II 

Calendar No. 128 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 580 

[Report No. 116–53] 

To amend the Act of August 25, 1958, commonly known as the ‘‘Former 

Presidents Act of 1958’’, with respect to the monetary allowance payable 

to a former President, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

Ms. ERNST (for herself, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. ENZI, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. BRAUN, 

and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

Affairs 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend the Act of August 25, 1958, commonly known 

as the ‘‘Former Presidents Act of 1958’’, with respect 

to the monetary allowance payable to a former President, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Allowance 

3 Modernization Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

5 (a) FORMER PRESIDENTS.—The first section of the 

6 Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide retirement, clerical assist7 ants, and free mailing privileges to former Presidents of 

8 the United States, and for other purposes’’, approved Au9 gust 25, 1958 (commonly known as the ‘‘Former Presi10 dents Act of 1958’’) (3 U.S.C. 102 note), is amended by 

11 striking the matter preceding subsection (e) and inserting 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(a) ANNUITIES AND ALLOWANCES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ANNUITY.—Each former President shall 

15 be entitled for the remainder of his or her life to re16 ceive from the United States an annuity at the rate 

17 of $200,000 per year, subject to subsections (b)(2) 

18 and (c), to be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

19 ‘‘(2) ALLOWANCE.—The Administrator of Gen20 eral Services is authorized to provide each former 

21 President a monetary allowance at the rate of 

22 $200,000 per year, subject to the availability of ap23 propriations and subsections (b)(2), (c), and (d). 

24 ‘‘(b) DURATION; FREQUENCY.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The annuity and allowance 

26 under subsection (a) shall each— 


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1 ‘‘(A) commence on the day after the date 

2 on which an individual becomes a former Presi3 dent; 

4 ‘‘(B) terminate on the date on which the 

5 former President dies; and 

6 ‘‘(C) be payable on a monthly basis. 

7 ‘‘(2) APPOINTIVE OR ELECTIVE POSITIONS.— 

8 The annuity and allowance under subsection (a) 

9 shall not be payable for any period during which a 

10 former President holds an appointive or elective po11 sition in or under the Federal Government to which 

12 is attached a rate of pay other than a nominal rate. 

13 ‘‘(c) COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.—Effective Decem14 ber 1 of each year, each annuity and allowance under sub15 section (a) that commenced before that date shall be in16 creased by the same percentage by which benefit amounts 

17 under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 

18 et seq.) are increased, effective as of that date, as a result 

19 of a determination under section 215(i) of that Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 415(i)). 

21 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON MONETARY ALLOWANCE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

23 provision of this section, the monetary allowance 

24 payable under subsection (a)(2) to a former Presi25 dent for any 12-month period— 


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1 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 

2 (B), may not exceed the amount by which— 

3 ‘‘(i) the monetary allowance that (but 

4 for this subsection) would otherwise be so 

5 payable for such 12-month period, exceeds 

6 (if at all) 

7 ‘‘(ii) the applicable reduction amount 

8 for such 12-month period; and 

9 ‘‘(B) shall not be less than the amount de10 termined under paragraph (4). 

11 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para13 graph (1), the term ‘applicable reduction 

14 amount’ means, with respect to any former 

15 President and in connection with any 12-month 

16 period, the amount by which— 

17 ‘‘(i) the sum of— 

18 ‘‘(I) the adjusted gross income 

19 (as defined in section 62 of the Inter20 nal Revenue Code of 1986) of the 

21 former President for the most recent 

22 taxable year for which a tax return is 

23 available; and 

24 ‘‘(II) any interest excluded from 

25 the gross income of the former PresiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580

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1 dent under section 103 of such Code 

2 for such taxable year, exceeds (if at 

3 all) 

4 ‘‘(ii) $400,000, subject to subpara5 graph (C). 

6 ‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a 

7 joint return, subclauses (I) and (II) of subpara8 graph (A)(i) shall be applied by taking into ac9 count both the amounts properly allocable to 

10 the former President and the amounts properly 

11 allocable to the spouse of the former President. 

12 ‘‘(C) COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.—The 

13 dollar amount specified in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

14 shall be adjusted at the same time that, and by 

15 the same percentage by which, the monetary al16 lowance of the former President is increased 

17 under subsection (c) (disregarding this sub18 section). 

19 ‘‘(3) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 

21 ‘‘(i) the terms ‘return’ and ‘return in22 formation’ have the meanings given those 

23 terms in section 6103(b) of the Internal 

24 Revenue Code of 1986; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘Secretary’ means the 

2 Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary 

3 of the Treasury’s delegate. 

4 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—A former President 

5 may not receive a monetary allowance under 

6 subsection (a)(2) unless the former President 

7 discloses to the Secretary, upon the request of 

8 the Secretary, any return or return information 

9 of the former President or spouse of the former 

10 President that the Secretary determines is nec11 essary for purposes of calculating the applicable 

12 reduction amount under paragraph (2) of this 

13 subsection. 

14 ‘‘(C) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Except as pro15 vided in section 6103 of the Internal Revenue 

16 Code of 1986 and notwithstanding any other 

17 provision of law, the Secretary may not, with 

18 respect to a return or return information dis19 closed to the Secretary under subparagraph 

20 (B)— 

21 ‘‘(i) disclose the return or return in22 formation to any entity or person; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) use the return or return informa24 tion for any purpose other than to calVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580

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1 culate the applicable reduction amount 

2 under paragraph (2). 

3 ‘‘(4) INCREASED COSTS DUE TO SECURITY

4 NEEDS.—With respect to the monetary allowance 

5 that would be payable to a former President under 

6 subsection (a)(2) for any 12-month period but for 

7 the limitation under paragraph (1) of this sub8 section, the Administrator of General Services, in co9 ordination with the Director of the United States 

10 Secret Service, shall determine the amount of the al11 lowance that is needed to pay the increased cost of 

12 doing business that is attributable to the security 

13 needs of the former President.’’. 

14 (b) SURVIVING SPOUSES OF FORMER PRESI15 DENTS.— 

16 (1) INCREASE IN AMOUNT OF MONETARY AL17 LOWANCE.—Subsection (e) of the first section of the 

18 Former Presidents Act of 1958 is amended— 

19 (A) in the first sentence, by striking 

20 ‘‘$20,000 per annum,’’ and inserting ‘‘$100,000 

21 per year (subject to paragraph (4)),’’; and 

22 (B) in the second sentence— 

23 (i) in paragraph (2), by striking 

24 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

25 (ii) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (I) by striking ‘‘or the govern2 ment of the District of Columbia’’; 

3 and 

4 (II) by striking the period and 

5 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

6 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (3) 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(4) shall, after its commencement date, be in9 creased at the same time that, and by the same per10 centage by which, annuities of former Presidents are 

11 increased under subsection (c).’’. 

12 (2) COVERAGE OF WIDOWER OF A FORMER

13 PRESIDENT.—Subsection (e) of the first section of 

14 the Former Presidents Act of 1958, as amended by 

15 paragraph (1), is amended— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘widow’’ each place it ap17 pears and inserting ‘‘widow or widower’’; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘she’’ and inserting ‘‘she 

19 or he’’. 

20 (c) SUBSECTION HEADINGS.—The first section of the 

21 Former Presidents Act of 1958 is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (e), by inserting after the sub23 section enumerator the following: ‘‘WIDOWS AND

24 WIDOWERS.—’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (f), by inserting after the sub2 section enumerator the following: ‘‘DEFINITION.—’’; 

3 and 

4 (3) in subsection (g), by inserting after the sub5 section enumerator the following: ‘‘AUTHORIZATION

6 OF APPROPRIATIONS.—’’. 

7 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

8 Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this 

9 Act shall be construed to affect— 

10 (1) any provision of law relating to the security 

11 or protection of a former President or a member of 

12 the family of a former President; or 

13 (2) funding, under the Former Presidents Act 

14 of 1958 or any other law, to carry out any provision 

15 of law described in paragraph (1). 

16 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 

17 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

18 not apply to— 

19 (1) any individual who is a former President on 

20 the date of enactment of this Act; or 

21 (2) the widow or widower of an individual de22 scribed in paragraph (1). 

23 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

24 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Allowance 

25 Modernization Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide 

3 retirement, clerical assistants, and free mailing privileges 

4 to former Presidents of the United States, and for other pur5 poses’’, approved August 25, 1958 (commonly known as the 

6 ‘‘Former Presidents Act of 1958’’) (3 U.S.C. 102 note), is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘That (a) each’’ and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘SECTION 1. FORMER PRESIDENTS LEAVING OFFICE BE11 FORE PRESIDENTIAL ALLOWANCE MOD12 ERNIZATION ACT OF 2019. 

13 ‘‘(a) Each’’; 

14 (2) by redesignating subsection (g) as section 3 

15 and adjusting the margin accordingly; and 

16 (3) by inserting after section 1, as so designated, 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 2. FORMER PRESIDENTS LEAVING OFFICE AFTER 

19 PRESIDENTIAL ALLOWANCE MODERNIZATION 

20 ACT OF 2019. 

21 ‘‘(a) ANNUITIES AND ALLOWANCES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ANNUITY.—Each modern former President 

23 shall be entitled for the remainder of his or her life 

24 to receive from the United States an annuity at the 

25 rate of $200,000 per year, subject to subsections (b)(2) 

26 and (c), to be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ALLOWANCE.—The Administrator of Gen2 eral Services is authorized to provide each modern 

3 former President a monetary allowance at the rate of 

4 $200,000 per year, subject to the availability of ap5 propriations and subsections (b)(2), (c), and (d). 

6 ‘‘(b) DURATION; FREQUENCY.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The annuity and allowance 

8 under subsection (a) shall each— 

9 ‘‘(A) commence on the day after the date on 

10 which an individual becomes a modern former 

11 President; 

12 ‘‘(B) terminate on the date on which the 

13 modern former President dies; and 

14 ‘‘(C) be payable on a monthly basis. 

15 ‘‘(2) APPOINTIVE OR ELECTIVE POSITIONS.—The 

16 annuity and allowance under subsection (a) shall not 

17 be payable for any period during which a modern 

18 former President holds an appointive or elective posi19 tion in or under the Federal Government to which is 

20 attached a rate of pay other than a nominal rate. 

21 ‘‘(c) COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.—Effective December 

22 1 of each year, each annuity and allowance under sub23 section (a) that commenced before that date shall be in24 creased by the same percentage by which benefit amounts 

25 under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 


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1 et seq.) are increased, effective as of that date, as a result 

2 of a determination under section 215(i) of that Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 415(i)). 

4 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON MONETARY ALLOWANCE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

6 provision of this section, the monetary allowance pay7 able under subsection (a)(2) to a modern former 

8 President for any 12-month period— 

9 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 

10 (B), may not exceed the amount by which— 

11 ‘‘(i) the monetary allowance that (but 

12 for this subsection) would otherwise be so 

13 payable for such 12-month period, exceeds 

14 (if at all) 

15 ‘‘(ii) the applicable reduction amount 

16 for such 12-month period; and 

17 ‘‘(B) shall not be less than the amount de18 termined under paragraph (4). 

19 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para21 graph (1), the term ‘applicable reduction 

22 amount’ means, with respect to any modern 

23 former President and in connection with any 12- 

24 month period, the amount by which— 

25 ‘‘(i) the sum of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the adjusted gross income (as 

2 defined in section 62 of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986) of the modern 

4 former President for the most recent 

5 taxable year for which a tax return is 

6 available; and 

7 ‘‘(II) any interest excluded from 

8 the gross income of the modern former 

9 President under section 103 of such 

10 Code for such taxable year, exceeds (if 

11 at all) 

12 ‘‘(ii) $400,000, subject to subparagraph 

13 (C). 

14 ‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a 

15 joint return, subclauses (I) and (II) of subpara16 graph (A)(i) shall be applied by taking into ac17 count both the amounts properly allocable to the 

18 modern former President and the amounts prop19 erly allocable to the spouse of the modern former 

20 President. 

21 ‘‘(C) COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES.—The dol22 lar amount specified in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

23 shall be adjusted at the same time that, and by 

24 the same percentage by which, the monetary al25 lowance of the modern former President is inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580

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1 creased under subsection (c) (disregarding this 

2 subsection). 

3 ‘‘(3) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 

5 ‘‘(i) the terms ‘return’ and ‘return in6 formation’ have the meanings given those 

7 terms in section 6103(b) of the Internal 

8 Revenue Code of 1986; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘Secretary’ means the 

10 Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary 

11 of the Treasury’s delegate. 

12 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—A modern former 

13 President may not receive a monetary allowance 

14 under subsection (a)(2) unless the modern former 

15 President discloses to the Secretary, upon the re16 quest of the Secretary, any return or return in17 formation of the modern former President or 

18 spouse of the modern former President that the 

19 Secretary determines is necessary for purposes of 

20 calculating the applicable reduction amount 

21 under paragraph (2) of this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(C) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Except as pro23 vided in section 6103 of the Internal Revenue 

24 Code of 1986 and notwithstanding any other 

25 provision of law, the Secretary may not, with reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580

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1 spect to a return or return information disclosed 

2 to the Secretary under subparagraph (B)— 

3 ‘‘(i) disclose the return or return infor4 mation to any entity or person; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) use the return or return informa6 tion for any purpose other than to calculate 

7 the applicable reduction amount under 

8 paragraph (2). 

9 ‘‘(4) INCREASED COSTS DUE TO SECURITY

10 NEEDS.—With respect to the monetary allowance that 

11 would be payable to a modern former President under 

12 subsection (a)(2) for any 12-month period but for the 

13 limitation under paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection, 

14 the Administrator of General Services, in coordina15 tion with the Director of the United States Secret 

16 Service, shall determine the amount of the allowance 

17 that is needed to pay the increased cost of doing busi18 ness that is attributable to the security needs of the 

19 modern former President. 

20 ‘‘(e) WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS.—The widow or wid21 ower of each modern former President shall be entitled to 

22 receive from the United States a monetary allowance at a 

23 rate of $100,000 per year (subject to paragraph (4)), pay24 able monthly by the Secretary of the Treasury, if such 

25 widow or widower shall waive the right to each other annuVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S580.RS S580

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1 ity or pension to which she or he is entitled under any other 

2 Act of Congress. The monetary allowance of such widow or 

3 widower— 

4 ‘‘(1) commences on the day after the modern 

5 former President dies; 

6 ‘‘(2) terminates on the last day of the month be7 fore such widow or widower— 

8 ‘‘(A) dies; or 

9 ‘‘(B) remarries before becoming 60 years of 

10 age; 

11 ‘‘(3) is not payable for any period during which 

12 such widow or widower holds an appointive or elec13 tive office or position in or under the Federal Govern14 ment to which is attached a rate of pay other than 

15 a nominal rate; and 

16 ‘‘(4) shall, after its commencement date, be in17 creased at the same time that, and by the same per18 centage by which, annuities of modern former Presi19 dents are increased under subsection (c). 

20 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘modern 

21 former President’ means a person— 

22 ‘‘(1) who shall have held the office of President 

23 of the United States of America; 

24 ‘‘(2) whose service in such office shall have ter25 minated— 


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1 ‘‘(A) other than by removal pursuant to sec2 tion 4 of article II of the Constitution of the 

3 United States of America; and 

4 ‘‘(B) after the date of enactment of the Pres5 idential Allowance Modernization Act of 2019; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(3) who does not then currently hold such of8 fice.’’. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 The Former Presidents Act of 1958 is amended— 

11 (1) in section 1(f)(2), as designated by this sec12 tion— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘terminated other than’’ 

14 and inserting the following: ‘‘terminated— 

15 ‘‘(A) other than’’; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(B) on or before the date of enactment of 

18 the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 

19 2019; and’’; and 

20 (2) in section 3, as redesignated by this sec21 tion— 

22 (A) by inserting after the section enu23 merator the following: ‘‘AUTHORIZATION OF

24 APPROPRIATIONS.’’; and 


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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘or modern former Presi2 dent’’ after ‘‘former President’’ each place that 

3 term appears. 

4 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

5 Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this 

6 Act shall be construed to affect— 

7 (1) any provision of law relating to the security 

8 or protection of a former President or modern former 

9 President, or a member of the family of a former 

10 President or modern former President; or 

11 (2) funding, under the Former Presidents Act of 

12 1958 or any other law, to carry out any provision of 

13 law described in paragraph (1). 

14 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 

15 Section 2 of the Former Presidents Act of 1958, as 

16 added by section 2(a)(3) of this Act, shall not apply to— 

17 (1) any individual who is a former President on 

18 the date of enactment of this Act; or 

19 (2) the widow or widower of an individual de20 scribed in paragraph (1). 


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Calendar No. 128 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 580 

[Report No. 116–53] 

A BILL 

To amend the Act of August 25, 1958, commonly 

to a former President, and for other purposes. with respect to the monetary allowance payable known as the ‘‘Former Presidents Act of 1958’’, 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Reported with an amendment 


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