No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3642 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3642
To require the Office of Government Ethics to establish and maintain a
centralized database for executive branch ethics records of noncareer
appointees.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 24, 2023
Mr. Langworthy (for himself, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Buck, Mrs. Miller of
Illinois, Mr. Alford, Mr. Grothman, Mr. Williams of New York, Mr.
Edwards, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, and Mr. Timmons) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Office of Government Ethics to establish and maintain a
centralized database for executive branch ethics records of noncareer
appointees.
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 ``Executive Branch Accountability and
Transparency Act''.
SEC. 2. CENTRALIZED DATABASE FOR PUBLICLY AVAILABLE GOVERNMENT ETHICS
RECORDS.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 210 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Government Ethics
shall establish a searchable, sortable database through which members
of the public can access covered ethics records.
(b) Specifications of Database.--The database under subsection (a)
shall be--
(1) hosted on a official website of the Office of
Government Ethics without charge and without a requirement that
members of the public register for access;
(2) accessible through an application programming
interface; and
(3) fully compliant with--
(A) section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
(29 U.S.C. 794d); and
(B) the most recent Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines (or successor guidelines).
(c) Applicability of Other Inspection Procedures.--In establishing
the database under subsection (a), the Director of the Office of
Government Ethics may not apply the inspection procedures established
in section 13107(b) of title 5, United States Code, to any procedures
concerning the accessibility of covered ethics records.
(d) Agency Cooperation.--
(1) Submission of electronic covered ethics records.--
Except as provided in subsection (g), the designated agency
ethics official of each employing agency shall--
(A) not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act or within 60 days of receipt or
issuance, submit electronic copies of covered ethics
records, in such format and through such means as the
Director of the Office of Government Ethics may
require; and
(B) ensure that the content of all such records is
machine readable and compliant with the requirements of
subsection (b).
(2) Costs associated with compliance.--The cost of
complying with the requirements of paragraph (1) and uploading
covered ethics records to the website of the Office of
Government Ethics shall be the responsibility of the employing
agency.
(e) Reimbursable Costs.--
(1) Periodic assessment.--In consultation with the Office
of Management and Budget, the Director of the Office of
Government Ethics is authorized to periodically assess from any
agency a share of the costs of establishing and maintaining the
database, provided that the total amounts assessed do not
exceed costs actually incurred by the Office of Government
Ethics, and provided further that any part of the assessment
attributable to the cost of services of personnel of the Office
of Government Ethics does not exceed the cost of one full-time
equivalent.
(2) Determination and reimbursement.--
(A) Determination.--The Office of Management and
Budget shall assist the Office of Government Ethics in
determining amounts to assess agencies and in
collecting the assessments authorized under this
subsection.
(B) Reimbursement.--Each agency in the executive
branch is authorized to reimburse the Office of
Government Ethics for an assessed share of such costs.
(f) Redactions.--Covered ethics records may not be redacted except
to the extent necessary to--
(1) ensure the exclusion of information described in
subsection (i)(3)(B);
(2) prevent the release of trade secrets or commercial
information that is privileged or confidential, unless the
disclosure of such information is required pursuant to section
13104 of title 5, United States Code; or
(3) prevent the release of information that, in the opinion
of the Director, poses an identifiable risk to the safety of an
individual, such as a street address, the name of a minor, or a
brokerage account number.
(g) Records Predating Establishment of the Database.--
(1) Search for older information.--Not later than 12 months
after the date of enactment of this Act, each employing agency
shall complete a search reasonably calculated to find covered
ethics records that were created during the 9-year period
preceding the date of enactment of this Act.
(2) Included information and certification.--The search
shall include all materials in the possession of the agency's
ethics office or readily accessible materials in any other
office within the agency that the designated agency ethics
official certifies in writing is the most likely office to
possess covered ethics records.
(3) Exclusion from search.--The agency may exclude
information described in subsection (i)(3)(B) from the search.
(4) Electronic copies.--The agency shall provide the
Director of the Office of Government Ethics with electronic
copies of all covered ethics records in a manner prescribed by
the Director and as required by this Act with respect to format
and accessibility.
(5) Report.--Not later than 30 days after the completion of
the search under paragraph (1), the designated agency ethics
official shall provide the Director of the Office of Government
Ethics with a report that describes--
(A) the scope of the search and steps undertaken to
identify information;
(B) a copy of the certification required under
paragraph (2);
(C) the best estimate as to the completeness of the
collection of information provided to the Director;
(D) an identification of any categories of
information known to the agency that the agency was
unable to find; and
(E) a certification signed by the designated agency
ethics official affirming that the agency made
reasonable efforts in good faith to identify and obtain
covered ethics records.
(6) Publication.--The Director shall publish the report
under paragraph (5) on the official website of the Office of
Government Ethics.
(h) Removal of Records From the Database.--Notwithstanding any
other law regarding the destruction of records or information, all
covered ethics records required to be included in the database shall
remain publicly available through the database established under this
Act for a period of not less than 10 years.
(i) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means each executive
agency, as defined in section 105 of title 5, United States
Code, and each component of the Executive Office of the
President.
(2) Covered employee.--
(A) Inclusions.--The term ``covered employee''
includes the following individuals:
(i) Each individual who is--
(I) a noncareer employee; and
(II) is described in paragraphs (3)
through (8) of section 13103(f) of
title 5, United States Code.
(ii) Each individual serving in a position
with respect to which a determination has been
made under section 7511(b)(2) of title 5,
United States Code.
(iii) Each special Government employee, as
defined in section 202(a) of title 18, United
States Code, who is employed in the Executive
Office of the President, other than a special
government employee serving solely on a Federal
advisory committee or presidential advisory
committee.
(iv) An individual who previously served in
the Federal Government in a capacity described
in subparagraphs (A) through (C) within the
last 10 years.
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``covered employee''
excludes any individual described in section
13107(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code.
(3) Covered ethics record.--
(A) Inclusions.--The term ``covered ethics
record''--
(i) with respect to any individual, means--
(I) each approval granted pursuant
to subsection (b) or subsection (c) of
section 908 of title 37, United States
Code; and
(II) each report to Congress
required under section 908(d) of title
37, United States Code; and
(ii) with respect to a covered employee,
means each of the following:
(I) Each public financial
disclosure report filed pursuant to
section 13103 or section 13105(l) of
title 5, United States Code.
(II) Each amendment to a public
financial disclosure report filed
pursuant to section 13103 or section
13105(l) of title 5, United States
Code.
(III) Each waiver of--
(aa) a post-employment
restriction, pursuant to
subsection (c)(2)(C) or
subsection (k) of section 207
of title 18, United States
Code;
(bb) section 208(a) of
title 18, United States Code,
that has been issued pursuant
to section 208(b)(1) of title
18, United States Code;
(cc) a public financial
disclosure requirement,
pursuant to section 13103(i) of
title 5, United States Code;
(dd) the requirement to
disclose a gift, pursuant to
section 13104(a)(2)(C) of title
5, United States Code; and
(ee) a provision of any
regulation of the Office of
Government Ethics, supplemental
agency ethics regulation, or
Executive order pertaining to
government ethics.
(IV) Each authorization of an
individual to participate in a matter
from which recusal would otherwise be
required under any provision of law,
regulation, Executive order, or policy
pertaining to government ethics and
applicable to the individual as an
employee of the executive branch.
(V) Each approval or authorization
permitting an individual to accept a
gift from an outside source that would
otherwise be prohibited under section
7353 of title 5, United States Code, or
any other provision of law, regulation,
Executive order, or policy pertaining
to government ethics and applicable to
the individual as an employee of the
executive branch.
(VI) Each determination--
(aa) that a position may be
excluded from otherwise
applicable public financial
disclosure requirements,
pursuant to section 13103(f)(5)
of title 5, United States Code;
(bb) that an employee of
the executive branch, or the
spouse or minor child of an
employee of the executive
branch, must divest a financial
interest; or
(cc) regarding an
individual that is made
pursuant to any other provision
of law, regulation, Executive
order, or policy pertaining to
government ethics and
applicable to the individual as
an employee or former employee
of the executive branch.
(VII) Each written ethics
agreement, recusal, or screening
arrangement pertaining to employment in
the executive branch.
(VIII) Each record of a
presidential appointee's completion of
ethics training required under a
regulation of the Office of Government
Ethics.
(IX) Each Certificate of
Divestiture issued pursuant to section
1043 of title 26, United States Code,
and each request that resulted in the
issuance of a Certificate of
Divestiture.
(X) Each qualified blind trust
agreement and each record described in
section 13104(f)(5)(D) of title 5,
United States Code.
(XI) Each record submitted pursuant
to section 13103(b)(1) of title 5,
United States Code for the purpose of
making current, with respect to income
and honoraria, a financial disclosure
filed pursuant to that paragraph.
(XII) Each notice submitted
pursuant to section 13111 of title 5,
United States Code and any
certification by a Senate-confirmed
presidential appointee as to compliance
with an ethics agreement, whether
submitted to the employing agency, the
Office of Government Ethics, or the
Senate.
(XIII) Any written opinion issued
pursuant to section 847 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for 2008
(Public Law 110-181), except that the
employing agency may redact the name of
an individual or organization with whom
an individual has not yet accepted an
offer of employment or compensation.
(XIV) Any notification filed
pursuant to section 17 of the Stop
Trading On Congressional Knowledge Act
(Public Law 112-105), except that the
agency may withhold the public release
of any such notification until such
time as the employee has accepted an
offer of employment or compensation
from an individual or organization that
is the subject of the notification.
(XV) Each certification made
pursuant to--
(aa) section 203(e) of
title 18, United States Code;
(bb) section 205(f) of
title 18, United States Code;
or
(cc) section 207(j)(5) of
title 18, United States Code.
(XVI) Any other category of records
that the Director of the Office of
Government Ethics determines is
appropriate for inclusion in the
database.
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``covered ethics record''
excludes--
(i) national defense information;
(ii) the subject of an ongoing law
enforcement matter which, in the opinion of the
agency, requires the information or record to
be kept confidential;
(iii) a confidential financial disclosure
report under section 13109 of title 5, United
States Code; or
(iv) individualized ethics counseling or
advice concerning an interpretation of
applicable legal requirements that has been
provided by an ethics official to an
individual, except that such information or
record shall not be excluded from the
requirements of this Act if--
(I) the information or record has
the operative effect of altering a
legal obligation of the individual,
such as the approval of an employee's
acceptance of a gift from an outside
source under a regulation requiring
approval; or
(II) is required by law to be
issued, such as a post-employment
opinion that section 847 of the
National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181).
(4) Employing agency.--The term ``employing agency'' means
any agency that employs or employed the individual whose record
is the subject of a requirement of this Act, except that the
National Archives and Records Administration shall be
determined to be the employing agency with respect to any
record for which it is responsible.
(5) Noncareer employee.--The term ``noncareer employee''
means an individual who is--
(A) an employee, as defined in section 2105 of
title 5, United States Code, serving in a position in
the executive branch; and
(B) is--
(i) serving in a position to which the
President appointed the individual (without
regard to whether the advice and consent of the
Senate was required with respect to that
appointment), other than an individual who is--
(I) a member of a uniformed
service, as that term is defined in
section 210(m) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 410(m)); or
(II) a member of the Foreign
Service serving under a career
appointment, as described in section
301 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980
(22 U.S.C. 3941);
(ii) a noncareer appointee, as that term is
defined in section 3132(a) of title 5, United
States Code;
(iii) serving in a position in a Federal
executive system that is comparable to the
Senior Executive Service, the appointment to
which is not made through merit-based
procedures, such as a position in the
Transportation Security Executive Service; or
(iv) serving in a position with respect to
which a determination has been made under
section 7511(b)(2) of title 5, United States
Code.
(j) Severability.--If any provision of this Act or the application
of such provision to any person or circumstance is held to be
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, and the application of the
remaining provisions of this Act to any person or circumstance, shall
not be affected.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 36 - 0.
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