I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7835 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to increase the accountability of 

the Office of Special Counsel in enforcing certain provisions of that 

title vigorously, consistently, and without regard to the political affiliation, career status, or personal characteristics of individuals subject 

to those provisions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 29, 2024 

Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to increase the accountability of the Office of Special Counsel in enforcing 

certain provisions of that title vigorously, consistently, 

and without regard to the political affiliation, career 

status, or personal characteristics of individuals subject 

to those provisions, 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 ‘‘Hatch Act Enforce5 ment Transparency and Accountability Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADDITION OF DEFINITIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 12 of 

3 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 1219a. Definitions 

6 ‘‘In this subchapter: 

7 ‘‘(1) CAREER EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘career 

8 employee’ means an individual who is— 

9 ‘‘(A) an employee, as that term is defined 

10 in section 7322; and 

11 ‘‘(B) not a noncareer employee. 

12 ‘‘(2) COVERED ALLEGATION.—The term ‘cov13 ered allegation’ means an allegation concerning po14 litical activity prohibited under subchapter III of 

15 chapter 73. 

16 ‘‘(3) NONCAREER EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘non17 career employee’ means an individual who is— 

18 ‘‘(A) an employee, as defined in section 

19 2105, serving in a position in the executive 

20 branch; and 

21 ‘‘(B)(i) serving in a position to which the 

22 President appointed the individual (without re23 gard to whether the advice and consent of the 

24 Senate was required with respect to that ap25 pointment), other than an individual who is— 


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1 ‘‘(I) a member of a uniformed service, 

2 as that term is defined in section 210(m) 

3 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 410(m)); or 

5 ‘‘(II) a member of the Foreign Service 

6 serving under a career appointment, as de7 scribed in section 301 of the Foreign Serv8 ice Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3941); 

9 ‘‘(ii) a noncareer appointee, as that term is 

10 defined in section 3132(a); 

11 ‘‘(iii) serving in a position in a Federal ex12 ecutive system that is comparable to the Senior 

13 Executive Service, the appointment to which is 

14 not made through merit-based procedures, such 

15 as a position in the Transportation Security 

16 Executive Service; or 

17 ‘‘(iv) serving in a position with respect to 

18 which a determination has been made under 

19 section 7511(b)(2).’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

21 for subchapter II of chapter 12 of title 5, United States 

22 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘1219a. Definitions.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. NOTIFYING CONGRESS IN THE EVENT OF A DECI2 SION NOT TO INVESTIGATE A NONCAREER 

3 EMPLOYEE. 

4 Section 1217 of title 5, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS IN THE EVENT OF

7 CERTAIN DECLINATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of enactment of this subsection, and 

10 once every 180 days thereafter, the Special Counsel 

11 shall submit to the Chair and Ranking Member of 

12 each of the Committee on Homeland Security and 

13 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com14 mittee on Oversight and Accountability of the House 

15 of Representatives a written report that contains, for 

16 the period covered by the report, the number of com17 plaints received by the Special Counsel that the Spe18 cial Counsel referred for disciplinary action. 

19 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report required under 

20 paragraph (1) shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) include— 

22 ‘‘(i) a copy of the applicable com23 plaint; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) the name and position of the em25 ployee who is the subject of the applicable 

26 complaint; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) be organized to indicate whether the 

2 employee who is the subject of each complaint 

3 contained in the report is a career employee or 

4 a noncareer employee.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. REPORTING TO CONGRESS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1218 of title 5, United 

7 States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘re9 port’’ and inserting ‘‘reports’’; 

10 (2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

11 striking ‘‘The Special’’ and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Special’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(b) REPORT REGARDING ALLEGATIONS AGAINST

15 NONCAREER EMPLOYEES.—In addition to each report re16 quired under subsection (a), the Special Counsel shall sub17 mit to the Chair and Ranking Member of each committee 

18 of jurisdiction in Congress, on an annual basis, a report 

19 regarding the activities of the Special Counsel with respect 

20 to covered allegations against noncareer employees and 

21 former noncareer employees, which shall include— 

22 ‘‘(1) for the year preceding the submission of 

23 the report, the number of such covered allegations 

24 received by the Special Counsel; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the number of such covered allegations 

2 that have resulted in an investigation conducted by 

3 the Special Counsel, whether the investigation was 

4 initiated during the year covered by the report or 

5 thereafter; and 

6 ‘‘(3) in a confidential addendum submitted to 

7 the Chair and Ranking Member of each of the Com8 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af9 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight 

10 and Accountability of the House of Representa11 tives— 

12 ‘‘(A) with respect to each such covered al13 legation not investigated, the name and position 

14 of the noncareer employee (or former noncareer 

15 employee) who was the subject of the covered 

16 allegation; and 

17 ‘‘(B) a description of each such covered al18 legation for which processing of the covered al19 legation ceased during the year covered by the 

20 report, without regard to whether the covered 

21 allegation was received during the year covered 

22 by the report or earlier, which shall include— 

23 ‘‘(i) a description of the outcome of 

24 the covered allegation; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a covered allega2 tion against a noncareer employee who is 

3 not serving in a position with respect to 

4 which appointment by the President, by 

5 and with the advice and consent of the 

6 Senate, is required (or against a former 

7 noncareer employee who was not serving in 

8 such a position, as of the date on which 

9 the actions that are the subject of the cov10 ered allegation occurred), a statement as 

11 to whether— 

12 ‘‘(I) the Special Counsel, under 

13 section 1215(a), presented a com14 plaint to the Merit Systems Protection 

15 Board against the noncareer employee 

16 (or former noncareer employee) con17 cerning the actions that are the sub18 ject of the covered allegation; and 

19 ‘‘(II) any civil penalty assessed 

20 by the Merit Systems Protection 

21 Board under section 7326 with re22 spect to the covered allegation has 

23 been collected in full.’’. 

24 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

25 The table of sections for subchapter II of chapter 12 of 


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1 title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking the 

2 item relating to section 1218 and inserting the following: 

‘‘1218. Annual reports.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY IN HATCH ACT ENFORCE4 MENT. 

5 Section 1219 of title 5, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end; 

10 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(5) a detailed written explanation of the com14 plete basis for each decision of the Special Counsel 

15 not to present, under section 1215(a), a complaint 

16 to the Merit Systems Protection Board against any 

17 noncareer employee determined by the Special Coun18 sel to have violated subchapter III of chapter 73, ex19 cept that this paragraph shall not apply with respect 

20 to a noncareer employee who is serving in a position 

21 for which nomination by the President, by and with 

22 the advice and consent of the Senate, is required 

23 (unless such a noncareer employee is serving in a 

24 position in the Foreign Service).’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub2 section (c); and 

3 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(b) PUBLICATION OF DEMOGRAPHIC STATISTICS

6 REGARDING CERTAIN ENFORCEMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Special Counsel shall 

8 track, publish, and keep current on the official 

9 website of the Office of Special Counsel the following 

10 information, which shall remain on that website for 

11 a period of not less than 10 fiscal years, beginning 

12 with the fiscal year to which the information per13 tains: 

14 ‘‘(A) On an ongoing basis, the following 

15 anonymized information pertaining to covered 

16 allegations against career employees, which 

17 shall be organized by fiscal year: 

18 ‘‘(i) The number of career employees 

19 who were the subject of covered allegations 

20 received by the Special Counsel during the 

21 applicable fiscal year. 

22 ‘‘(ii) With respect to the career em23 ployees identified under clause (i)— 

24 ‘‘(I) the number of those career 

25 employees who the Special Counsel inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Apr 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7835.IH H7835

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1 vestigated, without regard to whether 

2 the investigation occurred during the 

3 fiscal year in which the Special Coun4 sel received the initial covered allega5 tion with respect to such a career em6 ployee or during a subsequent fiscal 

7 year; and 

8 ‘‘(II) the number of those career 

9 employees who were the subject of a 

10 complaint presented to the Special 

11 Counsel with the Merit Systems Pro12 tection Board with respect to the ap13 plicable covered allegation, without re14 gard to whether the Special Counsel 

15 presented such a complaint during the 

16 fiscal year in which the Special Coun17 sel received the initial covered allega18 tion with respect to such a career em19 ployee or during a subsequent fiscal 

20 year. 

21 ‘‘(iii) For clauses (i) and (ii), demo22 graphic information pertaining to the race, 

23 sex, ethnicity, national origin, and dis24 ability status of the applicable career em25 ployees. 


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1 ‘‘(B) On an ongoing basis, the following 

2 anonymized information pertaining to covered 

3 allegations against noncareer employees, which 

4 shall be organized by fiscal year: 

5 ‘‘(i) The number of noncareer employ6 ees who were the subject of covered allega7 tions received by the Special Counsel dur8 ing the applicable fiscal year. 

9 ‘‘(ii) With respect to the noncareer 

10 employees identified under clause (i)— 

11 ‘‘(I) the number of those non12 career employees who the Special 

13 Counsel investigated, without regard 

14 to whether the investigation occurred 

15 during the fiscal year in which the 

16 Special Counsel received the initial 

17 covered allegation with respect to such 

18 a noncareer employee or during a sub19 sequent fiscal year; and 

20 ‘‘(II) the number of those non21 career employees who were the subject 

22 of a complaint presented to the Spe23 cial Counsel with the Merit Systems 

24 Protection Board with respect to the 

25 applicable covered allegation, without 


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1 regard to whether the Special Counsel 

2 presented such a complaint during the 

3 fiscal year in which the Special Coun4 sel received the initial covered allega5 tion with respect to such a noncareer 

6 employee or during a subsequent fis7 cal year. 

8 ‘‘(iii) For clauses (i) and (ii), demo9 graphic information pertaining to the race, 

10 sex, ethnicity, national origin, and dis11 ability status of the applicable noncareer 

12 employees. 

13 ‘‘(2) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION.—The Di14 rector of the Office of Personnel Management, the 

15 head of the agency employing an individual who is 

16 the subject of a complaint filed with the Special 

17 Counsel, and, as applicable, the White House Presi18 dential Personnel Office shall, upon request, provide 

19 the Special Counsel with information pertaining to 

20 the race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, disability 

21 status, and status as a career employee or noncareer 

22 employee of that individual, if that information has 

23 already been collected in connection with the Federal 

24 employment or former Federal employment of that 

25 individual.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

2 If any provision of this Act, or of any amendment 

3 made by this Act, or the application of any provision of 

4 this Act, or of any amendment made by this Act, to any 

5 person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the 

6 remainder of this Act, and the amendments made by this 

7 Act, and the application of the provision this Act, or of 

8 the amendment made by this Act, to any other person or 

9 circumstance shall not be affected by the holding. 

Æ 


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