and duties of the Inspector 
General, an acting Inspector General shall be appointed by the 
President from among individuals serving in an office of any Inspector 
General, provided that--
            ``(A) during the 365-day period preceding the date of 
        death, resignation, or beginning of inability to serve of the 
        applicable Inspector General, the individual served in a 
        position in an office of any Inspector General for not less 
        than 90 days; and
            ``(B) the rate of pay for the position of such individual 
        is equal to or greater than the minimum rate of pay payable for 
        a position at GS-15 of the General Schedule.''.
            (2) Application.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall 
        apply to any vacancy first occurring with respect to an 
        Inspector General position on or after the date of enactment of 
        this Act.
    (e) Testimony of Acting Officials Before Congress.--Section 3345 of 
title 5, United States Code, as amended by subsection (d)(1), is 
further amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g)(1) Any individual serving as an acting officer due to a 
vacancy to which this section applies, or any individual who has served 
in such capacity and continues to perform the same or similar duties 
beyond the time limits described in section 3346, shall appear, at 
least once during any 60-day period that the individual is so serving, 
before the appropriate committees of jurisdiction of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate.
    ``(2) Paragraph (1) may be waived upon mutual agreement of the 
chairs and ranking members of such committees.''.
    (f) Time Limitation for Principal Officers.--Section 3346 of title 
5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``or as provided in 
        subsection (d)'' after ``sickness''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) With respect to the vacancy of the position of head of any 
agency listed in subsection (b) of section 901 of title 31, or any 
other position that is within the President's cabinet and to which this 
section applies, subsections (a) through (c) of this section and 
sections 3348(c), 3349(b), and 3349a(b) shall be applied by 
substituting `120' for `210' in each instance.''.
    (g) Exclusivity.--Section 3347 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), any statutory provision 
covered under paragraph (1) of such subsection that contains a non-
discretionary order or directive to designate an officer or employee to 
perform the functions and duties of a specified office temporarily in 
an acting capacity shall be the exclusive means for temporarily 
authorizing an acting official to perform the functions and duties of 
such office.''.
    (h) Reporting of Vacancies.--
            (1) In general.--Section 3349 of title 5, United States 
        Code, is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) by striking ``immediately upon'' in 
                        each instance and inserting ``not later than 7 
                        days after'';
                            (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' 
                        at the end;
                            (iii) in paragraph (4), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) notification of the end of the term of service of any 
        person serving in an acting capacity and the name of any 
        subsequent person serving in an acting capacity and the date 
        the service of such subsequent person began not later than 7 
        days after such date.''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b), by striking ``immediately'' 
                and inserting ``not later than 14 days after the date 
                of such determination''.
            (2) Technical corrections.--Paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
        subsection (b) of such section 3349 are amended to read as 
        follows:
            ``(1) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs of the Senate;
            ``(2) the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of 
        Representatives;''.
    (i) Vacancies During Presidential Inaugural Transitions.--
Subsection (b) of section 3349a of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Notwithstanding section 3346 (except as provided in paragraph 
(2) of this subsection) or 3348(c), with respect to any vacancy that 
exists on a transitional inauguration day, or that arises during the 
60-day period beginning on such day, the person serving as an acting 
officer as described under section 3345 may serve in the office--
            ``(1) for no longer than 300 days beginning on such day; or
            ``(2) subject to subsection 3346(b), once a first or second 
        nomination for the office is submitted to the Senate, from the 
        date of such nomination for the period that the nomination is 
        pending in the Senate.''.
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