II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 896 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide for reform 

in the operations of the Office of Government Ethics, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 27, 2019 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. UDALL, 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide 

for reform in the operations of the Office of Government 

Ethics, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Executive Branch 

5 Comprehensive Ethics Enforcement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TENURE OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF 

7 GOVERNMENT ETHICS. 

8 Section 401(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of 

9 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting after the first sentence the fol2 lowing: ‘‘The Director shall be subject to removal 

3 only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance 

4 in office.’’; and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The 

6 Director may continue to serve beyond the expira7 tion of the term until a successor is appointed and 

8 has qualified, except that the Director may not con9 tinue to serve for more than 1 year after the date 

10 on which the term would otherwise expire under this 

11 subsection.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERN13 MENT ETHICS. 

14 (a) DUTIES GENERALLY.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(b) of the Ethics 

16 in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

17 amended— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘developing, in con20 sultation with the Attorney General and 

21 the Office of Personnel Management,’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘(A) developing’’; 

23 (ii) by striking ‘‘title II’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘title I’’; 


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1 (iii) by adding ‘‘and’’ after the semi2 colon; and 

3 (iv) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(B) before promulgating rules or regulations 

6 under subparagraph (A), consulting with the Attor7 ney General;’’; 

8 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert9 ing the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) providing mandatory education and train11 ing programs for agency ethics counselors and other 

12 responsible officials, which may be delegated to each 

13 agency or the Counsel to the President, as deter14 mined appropriate by the Director;’’; 

15 (C) by redesignating paragraph (14) as 

16 paragraph (3) and transferring such paragraph, 

17 as so redesignated, to after paragraph (2); 

18 (D) by redesignating paragraph (3) (relat19 ing to monitoring and investigating compliance) 

20 and paragraphs (4) through (13) as paragraphs 

21 (4) through (14), respectively; 

22 (E) in paragraph (3), as redesignated and 

23 transferred by subparagraph (C) of this para24 graph, by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 


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1 (F) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated, 

2 by striking ‘‘title II’’ and inserting ‘‘title I’’; 

3 (G) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘violations of applicable 

5 conflict of interest laws or regulations’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘conflicts of interest or other 

7 ethics issues’’; 

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘recommending’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘directing’’; and 

10 (iii) by striking ‘‘ethical problems’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘ethics issues’’; 

12 (H) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated, 

13 by striking ‘‘ethical problems’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘ethics issues’’; 

15 (I) in paragraph (8), as so redesignated— 

16 (i) by striking ‘‘, when requested,’’; 

17 and 

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘conflict of interest 

19 problems’’ and inserting ‘‘conflicts of inter20 est and other ethics issues’’; 

21 (J) in paragraph (10), as so redesignated, 

22 by inserting ‘‘, except that the Director may not 

23 order the President to take corrective action’’ 

24 before the semicolon; 


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1 (K) in paragraph (12), as so redesignated, 

2 by striking ‘‘conflict of interest laws’’ and in3 serting ‘‘laws, rules, and regulations relating to 

4 conflicts of interest and other ethics issues’’; 

5 (L) in paragraph (13), as so redesig6 nated— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘evaluating’’ and in8 serting ‘‘promulgating’’; 

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘the need for’’; and 

10 (iii) by striking ‘‘conflict of interest 

11 and ethical problems’’ and inserting ‘‘con12 flicts of interest and other ethics issues’’; 

13 (M) in paragraph (14), as so redesig14 nated— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘violations of the con16 flict of interest laws’’ and inserting ‘‘con17 flicts of interest and other ethics issues’’; 

18 and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘, as required by sec20 tion 535 of title 28, United States Code’’; 

21 (N) in paragraph (15)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘title II’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘title I’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

25 and inserting a semicolon; and 


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1 (O) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(16) determining whether employees of an 

3 agency have violated this Act and issuing appro4 priate administrative penalties; 

5 ‘‘(17) directing and providing final approval, 

6 when determined appropriate by the Director, for 

7 agency ethics counselors and other responsible offi8 cials regarding the resolution of conflicts of interest 

9 and other ethics issues under the purview of this Act 

10 in individual cases; and 

11 ‘‘(18) reviewing and, when determined appro12 priate by the Director, approving any recusals be13 cause of, exemptions from, or waivers of the laws, 

14 rules, and regulations relating to conflicts of interest 

15 and other ethics issues and making approved 

16 recusals, exemptions, and waivers publicly avail17 able.’’. 

18 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND19 MENTS.— 

20 (A) Section 402(e) of the Ethics in Gov21 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amend22 ed, in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

23 striking ‘‘subsection (b)(10)’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘subsection (b)(11)’’. 


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1 (B) Section 402(f) of the Ethics in Gov2 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amend3 ed by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(9)’’ each place it 

4 appears and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(10)’’. 

5 (b) WRITTEN PROCEDURES.—Section 402(d)(1) of 

6 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 

7 is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘, by the exercise of any author9 ity otherwise available to the Director under this 

10 title,’’; and 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘the agency is’’. 

12 (c) CORRECTIVE ACTION.—Section 402(f) of the Eth13 ics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

16 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

17 (i) in clause (i)— 

18 (I) by inserting ‘‘(or, with respect 

19 to the President, recommend)’’ after 

20 ‘‘order’’ the first place it appears; and 

21 (II) by striking ‘‘of such agency’’; 

22 and 

23 (ii) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘(or, 

24 with respect to the President, rec25 ommend)’’ after ‘‘order’’; and 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘no2 tify the President’’ and all that follows through 

3 ‘‘may provide)’’ and inserting ‘‘determine that a 

4 violation of this Act has occurred and (except 

5 with respect to the President) issue appropriate 

6 administrative or legal remedies as prescribed 

7 in paragraph (2)’’; 

8 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

10 (i) in clause (ii)(II)— 

11 (I) by striking ‘‘shall notify the 

12 President in writing’’; 

13 (II) by striking ‘‘such action;’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘such action—’’; and 

15 (III) by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(aa) shall notify the President in 

18 writing; and 

19 ‘‘(bb) may conduct a formal investiga20 tion and hearing in accordance to the pro21 cedures described in subparagraph (B); 

22 and’’; 

23 (ii) in clause (iii)— 


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1 (I) in the matter preceding sub2 clause (I), by inserting ‘‘or has vio3 lated’’ after ‘‘is violating’’; and 

4 (II) by striking subclause (II) 

5 and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(II) shall, if the officer or employee has 

7 not complied with the order under subclause (I) 

8 within a reasonable period of time— 

9 ‘‘(aa) if the officer or employee is the 

10 head of an agency, notify the President 

11 and Congress of the officer’s or employee’s 

12 noncompliance; and 

13 ‘‘(bb) in the case of any other officer 

14 or employee, order, in writing, that the 

15 head of the officer’s or employee’s agency 

16 take appropriate disciplinary action, in17 cluding reprimand, suspension, demotion, 

18 or dismissal against the officer or em19 ployee.’’; and 

20 (iii) by striking clause (iv); and 

21 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

22 (i) in clause (i)— 

23 (I) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ before ‘‘In 

24 order to’’; 


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1 (II) by striking ‘‘(iii) or (iv)’’; 

2 and 

3 (III) by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(II)(aa) In conducting an investigation, the Director 

6 may require by subpoena— 

7 ‘‘(AA) the production of information, docu8 ments, reports, answers, records, accounts, papers, 

9 and other data in any medium and other documen10 tary evidence; and 

11 ‘‘(BB) a witness to appear at a time or place 

12 stated in the subpoena before an individual author13 ized to take depositions to be used in the courts of 

14 the United States, to give full and true answers to 

15 written interrogatories and cross-interrogatories as 

16 may be submitted with the application, or to be oral17 ly examined or cross-examined on the subject of the 

18 claim. 

19 ‘‘(bb) In the case of a refusal to obey a subpoena 

20 of the Director under item (aa), the subpoena may be en21 forced by order of any appropriate United States district 

22 court. 

23 ‘‘(cc) The Director may secure directly from any 

24 agency information necessary to enable the Director to 

25 carry out this Act. Upon request of the Director, the head 


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1 of such agency (except in the case of the President) shall 

2 furnish that information to the Director.’’; 

3 (ii) in clause (ii)(I)— 

4 (I) by striking ‘‘Subject to clause 

5 (iv) of this subparagraph, before’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘Before’’; and 

7 (II) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs 

8 (A) (iii) or (iv)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub9 paragraph (A)(iii)’’; 

10 (iii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘Sub11 ject to clause (iv) of this subparagraph, be12 fore’’ and inserting ‘‘Before’’; and 

13 (iv) in clause (iv)— 

14 (I) by striking ‘‘title 2’’ and in15 serting ‘‘title I’’; and 

16 (II) by striking ‘‘section 206’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘section 104’’; 

18 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(iv),’’; and 

19 (4) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(5)(A) The Office of Government Ethics shall be the 

22 central repository, by maintaining data or referencing data 

23 by internet link that is maintained by agencies or other24 wise made publicly available, of all laws, rules and regula25 tions relating to conflicts of interest and other ethics 


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1 issues, recusals, waivers, and exemptions of such laws, 

2 rules, and regulations, ethics advisory opinions, ethics 

3 agreements of senior executive branch personnel and em4 ployee certificates of divestiture, financial disclosure re5 ports as required under title I of this Act, compliance re6 views, enforcement actions, and any other public records 

7 concerning conflicts of interest and other ethics issues for 

8 the executive branch required by law. 

9 ‘‘(B) All financial disclosure reports and records re10 lating to conflicts of interest and other ethics issues deter11 mined to be public information by the Director or by law 

12 shall be made available to the public— 

13 ‘‘(i)(I) by a link to such information if publicly 

14 available on a website other than the website of the 

15 Office of Government Ethics; or 

16 ‘‘(II) at no charge on the website of the Office 

17 of Government Ethics in a searchable, sortable, and 

18 downloadable format; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) subject to a reasonable fee, for reproduc20 tion of paper documents at the Office of Government 

21 Ethics.’’. 

22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—Title IV of the Ethics in Govern23 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding 

24 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 409. DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

2 title— 

3 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ includes the Executive 

4 Office of the President; 

5 ‘‘(2) the term ‘officer or employee’ includes any 

6 individual occupying a position, providing any offi7 cial services, or acting in an advisory capacity in the 

8 White House or the Executive Office of the Presi9 dent, regardless of whether the individual receives 

10 pay; and 

11 ‘‘(3) the term ‘head of an agency’ includes the 

12 President or a designee of the President, for pur13 poses of applying this title to the White House and 

14 the Executive Office of the President.’’. 

15 (e) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION AND VIEWS.—Sec16 tion 402 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

17 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(g)(1) Upon request by any committee or sub20 committee of Congress, the Director shall provide to Con21 gress, by report, testimony, or otherwise, information and 

22 the views of the Director on functions, responsibilities, or 

23 other matters relating to the Office of Government Ethics. 

24 ‘‘(2) The Director shall not be required to obtain the 

25 prior approval, comment, or review of any officer or agenVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S896.IS S896

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1 cy of the United States, including the Office of Manage2 ment and Budget, before submitting to Congress, or any 

3 committee or subcommittee thereof, any information, re4 ports, recommendations, testimony, or comments, if such 

5 submissions include a statement indicating that the views 

6 expressed therein are those of the Director and do not nec7 essarily represent the views of the President. 

8 ‘‘(3) Information and views provided to Congress 

9 under paragraph (1) shall be transmitted concurrently to 

10 the President and any other appropriate executive agen11 cy.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. AGENCY ETHICS OFFICIALS TRAINING AND DUTIES. 

13 Section 403 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 

14 (5 U.S.C. App) is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(c)(1) All designated agency ethics officials and al17 ternate designated agency ethics officials shall register 

18 with, and report to, the Director and with the appointing 

19 authority of the official. 

20 ‘‘(2) The Director shall provide ethics education and 

21 training to all designated and alternate designated agency 

22 ethics officials in a time and manner deemed appropriate 

23 by the Director. 

24 ‘‘(3) The Director shall have final authority over the 

25 designee of the President for purposes of this title and 


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1 all designated and alternate designated agency ethics offi2 cials and other ethics counselors in the executive branch 

3 in the interpretation and implementation of all rules and 

4 regulations relating to conflict of interest and other ethics 

5 issues promulgated by the President or the Director.’’. 

Æ 


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