II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 438 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for the termination of 

certain retirement benefits for Members of Congress, except the right 

to continue participating in the Thrift Savings Plan, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2019 

Mr. BRAUN (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 

Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for the 

termination of certain retirement benefits for Members 

of Congress, except the right to continue participating 

in the Thrift Savings Plan, 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 ‘‘End Pensions in Con5 gress Act’’ or the ‘‘EPIC Act’’. 


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•S 438 IS

1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE CIVIL SERVICE 

2 RETIREMENT SYSTEM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 83 of 

4 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

5 section 8335 the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 8335A. Termination of further retirement coverage 

7 of Members of Congress 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro9 vision of this subchapter and subject to subsection (f), ef10 fective as of the date of enactment of this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) a Member shall not be subject to this sub12 chapter for any further period of time; and 

13 ‘‘(2) no further Government contributions or 

14 deductions from basic pay may be made with respect 

15 to such Member for deposit in the Treasury of the 

16 United States to the credit of the Fund. 

17 ‘‘(b) PRIOR RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in 

18 subsection (a) shall be considered to nullify, modify, or 

19 otherwise affect any right, entitlement, or benefit under 

20 this subchapter of any Member with respect to any period 

21 before the date of enactment of this section. 

22 ‘‘(c) RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN THRIFT SAVINGS

23 PLAN NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall 

24 affect the eligibility of a Member to participate in the 

25 Thrift Savings Plan in accordance with otherwise applica26 ble provisions of law. 


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1 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—Any regulations necessary to 

2 carry out this section may— 

3 ‘‘(1) except with respect to matters under para4 graph (2), be prescribed by the Director; and 

5 ‘‘(2) with respect to matters relating to the 

6 Thrift Savings Plan, be prescribed by the Executive 

7 Director (as defined under section 8401). 

8 ‘‘(e) EXCLUSION.—For purposes of this section, the 

9 term ‘Member’ does not include the Vice President. 

10 ‘‘(f) OPT-IN.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

11 of enactment of this section, a Member covered by this 

12 subchapter as of such date of enactment may elect, by giv13 ing notice in writing to the official that disburses the pay 

14 of such Member, to remain subject to this subchapter.’’. 

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

16 for chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

17 by inserting after the item relating to section 8335 the 

18 following: 

‘‘8335A. Termination of further retirement coverage of Members of Congress.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE FEDERAL EM20 PLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 84 of 

22 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

23 section 8425 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 8426. Termination of further retirement coverage 

2 of Members of Congress 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro4 vision of this chapter, effective as of the date of enactment 

5 of this section— 

6 ‘‘(1) in the case of an individual who first be7 comes a Member before such date of enactment, 

8 subject to subsection (f)— 

9 ‘‘(A) such Member shall not be subject to 

10 this chapter for any further period of time after 

11 such date of enactment; and 

12 ‘‘(B) no further Government contributions 

13 or deductions from basic pay may be made with 

14 respect to such Member for deposit in the 

15 Treasury of the United States to the credit of 

16 the Fund; and 

17 ‘‘(2) in the case of an individual who first be18 comes a Member on or after such date of enact19 ment— 

20 ‘‘(A) such Member shall not be subject to 

21 this chapter; and 

22 ‘‘(B) no Government contributions or de23 ductions from basic pay may be made with re24 spect to such Member for deposit in the Treas25 ury of the United States to the credit of the 

26 Fund. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PRIOR RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in 

2 subsection (a) shall be considered to nullify, modify, or 

3 otherwise affect any right, entitlement, or benefit under 

4 this chapter of any Member with respect to any period 

5 before the date of enactment of this section. 

6 ‘‘(c) RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN THRIFT SAVINGS

7 PLAN NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall 

8 affect the eligibility of a Member to participate in the 

9 Thrift Savings Plan in accordance with otherwise applica10 ble provisions of law. 

11 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any regulations necessary 

13 to carry out this section may— 

14 ‘‘(A) except with respect to matters under 

15 subparagraph (B), be prescribed by the Direc16 tor; and 

17 ‘‘(B) with respect to matters relating to 

18 the Thrift Savings Plan, be prescribed by the 

19 Executive Director. 

20 ‘‘(2) REFUNDS.—Notwithstanding subsection 

21 (b), the regulations under paragraph (1)(A) shall, in 

22 the case of a Member who has not completed at 

23 least 5 years of civilian service creditable under sec24 tion 8411 as of the date of enactment of this sec25 tion, provide that the lump-sum credit shall be payVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:20 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S438.IS S438

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•S 438 IS

1 able to such Member to the same extent and in the 

2 same manner as if such Member satisfied para3 graphs (1) through (4) of section 8424(a) as of such 

4 date of enactment. 

5 ‘‘(e) EXCLUSIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

6 term ‘Member’ does not include the Vice President. 

7 ‘‘(f) OPT-IN FOR MEMBERS.—Not later than 90 days 

8 after the date of enactment of this section, a Member cov9 ered by this chapter as of such date may elect, by giving 

10 notice in writing to the official that disburses the pay of 

11 such Member, to remain subject to this chapter.’’. 

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

13 for chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

14 by inserting after the item relating to section 8425 the 

15 following: 

‘‘8426. Termination of further retirement coverage of Members of Congress.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO TSP. 

17 Section 8431(a) of title 5, United States Code, is 

18 amended by inserting ‘‘except as provided in section 

19 8335A(c) and section 8426(c),’’ after ‘‘subchapter,’’. 

Æ 


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