II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4880 

To protect our democracy by preventing abuses of Presidential power, restoring checks and balances and accountability and transparency in government, and defending elections against foreign interference, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. COONS, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To protect our democracy by preventing abuses of Presidential power, restoring checks and balances and accountability and transparency in government, and defending elections against foreign interference, 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 ‘‘Protecting Our Democ5 racy Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ORGANIZATION OF ACT INTO DIVISIONS; TABLE OF 

2 CONTENTS. 

3 (a) DIVISIONS.—This Act is organized into divisions 

4 as follows: 

5 (1) Division A—Preventing Abuses of Presi6 dential Power. 

7 (2) Division B—Restoring Checks and Bal8 ances, Accountability, and Transparency. 

9 (3) Division C—Defending Elections Against 

10 Foreign Interference. 

11 (4) Division D—Severability. 

12 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

13 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Organization of Act into divisions; table of contents. 

DIVISION A—PREVENTING ABUSES OF PRESIDENTIAL POWER 

TITLE I—ABUSE OF THE PARDON POWER PREVENTION 

Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. Congressional oversight relating to certain pardons. 

Sec. 103. Bribery in connection with pardons and commutations. 

Sec. 104. Prohibition on Presidential self-pardon. 

TITLE II—ENSURING NO PRESIDENT IS ABOVE THE LAW 

Sec. 201. Short title. 

Sec. 202. Tolling of statute of limitations. 

TITLE III—ENFORCEMENT OF THE FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC 

EMOLUMENTS CLAUSES OF THE CONSTITUTION 

Sec. 301. Short title. 

Sec. 302. Definitions. 

Sec. 303. Prohibition on acceptance of foreign and domestic emoluments. 

Sec. 304. Civil actions by Congress concerning foreign emoluments. 

Sec. 305. Disclosures concerning foreign and domestic emoluments. 

Sec. 306. Enforcement authority of the Director of the Office of Government 

Ethics. 

Sec. 307. Jurisdiction of the Office of Special Counsel. 


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DIVISION B—RESTORING CHECKS AND BALANCES, 

ACCOUNTABILITY, AND TRANSPARENCY 

TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS 

Sec. 401. Short title. 

Sec. 402. Findings. 

Sec. 403. Enforcement of congressional subpoenas. 

Sec. 404. Compliance with congressional subpoenas. 

Sec. 405. Rule of construction. 

TITLE V—REASSERTING CONGRESSIONAL POWER OF THE PURSE 

Sec. 500. Short title. 

Subtitle A—Strengthening Congressional Control and Review To Prevent 

Impoundment 

Sec. 501. Strengthening congressional control. 

Sec. 502. Strengthening congressional review. 

Sec. 503. Updated authorities for and reporting by the Comptroller General. 

Sec. 504. Advance congressional notification and litigation. 

Sec. 505. Penalties for failure to comply with the Impoundment Control Act of 

1974. 

Subtitle B—Strengthening Transparency and Reporting 

PART 1—FUNDS MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING TO THE CONGRESS

Sec. 511. Expired balance reporting in the President’s budget. 

Sec. 512. Canceled balance reporting in the President’s budget. 

Sec. 513. Lapse in appropriations—Reporting in the President’s budget. 

Sec. 514. Transfer and other repurposing authority reporting in the President’s 

budget. 

Sec. 515. Authorizing cancellations in indefinite accounts by appropriation. 

PART 2—EMPOWERING CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW THROUGH NONPARTISAN

CONGRESSIONAL AGENCIES AND TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVES

Sec. 521. Requirement to respond to requests for information from the Government Accountability Office for budget and appropriations law 

decisions. 

Sec. 522. Reporting requirements for Antideficiency Act violations. 

Sec. 523. Department of Justice reporting to Congress for Antideficiency Act 

violations. 

Sec. 524. Publication of budget or appropriations law opinions of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel. 

Subtitle C—Strengthening Congressional Role in and Oversight of Emergency 

Declarations and Designations 

Sec. 531. Improving checks and balances on the use of the National Emergencies Act. 

Sec. 532. National Emergencies Act declaration spending reporting in the 

President’s budget. 

Sec. 533. Disclosure to Congress of Presidential emergency action documents. 

Sec. 534. Emergency and overseas contingency operations designations by Congress in statute. 


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TITLE VI—SECURITY FROM POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN 

JUSTICE 

Sec. 601. Short title. 

Sec. 602. Definitions. 

Sec. 603. Communications logs. 

Sec. 604. Rule of construction. 

TITLE VII—PROTECTING INSPECTOR GENERAL INDEPENDENCE 

Subtitle A—Requiring Cause for Removal 

Sec. 701. Short title. 

Sec. 702. Amendment. 

Subtitle B—Inspectors General of Intelligence Community 

Sec. 711. Independence of Inspectors General of the Intelligence Community. 

Sec. 712. Authority of Inspectors General of the Intelligence Community to determine matters of urgent concern. 

Sec. 713. Conforming amendments and coordination with other provisions of 

law. 

Subtitle C—Congressional Notification 

Sec. 721. Short title. 

Sec. 722. Congressional notification of change in status of Inspector General. 

Sec. 723. Presidential explanation of failure to nominate an Inspector General. 

TITLE VIII—PROTECTING WHISTLEBLOWERS 

Subtitle A—Whistleblower Protection Improvement 

Sec. 801. Short title. 

Sec. 802. Additional whistleblower protections. 

Sec. 803. Enhancement of whistleblower protections. 

Sec. 804. Classifying certain furloughs as adverse personnel actions. 

Sec. 805. Codification of protections for disclosures of censorship related to research, analysis, or technical information. 

Sec. 806. Technical and conforming amendments. 

Subtitle B—Reauthorization of Merit Systems Protection Board 

Sec. 811. Short title. 

Sec. 812. Reauthorization of Merit Systems Protection Board. 

Sec. 813. Authorization of Federal employee surveys for merit systems studies. 

Sec. 814. Whistleblower training for MSPB administrative judges. 

Subtitle C—Whistleblowers of the Intelligence Community 

Sec. 821. Limitation on sharing of intelligence community whistleblower complaints with persons named in such complaints. 

Sec. 822. Disclosures to Congress. 

Sec. 823. Prohibition against disclosure of whistleblower identity as reprisal 

against whistleblower disclosure by employees and contractors 

in intelligence community. 

TITLE IX—ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ACTING OFFICIALS 


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Sec. 901. Short title. 

Sec. 902. Clarification of Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. 

TITLE X—STRENGTHENING HATCH ACT ENFORCEMENT AND 

PENALTIES 

Sec. 1001. Short title. 

Sec. 1002. Strengthening Hatch Act enforcement and penalties against political 

appointees. 

DIVISION C—DEFENDING ELECTIONS AGAINST FOREIGN 

INTERFERENCE 

TITLE XI—REPORTING FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS 

Sec. 1101. Federal campaign reporting of foreign contacts. 

Sec. 1102. Federal campaign foreign contact reporting compliance system. 

Sec. 1103. Criminal penalties. 

Sec. 1104. Report to congressional intelligence committees. 

Sec. 1105. Rule of construction. 

TITLE XII—ELIMINATING FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN 

ELECTIONS 

Sec. 1201. Clarification of application of foreign money ban. 

Sec. 1202. Requiring acknowledgment of foreign money ban by political committees. 

DIVISION D—SEVERABILITY 

TITLE XIII—SEVERABILITY 

Sec. 1301. Severability. 

1 DIVISION A—PREVENTING 

2 ABUSES OF PRESIDENTIAL 

3 POWER 

4 TITLE I—ABUSE OF THE PARDON 

5 POWER PREVENTION 

6 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Abuse of the Pardon 

8 Power Prevention Act’’. 

9 SEC. 102. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT RELATING TO CER10 TAIN PARDONS. 

11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

5 House of Representatives and the Committee 

6 on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 

7 (B) if an investigation relates to intel8 ligence or counterintelligence matters, the Per9 manent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

10 House of Representatives and the Select Com11 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate. 

12 (2) COVERED OFFENSE.—The term ‘‘covered 

13 offense’’ means— 

14 (A) an offense against the United States 

15 that arises from an investigation in which the 

16 President, or a relative of the President, is a 

17 target or subject; 

18 (B) an offense under section 102 of the 

19 Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 

20 192); or 

21 (C) an offense under section 1001, 1505, 

22 1512, or 1621 of title 18, United States Code, 

23 if the offense occurred in relation to a congres24 sional proceeding or investigation. 


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1 (3) PARDON.—The term ‘‘pardon’’ includes a 

2 commutation of sentence. 

3 (4) RELATIVE.—The term ‘‘relative’’ has the 

4 meaning given that term in section 3110(a) of title 

5 5, United States Code. 

6 (b) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—If the President 

7 grants an individual a pardon for a covered offense, not 

8 later than 30 days after the date of such pardon— 

9 (1) the Attorney General shall submit to the 

10 chairmen and ranking minority members of the ap11 propriate congressional committees— 

12 (A) all materials obtained or produced by 

13 the prosecution team, including the Attorney 

14 General and any United States Attorney, and 

15 all materials obtained or prepared by any inves16 tigative agency of the United States Govern17 ment, relating to the offense for which the indi18 vidual was so pardoned; and 

19 (B) all materials obtained or produced by 

20 the Department of Justice in relation to the 

21 pardon; and 

22 (2) the President shall submit to the chairmen 

23 and ranking minority members of the appropriate 

24 congressional committees all materials obtained or 


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1 produced within the Executive Office of the Presi2 dent in relation to the pardon. 

3 (c) TREATMENT OF INFORMATION.—Rule 6(e) of the 

4 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure shall not be con5 strued to prohibit the disclosure of information required 

6 under subsection (b). 

7 SEC. 103. BRIBERY IN CONNECTION WITH PARDONS AND 

8 COMMUTATIONS. 

9 Section 201 of title 18, United States Code, is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (a)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in13 cluding the President and the Vice President of 

14 the United States,’’ after ‘‘or an officer or em15 ployee or person’’; and 

16 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting before 

17 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, including 

18 any pardon, commutation, or reprieve, or an 

19 offer of any such pardon, commutation, or re20 prieve’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting ‘‘(includ22 ing, for purposes of this paragraph, any pardon, 

23 commutation, or reprieve, or an offer of any such 

24 pardon, commutation, or reprieve)’’ after ‘‘corruptly 

25 gives, offers, or promises anything of value’’. 


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1 SEC. 104. PROHIBITION ON PRESIDENTIAL SELF-PARDON. 

2 If the President grants a pardon to himself or herself, 

3 the pardon— 

4 (1) shall be void and have no effect; and 

5 (2) shall not— 

6 (A) deprive the courts of jurisdiction; or 

7 (B) operate to confer on the President any 

8 legal immunity from investigation or prosecu9 tion. 

10 TITLE II—ENSURING NO 

11 PRESIDENT IS ABOVE THE LAW 

12 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

13 This title may be cited as the ‘‘No President is Above 

14 the Law Act’’. 

15 SEC. 202. TOLLING OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. 

16 (a) OFFENSES COMMITTED BY THE PRESIDENT OR

17 VICE PRESIDENT DURING OR PRIOR TO TENURE IN OF18 FICE.—Section 3282 of title 18, United States Code, is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(c) OFFENSES COMMITTED BY THE PRESIDENT OR

21 VICE PRESIDENT DURING OR PRIOR TO TENURE IN OF22 FICE.—In the case of any person serving as President or 

23 Vice President of the United States, the duration of that 

24 person’s tenure in office shall not be considered for pur25 poses of any statute of limitations applicable to any Fed26 eral criminal offense committed by that person (including 


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1 any offenses committed during any period of time pre2 ceding such tenure in office).’’. 

3 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub4 section (a) shall apply to any offense committed before the 

5 date of the enactment of this section, if the statute of limi6 tations applicable to that offense had not run as of such 

7 date. 

8 TITLE III—ENFORCEMENT OF 

9 THE FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC 

10 EMOLUMENTS CLAUSES OF 

11 THE CONSTITUTION 

12 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

13 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign and Domestic 

14 Emoluments Enforcement Act’’. 

15 SEC. 302. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this title: 

17 (1) EMOLUMENT.—The term ‘‘emolument’’— 

18 (A) means any profit, gain, or advantage 

19 that is received directly or indirectly from— 

20 (i) any government of a foreign coun21 try; 

22 (ii) the Federal Government; 

23 (iii) any State or local government; or 


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1 (iv) any instrumentality of a govern2 ment described in clauses (i) through (iii); 

3 and 

4 (B) includes a payment arising from a 

5 commercial transaction at fair market value. 

6 (2) PERSON HOLDING ANY OFFICE OF PROFIT

7 OR TRUST UNDER THE UNITED STATES.—The term 

8 ‘‘person holding any office of profit or trust under 

9 the United States’’ includes the President and the 

10 Vice President. 

11 (3) GOVERNMENT OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY.— 

12 The term ‘‘government of a foreign country’’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 1 of the Foreign 

14 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 

15 U.S.C. 611). 

16 SEC. 303. PROHIBITION ON ACCEPTANCE OF FOREIGN AND 

17 DOMESTIC EMOLUMENTS. 

18 (a) FOREIGN.—Except as provided in section 7342 

19 of title 5, United States Code, it shall be unlawful for any 

20 person holding any office of profit or trust under the 

21 United States to accept from a government of a foreign 

22 country, without first obtaining the consent of Congress, 

23 any present, emolument, office, or title. 

24 (b) DOMESTIC.—It shall be unlawful for the Presi25 dent to accept from the United States, or any of them, 


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1 any emolument other than the compensation for his or her 

2 services as President provided for by Federal law. The 

3 prohibition under this subsection applies without regard 

4 to whether the emolument is provided directly or indi5 rectly, and without regard to whether the emolument is 

6 provided to the President or to any private business inter7 est of the President. 

8 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The prohibitions under this sec9 tion apply without regard to whether the present, emolu10 ment, office, or title is— 

11 (1) provided directly or indirectly by the gov12 ernment of a foreign country; or 

13 (2) provided to— 

14 (A) the person holding any office of profit 

15 or trust under the United States; or 

16 (B) any private business interest of the 

17 person holding any office of profit or trust 

18 under the United States. 

19 SEC. 304. CIVIL ACTIONS BY CONGRESS CONCERNING FOR20 EIGN EMOLUMENTS. 

21 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—The House of Representa22 tives or the Senate may bring a civil action against any 

23 person for a violation of section 303(a). 

24 (b) SPECIAL RULES.—In any civil action described 

25 in subsection (a), the following rules shall apply: 


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1 (1) The action shall be filed in the United 

2 States District Court for the District of Columbia. 

3 (2) The action shall be heard by a 3-judge 

4 court convened pursuant to section 2284 of title 28, 

5 United States Code. It shall be the duty of such 

6 court to advance on the docket and to expedite to 

7 the greatest possible extent the disposition of any 

8 such action. Such action shall be reviewable only by 

9 appeal directly to the Supreme Court of the United 

10 States. Such appeal shall be taken by the filing of 

11 a notice of appeal within 10 days, and the filing of 

12 a jurisdictional statement within 30 days, of the 

13 entry of the final decision. 

14 (3) It shall be the duty of the Supreme Court 

15 of the United States to advance on the docket and 

16 to expedite to the greatest possible extent the dis17 position of any such action and appeal. 

18 (c) REMEDY.—If the court determines that a viola19 tion of section 303(a) has occurred, the court— 

20 (1) shall issue an order enjoining the course of 

21 conduct found to constitute the violation; and 

22 (2) may order, as are appropriate— 

23 (A) the disgorgement of the value of any 

24 foreign present or emolument; 


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1 (B) the surrender of the physical present 

2 or emolument to the Department of State, 

3 which shall, if practicable, dispose of the 

4 present or emolument and deposit the proceeds 

5 into the general fund of the Treasury; 

6 (C) the renunciation of any office or title 

7 accepted in violation of section 303(a); 

8 (D) a prohibition on the use or holding of 

9 such an office or title; and 

10 (E) such other relief as the court deter11 mines appropriate. 

12 (d) USE OF GOVERNMENT FUNDS PROHIBITED.—No 

13 appropriated funds, funds provided from any accounts in 

14 the Treasury, funds derived from the collection of fees, 

15 or any other Government funds shall be used to pay any 

16 disgorgement imposed by the court pursuant to this sec17 tion. 

18 SEC. 305. DISCLOSURES CONCERNING FOREIGN AND DO19 MESTIC EMOLUMENTS. 

20 (a) DISCLOSURES.—Section 102(a) of the Ethics in 

21 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 

22 adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(9) Any present, emolument, office, or title re24 ceived from a government of a foreign country, in25 cluding the source, date, type, and amount or value 


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1 of each present or emolument accepted on or before 

2 the date of filing during the preceding calendar year. 

3 ‘‘(10) Each business interest that is reasonably 

4 expected to result in the receipt of any present or 

5 emolument from a government of a foreign country 

6 during the current calendar year. 

7 ‘‘(11) With respect to a report filed by the 

8 President— 

9 ‘‘(A) any emolument received from the 

10 United States, or any of them, other than the 

11 compensation for his or her services as Presi12 dent provided for by Federal law; and 

13 ‘‘(B) any business interest that is reason14 ably expected to result in the receipt of any 

15 emolument from the United States, or any of 

16 them.’’. 

17 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 

18 amendments made by this section shall be construed to 

19 affect the prohibition against the acceptance of presents 

20 and emoluments under section 303. 

21 SEC. 306. ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY OF THE DIRECTOR 

22 OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS. 

23 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Section 402(a) of the 

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

25 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) The Director’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘(a)(1) The Director’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(2) The Director shall provide overall direction of 

5 executive branch policies related to compliance with the 

6 Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act and 

7 the amendments made by that Act, including having the 

8 authority to— 

9 ‘‘(A) issue administrative fines to individuals 

10 for violations; 

11 ‘‘(B) order individuals to take corrective action, 

12 including disgorgement, divestiture, and recusal, as 

13 the Director deems necessary; and 

14 ‘‘(C) bring civil actions to enforce such fines 

15 and orders.’’. 

16 (b) SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES.—Section 402(b) of the 

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

18 amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

20 end; 

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of para22 graph (15) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(16) developing and promulgating rules and 

25 regulations to ensure compliance with the Foreign 


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1 and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act and the 

2 amendments made by that Act, including estab3 lishing— 

4 ‘‘(A) requirements for reporting and disclo5 sure; 

6 ‘‘(B) a schedule of administrative fines 

7 that may be imposed by the Director for viola8 tions; and 

9 ‘‘(C) a process for referring matters to the 

10 Office of Special Counsel for investigation in 

11 accordance with section 1216(d) of title 5, 

12 United States Code.’’. 

13 SEC. 307. JURISDICTION OF THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL 

14 COUNSEL. 

15 Section 1216 of title 5, United States Code, is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

19 the end; 

20 (B) in paragraph (5) by striking the period 

21 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

23 ‘‘(6) any violation of section 303 of the Foreign 

24 and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act and 

25 paragraphs (9), (10), and (11) of section 102(a) of 


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1 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 

2 App.).’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(d)(1) If the Director of the Office of Government 

5 Ethics refers a matter for investigation pursuant to sec6 tion 402 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

7 U.S.C. App.), or if the Special Counsel receives a credible 

8 complaint of a violation referred to in subsection (a)(6), 

9 the Special Counsel shall complete an investigation not 

10 later than 120 days thereafter. 

11 ‘‘(2) If the Special Counsel investigates any violation 

12 pursuant to subsection (a)(6), the Special Counsel shall 

13 report not later than 7 days after the completion of the 

14 investigation to the Director of the Office of Government 

15 Ethics and to Congress on the results of the investiga16 tion.’’. 

17 DIVISION B—RESTORING 

18 CHECKS AND BALANCES, AC19 COUNTABILITY, AND TRANS20 PARENCY 

21 TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT OF 

22 CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS 

23 SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE. 

24 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Sub25 poena Compliance and Enforcement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 402. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds as follows: 

3 (1) As the Supreme Court of the United States 

4 has repeatedly affirmed, including in its July 9, 

5 2020, holding in Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP., Con6 gress’ ‘‘power of inquiry—with process to enforce 

7 it—is an essential and appropriate auxiliary to the 

8 legislative function’’. Congress’ power to obtain in9 formation, including through the issuance of sub10 poenas and the enforcement of such subpoenas, is 

11 ‘‘ ‘broad’ and ‘indispensable’ ’’. 

12 (2) Congress ‘‘suffers a concrete and particular13 ized injury when denied the opportunity to obtain in14 formation necessary’’ to the exercise of its constitu15 tional functions, as the United States Court of Ap16 peals for the District of Columbia Circuit correctly 

17 recognized in its August 7, 2020, en banc decision 

18 in Committee on the Judiciary of the United States 

19 House of Representatives v. McGahn. 

20 (3) Accordingly, the Constitution of the United 

21 States secures to each House of Congress an inher22 ent right to enforce its subpoenas in court. Explicit 

23 statutory authorization is not required to secure 

24 such a right of action, and the contrary holding by 

25 a divided panel of the United States Court of Ap26 peals for the District of Columbia Circuit in ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880

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1 mittee on the Judiciary of the United States House 

2 of Representatives v. McGahn, entered on August 

3 31, 2020, was in error. 

4 SEC. 403. ENFORCEMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 85 of title 28, United 

6 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1365 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 1365a. Congressional actions against subpoena re9 cipients 

10 ‘‘(a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—The House of Representa11 tives, the Senate, or a committee or subcommittee of the 

12 House of Representatives or the Senate, may bring a civil 

13 action against the recipient of a subpoena issued by a con14 gressional committee or subcommittee to enforce compli15 ance with the subpoena. 

16 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES.—In any civil action described 

17 in subsection (a), the following rules shall apply: 

18 ‘‘(1) The action may be filed in an appropriate 

19 district court of the United States. 

20 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding section 1657(a), it shall 

21 be the duty of every court of the United States to 

22 expedite to the greatest possible extent the disposi23 tion of any such action and appeal of such action. 

24 Upon a showing by the plaintiff of undue delay, 

25 other irreparable harm, or good cause, a court to 


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1 which an appeal of the action may be taken shall 

2 issue any necessary and appropriate writs and or3 ders to ensure compliance with this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(3) If a 3-judge court is expressly requested by 

5 the plaintiff in the initial pleading, the action 

6 shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) be heard by a 3-judge court convened 

8 pursuant to section 2284; and 

9 ‘‘(B) shall be reviewable only by appeal di10 rectly to the Supreme Court of the United 

11 States. 

12 ‘‘(4) An appeal described in paragraph (3)(B) 

13 shall be taken by the filing of a notice of appeal 

14 within 10 days, and the filing of a jurisdictional 

15 statement within 30 days, of the entry of the final 

16 decision. 

17 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) CASES INVOLVING GOVERNMENT AGEN19 CIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The court may impose 

21 monetary penalties directly against each head of 

22 a Government agency and the head of each 

23 component thereof that knowingly failed to 

24 comply with any part of a congressional sub25 poena. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON USE OF GOVERN2 MENT FUNDS.—No appropriated funds, funds 

3 provided from any accounts in the Treasury, 

4 funds derived from the collection of fees, or 

5 other Government funds shall be used to pay 

6 any monetary penalty imposed by the court 

7 pursuant to this paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(2) LEGAL FEES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any 

10 other penalties or sanctions, the court shall re11 quire that any defendant, other than a Govern12 ment agency, that willfully failed to comply with 

13 any part of a congressional subpoena, pay a 

14 penalty in an amount equal to that party’s legal 

15 fees, including attorney’s fees, litigation ex16 penses, and other costs. 

17 ‘‘(B) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF GOV18 ERNMENT AGENCIES.—If a defendant described 

19 in subparagraph (A) is an officer or employee 

20 of a Government agency, the fees described in 

21 that subparagraph may be paid from funds ap22 propriated to pay the salary of the defendant. 

23 ‘‘(d) WAIVER.—Any ground for noncompliance as24 serted by the recipient of a congressional subpoena shall 

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1 mation withheld from production if the court finds that 

2 the recipient failed in a timely manner to comply with the 

3 requirements of section 105(b) of the Revised Statutes of 

4 the United States with respect to such information. 

5 ‘‘(e) RULES OF PROCEDURE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (2), the Supreme Court of the United States 

8 and the Judicial Conference of the United States 

9 shall prescribe rules of procedure in accordance with 

10 sections 2072, 2073, and 2074 to ensure the expedi11 tious treatment of actions described in subsection 

12 (a), including the consideration of any assertion of 

13 constitutional or Federal statutory privilege made in 

14 connection with testimony by any recipient of a sub15 poena from a congressional committee or sub16 committee. 

17 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

19 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

20 the Supreme Court of the United States shall 

21 transmit to Congress rules prescribed under 

22 paragraph (1). 

23 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT RULES.—Any rule pre24 scribed after the date described in subparaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880

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1 graph (A) shall be transmitted to Congress in 

2 accordance with section 2074. 

3 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘Govern4 ment agency’ means any office or entity described in sec5 tions 105 and 106 of title 3, an executive department list6 ed in section 101 of title 5, an independent establishment, 

7 commission, board, bureau, division, or office in the execu8 tive branch, or other agency or instrumentality of the Fed9 eral Government, including wholly or partly owned Gov10 ernment corporations.’’. 

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

12 for chapter 85 of title 28, United States Code, is amended 

13 by inserting after the item relating to section 1365 the 

14 following: 

‘‘1365a. Congressional actions against subpoena recipients.’’. 

15 SEC. 404. COMPLIANCE WITH CONGRESSIONAL SUB16 POENAS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title II of the Re18 vised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 191 et seq.) 

19 is amended— 

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

21 ‘‘SEC. 105. RESPONSE TO CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS. 

22 ‘‘(a) SUBPOENA BY CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE.— 

23 Any recipient of any subpoena from a congressional com24 mittee or subcommittee shall appear and testify, produce, 


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1 or otherwise disclose information in a manner consistent 

2 with the subpoena and this section. 

3 ‘‘(b) FAILURE TO PRODUCE INFORMATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) GROUNDS FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMA5 TION.—Unless required by the Constitution of the 

6 United States or by Federal statute, no claim of 

7 privilege or protection from disclosure shall be a 

8 ground for withholding information responsive to the 

9 subpoena or required by this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFICATION OF INFORMATION WITH11 HELD.—In the case of information that is withheld, 

12 in whole or in part, by the subpoena recipient, the 

13 subpoena recipient shall, without delay, provide a log 

14 containing the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) An express assertion and description 

16 of the ground asserted for withholding the in17 formation. 

18 ‘‘(B) The type of information. 

19 ‘‘(C) The general subject matter. 

20 ‘‘(D) The date, author, and addressee. 

21 ‘‘(E) The relationship of the author and 

22 addressee to each other. 

23 ‘‘(F) The custodian of the information. 

24 ‘‘(G) Any other descriptive information 

25 that may be produced or disclosed regarding 


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1 the information that will enable the congres2 sional committee or subcommittee issuing the 

3 subpoena to assess the ground asserted for 

4 withholding the information. 

5 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

6 term ‘information’ includes any books, papers, documents, 

7 data, or other objects requested in a subpoena issued by 

8 a congressional committee or subcommittee.’’; and 

9 (2) in section 104, by striking the period at the 

10 end and inserting the following: ‘‘, or the Attorney 

11 General for the District of Columbia, in which case, 

12 notwithstanding section 23–101, District of Colum13 bia Official Code, the offense may be prosecuted by 

14 the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, 

15 and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than 

16 $1,000 and imprisonment of not more than 12 

17 months.’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

19 for chapter 7 of title II of the Revised Statutes of the 

20 United States is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

‘‘105. Response to congressional subpoenas.’’. 

22 SEC. 405. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

23 Nothing in this title may be interpreted to limit or 

24 constrain Congress’ inherent authority or foreclose any 

25 other means for enforcing compliance with congressional 


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1 subpoenas, nor may anything in this title be interpreted 

2 to establish or recognize any ground for noncompliance 

3 with a congressional subpoena. 

4 TITLE V—REASSERTING CON5 GRESSIONAL POWER OF THE 

6 PURSE 

7 SEC. 500. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Power 

9 of the Purse Act’’. 

10 Subtitle A—Strengthening Con11 gressional Control and Review 

12 To Prevent Impoundment 

13 SEC. 501. STRENGTHENING CONGRESSIONAL CONTROL. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of the Impoundment Con15 trol Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘PRUDENT OBLIGATION OF BUDGET AUTHORITY AND

18 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPIRING BUDGET

19 AUTHORITY

20 ‘‘SEC. 1018. (a) SPECIAL MESSAGE REQUIRE21 MENT.—With respect to budget authority proposed to be 

22 rescinded or that is set to be reserved or proposed to be 

23 deferred in a special message transmitted under section 

24 1012 or 1013, such budget authority— 


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1 ‘‘(1) shall be made available for obligation in 

2 sufficient time to be prudently obligated as required 

3 under section 1012(b) or 1013; and 

4 ‘‘(2) may not be deferred or otherwise withheld 

5 from obligation during the 90-day period before the 

6 expiration of the period of availability of such budget 

7 authority, including, if applicable, the 90-day period 

8 before the expiration of an initial period of avail9 ability for which such budget authority was pro10 vided. 

11 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENT.—With respect 

12 to an apportionment of an appropriation (as that term is 

13 defined in section 1511 of title 31, United States Code) 

14 made pursuant to section 1512 of such title, an appropria15 tion shall be apportioned— 

16 ‘‘(1) to make available all amounts for obliga17 tion in sufficient time to be prudently obligated; and 

18 ‘‘(2) to make available all amounts for obliga19 tion, without precondition or limitation (including 

20 footnotes) that shall be met prior to obligation, not 

21 later than 90 days before the expiration of the pe22 riod of availability of such appropriation, including, 

23 if applicable, 90 days before the expiration of an ini24 tial period of availability for which such appropria25 tion was provided.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

2 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control 

3 Act of 1974 set forth in section 1(b) of such Act is amend4 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 1017 the 

5 following: 

‘‘1018. Prudent obligation of budget authority and specific requirements for expiring budget authority.’’. 

6 SEC. 502. STRENGTHENING CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of the Impoundment Con8 trol Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.), as amended by 

9 section 501(a), is further amended by adding at the end 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘REPORTING

12 ‘‘SEC. 1019. (a) APPORTIONMENT OF APPROPRIA13 TIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) AUTOMATED SYSTEM.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

16 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

17 the Office of Management and Budget shall— 

18 ‘‘(i) complete implementation of an 

19 automated system to post, not later than 2 

20 business days after the date of approval of 

21 an apportionment, each document appor22 tioning an appropriation, pursuant to sec23 tion 1513(b) of title 31, United States 

24 Code, including any associated footnotes, 


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1 in a format that qualifies each such docu2 ment as an Open Government Data Asset 

3 (as defined in section 3502 of title 44, 

4 United States Code); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) post on such website each docu6 ment apportioning an appropriation, pur7 suant to such section 1513(b), including 

8 any associated footnotes, already approved 

9 for the fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(B) REPORTING.—The Office of Manage11 ment and Budget shall submit to the Com12 mittee on the Budget and the Committee on 

13 Appropriations of the House of Representatives 

14 and the Committee on the Budget and the 

15 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate a 

16 report reflecting the date of completion of the 

17 requirements under subparagraph (A). 

18 ‘‘(2) EXPLANATORY STATEMENT.—Each docu19 ment apportioning an appropriation that is posted 

20 on a publicly accessible website under paragraph (1) 

21 shall include a written explanation by the officer or 

22 employee approving the apportionment (pursuant to 

23 section 1513(b) of title 31, United States Code) of 

24 the rationale for the apportionment schedule and for 

25 any footnotes. 


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1 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL PROCESS FOR TRANSMITTING

2 CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTATION TO THE CONGRESS.— 

3 The Office of Management and Budget or the appli4 cable department or agency shall make available 

5 classified documentation relating to apportionment 

6 to appropriate congressional committees on a sched7 ule to be determined by each such committee. 

8 ‘‘(4) DEPARTMENT AND AGENCY REPORT.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each department or 

10 agency shall notify the Committee on the Budg11 et and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

12 House of Representatives, the Committee on 

13 the Budget and the Committee on Appropria14 tions of the Senate, and any other appropriate 

15 congressional committees if— 

16 ‘‘(i) an apportionment is not made in 

17 the required time period provided in sec18 tion 1513(b) of title 31, United States 

19 Code; 

20 ‘‘(ii) an approved apportionment re21 ceived by the department or agency condi22 tions the availability of an appropriation 

23 on further action; or 

24 ‘‘(iii) an approved apportionment re25 ceived by the department or agency may 


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1 hinder the prudent obligation of such ap2 propriation or the execution of a program, 

3 project, or activity by such department or 

4 agency. 

5 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION CONTENTS.—Each no6 tification under subparagraph (A) shall contain 

7 information identifying the bureau, account 

8 name, appropriation name, and Treasury Ap9 propriation Fund Symbol or fund account. 

10 ‘‘(b) APPROVING OFFICIALS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—Not later 

12 than 15 days after the date of enactment of this sec13 tion, any delegation of apportionment authority pur14 suant to section 1513(b) of title 31, United States 

15 Code, that is in effect as of such date shall be sub16 mitted for publication in the Federal Register. Any 

17 delegation of such apportionment authority after the 

18 date of enactment of this section shall, on the date 

19 of such delegation, be submitted for publication in 

20 the Federal Register. The Office of Management 

21 and Budget shall publish such delegations in a for22 mat that qualifies such publications as an Open 

23 Government Data Asset (as defined in section 3502 

24 of title 44, United States Code) on a public internet 

25 website, which shall be continuously updated with 


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1 the position of each Federal officer or employee to 

2 whom apportionment authority has been delegated. 

3 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 

4 days after the date on which any change in the posi5 tion of the approving official with respect to any del6 egated apportionment authority for any account is 

7 made, the Office of Management and Budget shall 

8 submit a report to the Congress explaining why such 

9 change was made.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

11 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control 

12 Act of 1974 set forth in section 1(b) of such Act, as 

13 amended by section 501(b) of this Act, is further amended 

14 by inserting after the item relating to section 1018 the 

15 following: 

‘‘1019. Reporting.’’. 

16 SEC. 503. UPDATED AUTHORITIES FOR AND REPORTING BY 

17 THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1015 of the Impoundment 

19 Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 686) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter following 

21 paragraph (2), by striking the last sentence; and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(c) REVIEW.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) review compliance with this part; and 

2 ‘‘(B) submit a report, and any relevant in3 formation related to the report, on any non4 compliance with this part to— 

5 ‘‘(i) the Committee on the Budget, the 

6 Committee on Appropriations, and the 

7 Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 

8 House of Representatives; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on the Budget, 

10 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 

11 Committee on Homeland Security and 

12 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) any other appropriate congres14 sional committee of the House of Rep15 resentatives and Senate. 

16 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION, DOCUMENTATION, AND

17 VIEWS.—The President or the head of the relevant 

18 department or agency of the United States shall pro19 vide information, documentation, and views to the 

20 Comptroller General, as is determined by the Comp21 troller General to be necessary to determine such 

22 compliance— 

23 ‘‘(A) not later than 20 days after the date 

24 on which the request from the Comptroller Gen25 eral is received; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) if the Comptroller General determines 

2 that a shorter or longer period is appropriate 

3 based on the specific circumstances, within such 

4 shorter or longer period. 

5 ‘‘(3) ACCESS.—To carry out the responsibilities 

6 of this part, the Comptroller General shall have ac7 cess to interview the officers, employees, contractors, 

8 and other agents and representatives of a depart9 ment, agency, or office of the United States at any 

10 reasonable time as the Comptroller General may re11 quest.’’. 

12 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Section 1001 of the 

13 Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681) is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking the ‘‘or’’ at 

16 the end; 

17 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at 

18 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘(5) affecting or limiting in any way the au21 thorities provided to the Comptroller General under 

22 chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code.’’. 


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1 SEC. 504. ADVANCE CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND 

2 LITIGATION. 

3 Section 1016 of the Impoundment Control Act of 

4 1974 (2 U.S.C. 687) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘SUITS BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL

6 ‘‘SEC. 1016. (a) AUTHORITY TO BRING CIVIL AC7 TION.—If, under this title, budget authority is required 

8 to be made available for obligation and such budget au9 thority is not made available for obligation or information, 

10 documentation, views, or access are required to be pro11 duced and such information, documentation, views, or ac12 cess are not produced, the Comptroller General is ex13 pressly empowered, through attorneys selected by the 

14 Comptroller General, to bring a civil action in the United 

15 States District Court for the District of Columbia to re16 quire such budget authority to be made available for obli17 gation or such information, documentation, views, or ac18 cess to be produced. 

19 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY OF COURT.—The court in a civil ac20 tion brought under subsection (a) is expressly empowered 

21 to enter, against any department, agency, officer, or em22 ployee of the United States, any decree, judgment, or 

23 order which may be necessary or appropriate to make such 

24 budget authority available for obligation or compel produc25 tion of such information, documentation, views, or access. 

26 ‘‘(c) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), no civil action may be brought by the 

3 Comptroller General to require budget authority be 

4 made available under subsection (a) before the date 

5 that is 16 days after the date on which an explana6 tory statement by the Comptroller General of the 

7 circumstances giving rise to the action contemplated 

8 is filed with the Speaker of the House of Represent9 atives and the President of the Senate. 

10 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The Comptroller General 

11 may bring a civil action to require budget authority 

12 be made available under subsection (a) before the 

13 date specified under paragraph (1) of this subsection 

14 if the Comptroller General finds (and incorporates 

15 the finding in the explanatory statement filed) that 

16 the delay would be contrary to the public interest.’’. 

17 SEC. 505. PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE 

18 IMPOUNDMENT CONTROL ACT OF 1974. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of the Impoundment Con20 trol Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.), as amended by 

21 section 502(a) of this Act, is further amended by adding 

22 at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY

24 ‘‘SEC. 1020. (a) ADMINISTRATIVE DISCIPLINE.—An 

25 officer or employee of the Executive Branch of the United 

26 States Government violating this part shall be subject to 


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1 appropriate administrative discipline, including, when cir2 cumstances warrant, suspension from duty without pay or 

3 removal from office. 

4 ‘‘(b) REPORTING VIOLATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event of a violation 

6 of section 1001, 1012, 1013, or 1018 of this part, 

7 or in the case that the Government Accountability 

8 Office issues a legal decision concluding that a de9 partment, agency, or office of the United States vio10 lated this part, the President or the head of the rel11 evant department or agency as the case may be, 

12 shall immediately submit a report regarding all rel13 evant facts and containing a statement of actions 

14 taken to— 

15 ‘‘(A) Congress; 

16 ‘‘(B) the Comptroller General; and 

17 ‘‘(C) the relevant inspector general. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each report under 

20 paragraph (1) shall include— 

21 ‘‘(i) a summary of the facts pertaining 

22 to the violation; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the title and Treasury Appro24 priation Fund Symbol of the appropriation 

25 or fund account; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the amount involved for each 

2 violation; 

3 ‘‘(iv) the date on which the violation 

4 occurred; 

5 ‘‘(v) the position of each individual re6 sponsible for the violation; 

7 ‘‘(vi) a statement of the administra8 tive discipline imposed and any further ac9 tion taken with respect to any officer or 

10 employee involved in the violation; and 

11 ‘‘(vii) a statement of any additional 

12 action taken to prevent recurrence of the 

13 same type of violation. 

14 ‘‘(B) DISAGREEING REGARDING VIOLA15 TION.—In the case that the Government Ac16 countability Office issues a legal decision con17 cluding that a department, agency, or office of 

18 the United States violated this part and the rel19 evant department, agency, or office does not 

20 agree that a violation has occurred, the report 

21 under paragraph (1) shall include an expla22 nation of the position of the department, agen23 cy, or office. 

24 ‘‘(3) OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.—If a report 

25 under paragraph (1) identifies the position of any 


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1 officer or employee as involved in the violation, the 

2 officer or employee shall be provided a reasonable 

3 opportunity to respond in writing, and any such re4 sponse shall be appended to the report.’’. 

5 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

6 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control 

7 Act of 1974 set forth in section 1(b) of such Act, as 

8 amended by section 502(b) of this Act, is further amended 

9 by inserting after the item relating to section 1019 the 

10 following: 

‘‘1020. Penalties for failure to comply.’’. 

11 Subtitle B—Strengthening 

12 Transparency and Reporting 

13 PART I—FUNDS MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING 

14 TO THE CONGRESS 

15 SEC. 511. EXPIRED BALANCE REPORTING IN THE PRESI16 DENT’S BUDGET. 

17 Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(40) for the budget for each of fiscal years 

20 2022 through 2026, a report— 

21 ‘‘(A) identifying unobligated expired bal22 ances as of the beginning of the current fiscal 

23 year and the beginning of each of the preceding 

24 2 fiscal years by agency and the applicable 


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1 Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbol or fund 

2 account; and 

3 ‘‘(B) providing an explanation of expired 

4 balances in any Treasury Appropriation Fund 

5 Symbol or fund account that exceed the lesser 

6 of 5 percent of total appropriations made avail7 able for that account or $100,000,000.’’. 

8 SEC. 512. CANCELED BALANCE REPORTING IN THE PRESI9 DENT’S BUDGET. 

10 Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, as 

11 amended by section 511 of this Act, is further amended 

12 by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(41) for the budget for each of fiscal years 

14 2022 through 2026, a report— 

15 ‘‘(A) identifying canceled balances (pursu16 ant to section 1552(a)) for the preceding 3 fis17 cal years by agency and Treasury Appropriation 

18 Fund Symbol or fund account; 

19 ‘‘(B) providing an explanation of canceled 

20 balances in any Treasury Appropriation Fund 

21 Symbol or fund account that exceed the lesser 

22 of 5 percent of total appropriations made avail23 able for that account or $100,000,000; and 

24 ‘‘(C) including a tabulation, by Treasury 

25 Appropriation Fund Symbol or fund account 


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1 and appropriation, of all balances of appropria2 tions available for an indefinite period in an ap3 propriation account available for an indefinite 

4 period that do not meet the criteria for closure 

5 under section 1555, but for which either— 

6 ‘‘(i) the head of the agency concerned 

7 or the President has determined that the 

8 purposes for which the appropriation was 

9 made have been carried out; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) no disbursement has been made 

11 against the appropriation— 

12 ‘‘(I) in the prior year and the 

13 preceding fiscal year; or 

14 ‘‘(II) in the prior year and which 

15 the budget estimates zero disburse16 ments in the current year.’’. 

17 SEC. 513. LAPSE IN APPROPRIATIONS REPORTING IN THE 

18 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET. 

19 Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, as 

20 amended by section 512 of this Act, is further amended 

21 by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(42) a report— 

23 ‘‘(A) identifying any obligation or expendi24 ture made by a department or agency affected 

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1 tions of not less than 5 consecutive days during 

2 the preceding fiscal year; and 

3 ‘‘(B) with respect to any such obligation or 

4 expenditure, providing— 

5 ‘‘(i) the amount so obligated or ex6 pended, the account affected, and an expla7 nation of which Antideficiency Act excep8 tions permitted the department or agency, 

9 as the case may be, to incur such obliga10 tion or expenditure; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) an explanation of any changes in 

12 the application of any Antideficiency Act 

13 exceptions for a program, project, or activ14 ity from any explanations previously re15 ported on pursuant to this paragraph.’’. 

16 SEC. 514. TRANSFER AND OTHER REPURPOSING AUTHOR17 ITY REPORTING IN THE PRESIDENT’S BUDG18 ET. 

19 Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, as 

20 amended by section 513 of this Act, is further amended 

21 by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(43) for the budget for fiscal year 2022, a re23 port— 

24 ‘‘(A) identifying any transfer authority or 

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1 vided in a law other than an appropriation Act; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) with respect to any such authority, 

4 providing the citation to the statute, the list of 

5 departments or agencies covered, an expla6 nation of when such authority may be used, and 

7 an explanation of any use of such authority in 

8 the preceding 3 fiscal years.’’. 

9 SEC. 515. AUTHORIZING CANCELLATIONS IN INDEFINITE 

10 ACCOUNTS BY APPROPRIATION. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 15 of 

12 title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

13 section 1555 the following: 

14 ‘‘§ 1555a. Cancellation of appropriations available for 

15 indefinite periods within an account 

16 ‘‘Any remaining balance (whether obligated or unobli17 gated) from an appropriation available for an indefinite 

18 period in an appropriation account available for an indefi19 nite period that does not meet the requirements for closure 

20 under section 1555 shall be canceled, and thereafter shall 

21 not be available for obligation or expenditure for any pur22 pose, if— 

23 ‘‘(1) the head of the agency concerned or the 

24 President determines that the purposes for which 


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1 the appropriation was made have been carried out; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(2) no disbursement has been made against 

4 the appropriation for 2 consecutive fiscal years.’’. 

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

6 for subchapter IV of chapter 15 of title 31, United States 

7 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

8 section 1555 the following: 

‘‘1555a. Cancellation of appropriations available for indefinite periods within an 

account.’’. 

9 PART II—EMPOWERING CONGRESSIONAL RE10 VIEW THROUGH NONPARTISAN CONGRES11 SIONAL AGENCIES AND TRANSPARENCY INI12 TIATIVES 

13 SEC. 521. REQUIREMENT TO RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR 

14 INFORMATION FROM THE GOVERNMENT AC15 COUNTABILITY OFFICE FOR BUDGET AND AP16 PROPRIATIONS LAW DECISIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 7 of title 

18 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 722. Requirement to respond to requests for infor2 mation from the Government Account3 ability Office for budget and appropria4 tions law decisions 

5 ‘‘(a) If an executive agency or the District of Colum6 bia government receives a written request for information, 

7 documentation, or views from the Government Account8 ability Office relating to a decision or opinion on budget 

9 or appropriations law, the executive agency or the District 

10 of Columbia government shall provide the requested infor11 mation, documentation, or views not later than 20 days 

12 after receiving the written request, unless such written re13 quest specifically provides otherwise. 

14 ‘‘(b) If an executive agency or the District of Colum15 bia government fails to respond to a request for informa16 tion, documentation, or views described in subsection (a) 

17 within the time required by such subsection— 

18 ‘‘(1) the Comptroller General shall notify, in 

19 writing, the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 

20 the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

21 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

22 Senate, and any other appropriate congressional 

23 committee of the House of Representatives or the 

24 Senate of such failure; 

25 ‘‘(2) the Comptroller General is hereby ex26 pressly empowered, through attorneys selected by 


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1 the Comptroller General, to bring a civil action in 

2 the United States District Court for the District of 

3 Columbia to require such information, documenta4 tion, or views to be produced; and 

5 ‘‘(3) the court in a civil action brought under 

6 paragraph (2) is expressly empowered to enter 

7 against any department, agency, officer, or employee 

8 of the United States any decree, judgment, or order 

9 which may be necessary or appropriate to require 

10 such production. 

11 ‘‘(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as af12 fecting or otherwise limiting the authorities provided to 

13 the Comptroller General in section 716 of this title.’’. 

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

15 for subchapter II of chapter 7 of title 31, United States 

16 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

17 section 721 the following: 

‘‘722. Requirement to respond to requests for information from the Government 

Accountability Office for budget and appropriations law decisions.’’. 

18 SEC. 522. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR 

19 ANTIDEFICIENCY ACT VIOLATIONS. 

20 (a) VIOLATIONS OF SECTION 1341 OR 1342.—Sec21 tion 1351 of title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘If’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) If the 

23 Government Accountability Office, an executive 


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1 agency, or the District of Columbia government de2 termines that’’; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘violates’’ and inserting ‘‘has 

4 violated’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(b) Each report under subsection (a) shall include— 

7 ‘‘(1) a summary of the facts pertaining to the 

8 violation; 

9 ‘‘(2) the title and Treasury Appropriation Fund 

10 Symbol of the appropriation or fund account; 

11 ‘‘(3) the amount involved for each violation; 

12 ‘‘(4) the date on which the violation occurred; 

13 ‘‘(5) the position of any officer or employee re14 sponsible for the violation; 

15 ‘‘(6) a statement of the administrative dis16 cipline imposed and any further action taken with 

17 respect to any officer or employee involved in the 

18 violation; 

19 ‘‘(7) a statement of any additional action taken 

20 to prevent recurrence of the same type of violation; 

21 ‘‘(8) a statement of any determination that the 

22 violation was not knowing and willful that has been 

23 made by the executive agency or District of Colum24 bia government; and 


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1 ‘‘(9) any written response by any officer or em2 ployee identified by position as involved in the viola3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(c) In the case that the Government Accountability 

5 Office issues a legal decision concluding that an officer 

6 or employee of an executive agency or an officer or em7 ployee of the District of Columbia government violated 

8 section 1341(a) or 1342 and the executive agency or Dis9 trict of Columbia government, as applicable, does not 

10 agree that a violation has occurred, the report under sub11 section (a) shall explain the position of the executive agen12 cy or District of Columbia government.’’. 

13 (b) VIOLATIONS OF SECTION 1517.—Section 1517 of 

14 title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (b)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘If’’ and inserting ‘‘If the 

17 Government Accountability Office, an executive 

18 agency, or the District of Columbia government 

19 determines that’’; and 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘violates’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘has violated’’; and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(c) Each report under subsection (b) shall include— 

24 ‘‘(1) a summary of the facts pertaining to the 

25 violation; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the title and Treasury Appropriation Fund 

2 Symbol of the appropriation or fund account; 

3 ‘‘(3) the amount involved for each violation; 

4 ‘‘(4) the date on which the violation occurred; 

5 ‘‘(5) the position of any officer or employee re6 sponsible for the violation; 

7 ‘‘(6) a statement of the administrative dis8 cipline imposed and any further action taken with 

9 respect to any officer or employee involved in the 

10 violation; 

11 ‘‘(7) a statement of any additional action taken 

12 to prevent recurrence of the same type of violation; 

13 ‘‘(8) a statement of any determination that the 

14 violation was not knowing and willful that has been 

15 made by the executive agency or District of Colum16 bia government; and 

17 ‘‘(9) any written response by any officer or em18 ployee identified by position as involved in the viola19 tion. 

20 ‘‘(d) In the case that the Government Accountability 

21 Office issues a legal decision concluding that an officer 

22 or employee of an executive agency or of the District of 

23 Columbia government violated subsection (a) and the exec24 utive agency or District of Columbia government, as appli25 cable, does not agree that a violation has occurred, the 


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1 report under subsection (b) shall explain the position of 

2 the executive agency or of the District of Columbia govern3 ment.’’. 

4 SEC. 523. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORTING TO CON5 GRESS FOR ANTIDEFICIENCY ACT VIOLA6 TIONS. 

7 (a) VIOLATIONS OF SECTION 1341 OR 1342.—Sec8 tion 1350 of title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘An officer’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 

10 An officer’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(b)(1) If an executive agency or the District of Co13 lumbia government reports, under section 1351, a viola14 tion of section 1341(a) or 1342, the Attorney General 

15 shall promptly review such report and investigate to the 

16 extent necessary to determine whether there are reason17 able grounds to believe that the responsible officer or em18 ployee knowingly and willfully violated section 1341(a) or 

19 1342, as applicable. If the Attorney General determines 

20 that there are such reasonable grounds, the Attorney Gen21 eral shall diligently investigate a criminal violation under 

22 this section. 

23 ‘‘(2) Not later than March 31 of each year, the Attor24 ney General shall submit to Congress and the Comptroller 


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1 General a report detailing separately for each executive 

2 agency and the District of Columbia government— 

3 ‘‘(A) the number of reports under section 1351 

4 transmitted to the President during the preceding 

5 year; 

6 ‘‘(B) the number of reports reviewed in accord7 ance with paragraph (1) during the preceding year; 

8 ‘‘(C) without identification of any individual of9 ficer or employee of an executive agency or of the 

10 District of Columbia government, a description of 

11 each investigation undertaken in accordance with 

12 paragraph (1) during the preceding year and an ex13 planation of the status of any such investigation; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(D) without identification of any individual of16 ficer or employee of an executive agency or of the 

17 District of Columbia government, an explanation of 

18 any update to the status of any review or investiga19 tion previously reported pursuant to this para20 graph.’’. 

21 (b) VIOLATIONS OF SECTION 1517.—Section 1519 of 

22 title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘An officer’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 

24 An officer’’; and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(b)(1) If an executive agency or the District of Co2 lumbia government reports, under section 1517(b), a vio3 lation of section 1517(a), the Attorney General shall 

4 promptly review such report and investigate to the extent 

5 necessary to determine whether there are reasonable 

6 grounds to believe that the responsible officer or employee 

7 knowingly and willfully violated section 1517(a). If the At8 torney General determines that there are such reasonable 

9 grounds, the Attorney General shall diligently investigate 

10 a criminal violation under this section. 

11 ‘‘(2) Not later than March 31 of each year, the Attor12 ney General shall submit to Congress and the Comptroller 

13 General a report detailing separately for each executive 

14 agency and the District of Columbia government— 

15 ‘‘(A) the number of reports under section 

16 1517(b) transmitted to the President during the pre17 ceding year; 

18 ‘‘(B) the number of reports reviewed in accord19 ance with paragraph (1) during the preceding year; 

20 ‘‘(C) without identification of any individual of21 ficer or employee of an executive agency or of the 

22 District of Columbia government, a description of 

23 each investigation undertaken in accordance with 

24 paragraph (1) during the preceding year and an exVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880

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1 planation of the status of any such investigation; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(D) without identification of any individual of4 ficer or employee of an executive agency or of the 

5 District of Columbia government, an explanation of 

6 any update to the status of any review or investiga7 tion previously reported pursuant to this para8 graph.’’. 

9 SEC. 524. PUBLICATION OF BUDGET OR APPROPRIATIONS 

10 LAW OPINIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUS11 TICE OFFICE OF LEGAL COUNSEL. 

12 (a) SCHEDULE OF PUBLICATION FOR FINAL OLC 

13 OPINIONS.—Each covered final OLC opinion shall be 

14 made available on the public website of the Department 

15 of Justice in a manner that is searchable, sortable, and 

16 downloadable in its entirety as soon as is practicable, and 

17 in any event— 

18 (1) not later than 30 days after the opinion is 

19 issued or updated if the covered final OLC opinion 

20 is issued or updated on or after the date of enact21 ment of this Act; 

22 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of en23 actment of this Act for a covered final OLC opinion 

24 issued on or after January 20, 1993, and before the 

25 date of enactment of this Act; 


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1 (3) not later than 2 years after the date of en2 actment of this Act for a covered final OLC opinion 

3 issued on or after January 20, 1981, and on or be4 fore January 19, 1993; 

5 (4) not later than 3 years after the date of en6 actment of this Act for a covered final OLC opinion 

7 issued on or after January 20, 1969, and on or be8 fore January 19, 1981; and 

9 (5) not later than 4 years after the date of en10 actment of this Act for all other covered final OLC 

11 opinions. 

12 (b) EXCEPTIONS AND LIMITATION ON PUBLIC

13 AVAILABILITY OF FINAL OLC OPINIONS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A covered final OLC opinion 

15 or part thereof may be withheld only to the extent— 

16 (A)(i) information contained in the opinion 

17 was— 

18 (I) specifically authorized to be kept 

19 secret, under criteria established by an Ex20 ecutive order, in the interest of national 

21 defense or foreign policy; 

22 (II) properly classified, including all 

23 procedural and marking requirements, pur24 suant to such Executive order; and 


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1 (III) put through declassification re2 view within the past two years; and 

3 (ii) the Attorney General determines that 

4 the national defense or foreign policy interests 

5 protected outweigh the public’s interest in ac6 cess to the information described in clause (i); 

7 (B) information contained in the opinion 

8 relates to the appointment of a specific indi9 vidual not confirmed to Federal office; 

10 (C) information contained in the opinion is 

11 specifically exempted from disclosure by statute 

12 (other than section 552 or 552b of title 5, 

13 United States Code), if such statute— 

14 (i) requires that the material be with15 held in such a manner as to leave no dis16 cretion on the issue; or 

17 (ii) establishes particular criteria for 

18 withholding or refers to particular types of 

19 material to be withheld; 

20 (D) information in the opinion includes 

21 trade secrets and commercial or financial infor22 mation obtained from a person and privileged 

23 or confidential the disclosure of which would 

24 likely cause substantial harm to the competitive 


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1 position of the person from whom the informa2 tion was obtained; 

3 (E) the President, in his or her sole and 

4 nondelegable determination, formally and per5 sonally claims in writing that executive privilege 

6 prevents the release of the information and dis7 closure would cause specific identifiable harm to 

8 an interest protected by an exception or the dis9 closure is prohibited by law; or 

10 (F) information in the opinion includes 

11 personnel or medical files or similar files the 

12 disclosure of which would constitute a clearly 

13 unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. 

14 (2) DETERMINATION TO WITHHOLD.—Any de15 termination under this subsection to withhold infor16 mation contained in a covered final OLC opinion 

17 shall be— 

18 (A) made by the Attorney General or a 

19 designee of the Attorney General; 

20 (B) in writing; 

21 (C) made available to the public within the 

22 same timeframe as is required of a formal OLC 

23 opinion; 


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1 (D) sufficiently detailed as to inform the 

2 public of what kind of information is being 

3 withheld and the reason therefore; and 

4 (E) effective only for a period of 3 years, 

5 subject to review and reissuance of a determina6 tion made and issued in accordance with this 

7 subsection. 

8 (3) SUMMARIES.—For any covered final OLC 

9 opinion which is withheld in full or in substantial 

10 part, a detailed unclassified summary of the opinion 

11 shall be made available to the public, within the 

12 same timeframe as is required of a formal OLC 

13 opinion, that conveys the essence of the opinion, in14 cluding any interpretations of a statute, the Con15 stitution of the United States, or other legal author16 ity. A notation shall be included in any published list 

17 of covered final OLC opinion regarding the extent of 

18 the withholdings. 

19 (4) NO LIMITATION ON FREEDOM OF INFORMA20 TION.—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed 

21 as limiting the availability of information under sec22 tion 552 of title 5, United States Code, or construed 

23 as an exemption under paragraph (3) of subsection 

24 (b) of such section. 


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1 (5) NO LIMITATION ON RELIEF.—A decision by 

2 the Attorney General to release or withhold informa3 tion pursuant to this section shall not preclude any 

4 action or relief conferred under a statute or regula5 tion that authorizes any person to request or de6 mand the release of information. 

7 (6) REASONABLY SEGREGABLE PORTIONS OF

8 OPINIONS TO BE PUBLISHED.—Any reasonably seg9 regable portion of a covered final OLC opinion shall 

10 be provided after withholding of the portions which 

11 are exempt from disclosure under this section. The 

12 amount of information withheld, and the exemption 

13 under which the withholding is made, shall be indi14 cated on the released portion of the opinion, unless 

15 including that indication would harm an interest 

16 protected by the exemption under this subsection 

17 under which the withholding is made. If technically 

18 feasible, the amount of the information withheld, 

19 and the exemption under which the withholding is 

20 made, shall be indicated at the place in the opinion 

21 where such withholding is made. 

22 (c) METHOD OF PUBLICATION.—The Attorney Gen23 eral shall publish each covered final OLC opinion to the 

24 extent the law permits, including by publishing the opin25 ions on a publicly accessible website that— 


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1 (1) with respect to each opinion— 

2 (A) contains an electronic copy of the opin3 ion, including any transmittal letter associated 

4 with the opinion, in an open format that is plat5 form independent and that is available to the 

6 public without restrictions; 

7 (B) provides the public the ability to re8 trieve an opinion, to the extent practicable, 

9 through searches based on— 

10 (i) the title of the opinion; 

11 (ii) the date of publication or revision; 

12 or 

13 (iii) the full text of the opinion; 

14 (C) identifies the time and date when the 

15 opinion was required to be published, and when 

16 the opinion was transmitted for publication; 

17 and 

18 (D) provides a permanent means of access19 ing the opinion electronically; 

20 (2) includes a means for bulk download of all 

21 OLC opinions or a selection of opinions retrieved 

22 using a text-based search; 

23 (3) provides free access to the opinions, and 

24 does not charge a fee, require registration, or impose 


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1 any other limitation in exchange for access to the 

2 website; and 

3 (4) is capable of being upgraded as necessary to 

4 carry out the purposes of this section. 

5 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) COVERED FINAL OLC OPINION.—The term 

7 ‘‘covered final OLC opinion’’ means a final OLC 

8 opinion relating to section 1301(a), 1341, 1342, 

9 1501, 1502, 1512, 1513, 1515, 1517, or 3302(b) of 

10 title 31, United States Code, the Balanced Budget 

11 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 

12 U.S.C. 900 et seq.), the Federal Credit Reform Act 

13 of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.), the Impoundment 

14 Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.), an ap15 propriation Act, a continuing resolution, or another 

16 provision of law providing or governing appropria17 tions or budget authority. 

18 (2) FINAL OLC OPINION.—The term ‘‘final 

19 OLC opinion’’ means an OLC opinion that— 

20 (A) the Attorney General, Assistant Attor21 ney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, or 

22 a Deputy Assistant General for the Office of 

23 Legal Counsel, has determined is final; 

24 (B) government officials or government 

25 contractors are relying on or have relied on; 


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1 (C) is or has been relied upon to formulate 

2 legal guidance; or 

3 (D) is cited in another Office of Legal 

4 Counsel opinion. 

5 (3) OLC OPINION.—The term ‘‘OLC opin6 ion’’— 

7 (A) means views on a matter of legal inter8 pretation communicated by the Office of Legal 

9 Counsel of the Department of Justice to any 

10 other office or agency, or person in an office or 

11 agency, in the executive branch, including any 

12 office in the Department of Justice, the White 

13 House, or the Executive Office of the President, 

14 and rendered in accordance with sections 511 

15 through 513 of title 28, United States Code; 

16 and 

17 (B) where the communication of the legal 

18 interpretation takes place verbally, a memori19 alization of that communication qualifies as an 

20 ‘‘OLC opinion’’. 


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1 Subtitle C—Strengthening Con2 gressional Role in and Over3 sight of Emergency Declarations 

4 and Designations 

5 SEC. 531. IMPROVING CHECKS AND BALANCES ON THE USE 

6 OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCIES ACT. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO DECLARATION

8 AND RENEWAL OF NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.—Title II of 

9 the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) 

10 is amended by striking sections 201 and 202 and inserting 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 201. DECLARATIONS OF NATIONAL EMERGENCIES. 

13 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO DECLARE NATIONAL EMER14 GENCIES.—With respect to Acts of Congress authorizing 

15 the exercise, during the period of a national emergency, 

16 of any special or extraordinary power, the President is au17 thorized to declare such a national emergency by procla18 mation. Such proclamation shall immediately be trans19 mitted to Congress and published in the Federal Register. 

20 ‘‘(b) SPECIFICATION OF PROVISIONS OF LAW TO BE

21 EXERCISED AND REPORTING.—No powers or authorities 

22 made available by statute for use during the period of a 

23 national emergency shall be exercised unless and until the 

24 President specifies the provisions of law under which the 


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1 President proposes that the President or other officers will 

2 act in— 

3 ‘‘(1) a proclamation declaring a national emer4 gency under subsection (a); or 

5 ‘‘(2) one or more Executive orders relating to 

6 the emergency published in the Federal Register and 

7 transmitted to Congress. 

8 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON SUBSEQUENT ACTIONS IF

9 EMERGENCIES NOT APPROVED.— 

10 ‘‘(1) SUBSEQUENT DECLARATIONS.—If a joint 

11 resolution of approval is not enacted under section 

12 203 with respect to a national emergency before the 

13 expiration of the period described in section 202(a), 

14 or with respect to a national emergency proposed to 

15 be renewed under section 202(b), the President may 

16 not, during the remainder of the term of office of 

17 that President, declare a subsequent national emer18 gency under subsection (a) with respect to the same 

19 circumstances. 

20 ‘‘(2) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITIES.—If a joint 

21 resolution of approval is not enacted under section 

22 203 with respect to a power or authority specified by 

23 the President in a proclamation under subsection (a) 

24 or an Executive order under subsection (b)(2) with 

25 respect to a national emergency, the President may 


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1 not, during the remainder of the term of office of 

2 that President, exercise that power or authority with 

3 respect to that emergency. 

4 ‘‘(d) EFFECT OF FUTURE LAWS.—No law enacted 

5 after the date of the enactment of the Congressional 

6 Power of the Purse Act shall supersede this title unless 

7 it does so in specific terms, referring to this title, and de8 claring that the new law supersedes the provisions of this 

9 title. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 202. EFFECTIVE PERIODS OF NATIONAL EMER11 GENCIES. 

12 ‘‘(a) TEMPORARY EFFECTIVE PERIODS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A declaration of a national 

14 emergency shall remain in effect for a period of 20 

15 days from the issuance of the proclamation under 

16 section 201(a) (unless the declaration is terminated 

17 before the end of that period pursuant to an Act of 

18 Congress under subsection (c)(1)(C) or a proclama19 tion of the President under subsection (c)(1)(D)) 

20 and shall terminate when that 20-day period expires 

21 unless there is enacted into law a joint resolution of 

22 approval under section 203 with respect to the proc23 lamation. 

24 ‘‘(2) EXERCISE OF POWERS AND AUTHORI25 TIES.—Any emergency power or authority made 


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1 available under a provision of law specified in a 

2 proclamation or Executive order pursuant to section 

3 201(b) may be exercised pursuant to the declaration 

4 of a national emergency for a period of 20 days from 

5 the issuance of the proclamation or Executive order 

6 (unless the declaration is terminated before the end 

7 of that period pursuant to an Act of Congress under 

8 subsection (c)(1)(C) or a proclamation of the Presi9 dent under subsection (c)(1)(D)). That power or au10 thority may not be exercised after that 20-day pe11 riod expires unless there is enacted into law a joint 

12 resolution of approval under section 203 approv13 ing— 

14 ‘‘(A) the proclamation of the national 

15 emergency or the Executive order; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the exercise of the power or authority 

17 specified by the President in such proclamation 

18 or Executive order. 

19 ‘‘(3) COMPUTATION OF DAYS.—For purposes of 

20 paragraphs (1) and (2), a period of days shall be 

21 computed excluding— 

22 ‘‘(A) the days on which the Senate or the 

23 House of Representatives is not in session be24 cause of an adjournment of more than 3 days 


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1 to a day certain or an adjournment of the Con2 gress sine die; 

3 ‘‘(B) any Saturday and Sunday, not ex4 cluded under subparagraph (A), when the Sen5 ate or the House of Representatives is not in 

6 session; or 

7 ‘‘(C) the date on which the proclamation or 

8 Executive order described in paragraph (1) or 

9 (2), as applicable, is issued. 

10 ‘‘(b) RENEWAL OF NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A national emergency de12 clared by the President under section 201(a) or pre13 viously renewed under this subsection, and not al14 ready terminated pursuant to subsection (a) or (c), 

15 shall terminate on the date described in paragraph 

16 (2) unless— 

17 ‘‘(A) the President publishes in the Fed18 eral Register and transmits to Congress an Ex19 ecutive order renewing the emergency; and 

20 ‘‘(B) there is enacted into law a joint reso21 lution of approval with respect to renewing the 

22 emergency pursuant to section 203 before the 

23 termination of the emergency or previous re24 newal of the emergency. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date described in 

2 this paragraph is the date that is one year after, as 

3 applicable— 

4 ‘‘(A) the date on which the President 

5 transmitted to Congress the proclamation de6 claring the emergency; or 

7 ‘‘(B) the date of the enactment of a pre8 vious joint resolution of approval with respect 

9 to renewing the emergency pursuant to section 

10 203. 

11 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION OF NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any national emergency 

13 declared by the President under section 201(a) shall 

14 terminate on the earliest of— 

15 ‘‘(A) the date provided for in subsection 

16 (a); 

17 ‘‘(B) the date provided for in subsection 

18 (b); 

19 ‘‘(C) the date specified in an Act of Con20 gress terminating the emergency; or 

21 ‘‘(D) the date specified in a proclamation 

22 of the President terminating the emergency. 

23 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF TERMINATION.—Effective on 

24 the date of the termination of a national emergency 

25 under paragraph (1)— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any powers or authorities exercised 

2 by reason of the emergency shall cease to be ex3 ercised; 

4 ‘‘(B) any amounts reprogrammed, 

5 repurposed, or transferred under any provision 

6 of law with respect to the emergency that re7 main unobligated on that date shall be returned 

8 and made available for the purpose for which 

9 such amounts were appropriated; and 

10 ‘‘(C) any contracts entered into under any 

11 provision of law relating to the emergency shall 

12 be terminated. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 203. REVIEW BY CONGRESS OF NATIONAL EMER14 GENCIES. 

15 ‘‘(a) JOINT RESOLUTION OF APPROVAL DEFINED.— 

16 In this section, the term ‘joint resolution of approval’ 

17 means a joint resolution that does not have a preamble 

18 and that contains only the following provisions after its 

19 resolving clause: 

20 ‘‘(1) A provision approving one or more— 

21 ‘‘(A) proclamations declaring national 

22 emergencies under section 201(a); 

23 ‘‘(B) Executive orders issued under section 

24 201(b)(2); or 


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1 ‘‘(C) Executive orders issued under section 

2 202(b). 

3 ‘‘(2) A provision approving a list of all or a por4 tion of the provisions of law specified by the Presi5 dent under section 201(b) in the proclamations or 

6 Executive orders that are the subject of the joint 

7 resolution. 

8 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURES FOR CONSIDERATION OF JOINT

9 RESOLUTIONS OF APPROVAL.— 

10 ‘‘(1) INTRODUCTION.—After the President 

11 transmits to Congress a proclamation declaring a 

12 national emergency under section 201(a), or an Ex13 ecutive order specifying emergency powers or au14 thorities under section 201(b)(2) or renewing a na15 tional emergency under section 202(b), a joint reso16 lution of approval may be introduced in either House 

17 of Congress by any member of that House. 

18 ‘‘(2) COMMITTEE REFERRAL IN THE SENATE.— 

19 In the Senate, a joint resolution of approval shall be 

20 referred to the appropriate committee. 

21 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION IN SENATE.—In the Sen22 ate, the following shall apply: 

23 ‘‘(A) COMMITTEE REFERRAL.—A joint res24 olution of approval shall be referred to the ap25 propriate committee or committees. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.—If the 

2 committee to which a joint resolution of ap3 proval has been referred has not reported it at 

4 the end of 10 calendar days after its introduc5 tion, that committee shall be discharged from 

6 further consideration of the resolution and it 

7 shall be placed on the calendar. 

8 ‘‘(C) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.— 

9 Notwithstanding Rule XXII of the Standing 

10 Rules of the Senate, when a committee to which 

11 a joint resolution of approval is referred has re12 ported the resolution, or when that committee is 

13 discharged under subparagraph (B) from fur14 ther consideration of the resolution, it is at any 

15 time thereafter in order to move to proceed to 

16 the consideration of the joint resolution, and all 

17 points of order against the joint resolution (and 

18 against the motion to proceed to the consider19 ation of the joint resolution) are waived. The 

20 motion to proceed shall be debatable for 4 

21 hours evenly divided between proponents and 

22 opponents of the joint resolution of approval. 

23 The motion is not subject to amendment, or to 

24 a motion to postpone, or to a motion to proceed 

25 to the consideration of other business. A motion 


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1 to reconsider the vote by which the motion is 

2 agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in order. 

3 If a motion to proceed to the consideration of 

4 a joint resolution of approval is agreed to, the 

5 joint resolution shall remain the unfinished 

6 business of the Senate until disposed of. 

7 ‘‘(D) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.—There 

8 shall be 10 hours of consideration on a joint 

9 resolution of approval, to be divided evenly be10 tween the proponents and opponents of the 

11 joint resolution. Of that 10 hours, there shall be 

12 a total of 2 hours of debate on any debatable 

13 motions in connection with the joint resolution, 

14 to be divided evenly between the proponents 

15 and opponents of the joint resolution. 

16 ‘‘(E) AMENDMENTS.—No amendments 

17 shall be in order with respect to a joint resolu18 tion of approval in the Senate. 

19 ‘‘(F) MOTION TO RECONSIDER VOTE ON

20 PASSAGE.—A motion to reconsider a vote on 

21 passage of a joint resolution of approval shall 

22 not be in order. 

23 ‘‘(G) APPEALS.—Points of order and ap24 peals from the decision of the Presiding Officer 

25 shall be decided without debate. 


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1 ‘‘(4) CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF REP2 RESENTATIVES.—In the House of Representatives, 

3 the following shall apply: 

4 ‘‘(A) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.—If any 

5 committee to which a joint resolution of ap6 proval has been referred has not reported it to 

7 the House within 7 legislative days after the 

8 date of referral such committee shall be dis9 charged from further consideration of the joint 

10 resolution. 

11 ‘‘(B)(i) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDER12 ATION.—Beginning on the third legislative day 

13 after each committee to which a joint resolution 

14 of approval has been referred reports it to the 

15 House or has been discharged from further con16 sideration thereof, it shall be in order to move 

17 to proceed to consider the joint resolution of ap18 proval in the House. All points of order against 

19 the motion are waived. Such a motion shall not 

20 be in order after the House has disposed of a 

21 motion to proceed on the joint resolution of ap22 proval. The previous question shall be consid23 ered as ordered on the motion to its adoption 

24 without intervening motion. The motion shall 

25 not be debatable. A motion to reconsider the 


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1 vote by which the motion is disposed of shall 

2 not be in order. 

3 ‘‘(ii) MOTION.—A motion to proceed to the 

4 consideration of a joint resolution of approval 

5 with respect to an Executive order described in 

6 subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection (a)(1) or 

7 a list described in subsection (a)(2) shall not be 

8 in order before the enactment of a joint resolu9 tion of approval with respect to the proclama10 tion described in subsection (a)(1)(A) that is 

11 the subject of the Executive order or list. 

12 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION.—The joint resolu13 tion of approval shall be considered as read. All 

14 points of order against the joint resolution of 

15 approval and against its consideration are 

16 waived. The previous question shall be consid17 ered as ordered on the joint resolution of ap18 proval to final passage without intervening mo19 tion except 2 hours of debate equally divided 

20 and controlled by the sponsor of the joint reso21 lution of approval (or a designee) and an oppo22 nent. A motion to reconsider the vote on pas23 sage of the joint resolution of approval shall not 

24 be in order. 


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1 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION WITH ACTION BY OTHER

2 HOUSE.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, before the passage 

4 by one House of a joint resolution of approval 

5 of that House, that House receives from the 

6 other House a joint resolution of approval with 

7 respect to the same proclamation described in 

8 section 201(a) or Executive order described in 

9 section 201(b)(2) or 202(b), then the following 

10 procedures shall apply: 

11 ‘‘(i) The joint resolution of approval 

12 of the other House shall not be referred to 

13 a committee. 

14 ‘‘(ii) With respect to a joint resolution 

15 of approval of the House receiving the 

16 joint resolution— 

17 ‘‘(I) the procedure in that House 

18 shall be the same as if no joint resolu19 tion of approval had been received 

20 from the other House; but 

21 ‘‘(II) the vote on passage shall be 

22 on the joint resolution of approval of 

23 the other House. 

24 ‘‘(iii) Upon the failure of passage of 

25 the joint resolution of approval of the other 


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1 House, the question shall immediately 

2 occur on passage of the joint resolution of 

3 approval of the receiving House. 

4 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF LEGISLATION OF

5 OTHER HOUSE.—If one House fails to intro6 duce, consider, or enact a joint resolution of ap7 proval under this section with respect to procla8 mation under section 201(a) or Executive order 

9 under section 201(b)(2) or 202(b), the joint 

10 resolution of approval of the other House shall 

11 be entitled to consideration under this section. 

12 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR REVENUE MEAS13 URES.—In the case of a joint resolution of ap14 proval that is a revenue measure— 

15 ‘‘(i) the provisions of subparagraphs 

16 (A) and (B) shall not apply in the House 

17 of Representatives; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the provisions of subparagraph 

19 (A) shall apply in the Senate even if the 

20 Senate has previously passed a joint reso21 lution of approval relating to the same 

22 proclamation under section 201(a) or Ex23 ecutive order under section 201(b)(2) or 

24 202(b). 


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1 ‘‘(6) TREATMENT OF VETO MESSAGE.—Debate 

2 on a veto message in the Senate under this section 

3 shall be 1 hour evenly divided between the majority 

4 and minority leaders or their designees. 

5 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The enactment of a 

6 joint resolution of approval under this section shall not 

7 be interpreted to serve as a grant or modification by Con8 gress of statutory authority for the emergency powers of 

9 the President. 

10 ‘‘(d) RULES OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE.—This sec11 tion is enacted by Congress— 

12 ‘‘(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

13 the Senate and the House of Representatives, re14 spectively, and as such is deemed a part of the rules 

15 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 

16 respect to the procedure to be followed in the House 

17 in the case of joint resolutions of approval described 

18 in this section, and supersedes other rules only to 

19 the extent that it is inconsistent with such other 

20 rules; and 

21 ‘‘(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

22 right of either House to change the rules (so far as 

23 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, 

24 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in 

25 the case of any other rule of that House. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 204. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN NATIONAL EMER2 GENCIES INVOKING INTERNATIONAL EMER3 GENCY ECONOMIC POWERS ACT. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a national emer5 gency described in subsection (b), the provisions of the 

6 National Emergencies Act, as in effect on the day before 

7 the date of the enactment of the Congressional Power of 

8 the Purse Act, shall continue to apply on and after such 

9 date of enactment. 

10 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL EMERGENCY DESCRIBED.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A national emergency de12 scribed in this subsection is a national emergency 

13 pursuant to which the President proposes to exercise 

14 emergency powers or authorities made available 

15 under the International Emergency Economic Pow16 ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), supplemented as 

17 necessary by a provision of law specified in para18 graph (2). 

19 ‘‘(2) PROVISIONS OF LAW SPECIFIED.—The 

20 provisions of law specified in this paragraph are— 

21 ‘‘(A) the United Nations Participation Act 

22 of 1945 (22 U.S.C. 287 et seq.); 

23 ‘‘(B) section 212(f) of the Immigration 

24 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)); or 

25 ‘‘(C) any provision of law that authorizes 

26 the implementation, imposition, or enforcement 


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1 of economic sanctions with respect to a foreign 

2 country. 

3 ‘‘(c) EFFECT OF ADDITIONAL POWERS AND AU4 THORITIES.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to a national 

5 emergency or the exercise of emergency powers and au6 thorities pursuant to the national emergency if, in addition 

7 to the exercise of emergency powers and authorities de8 scribed in subsection (b), the President proposes to exer9 cise, pursuant to the national emergency, any emergency 

10 powers and authorities under any other provision of law.’’. 

11 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 401 of the 

12 National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1641) is amended 

13 by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(d) REPORT ON EMERGENCIES.—The President 

15 shall transmit to Congress, with any proclamation declar16 ing a national emergency under section 201(a) or any Ex17 ecutive order specifying emergency powers or authorities 

18 under section 201(b)(2) or renewing a national emergency 

19 under section 202(b), a report, in writing, that includes 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) A description of the circumstances necessi22 tating the declaration of a national emergency, the 

23 renewal of such an emergency, or the use of a new 

24 emergency power or authority, as the case may be. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The estimated duration of the national 

2 emergency, or a statement that the duration of the 

3 national emergency cannot reasonably be estimated 

4 at the time of transmission of the report. 

5 ‘‘(3) A summary of the actions the President or 

6 other officers intend to take, including any re7 programming or transfer of funds and any contracts 

8 anticipated to be entered into, and the statutory au9 thorities the President and such officers expect to 

10 rely on in addressing the national emergency. 

11 ‘‘(4) In the case of a renewal of a national 

12 emergency, a summary of the actions the President 

13 or other officers have taken in the preceding one14 year period, including any reprogramming or trans15 fer of funds, to address the emergency. 

16 ‘‘(e) PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO CONGRESS.— 

17 The President shall provide to Congress such other infor18 mation as Congress may request in connection with any 

19 national emergency in effect under title II. 

20 ‘‘(f) PERIODIC REPORTS ON STATUS OF EMER21 GENCIES.—If the President declares a national emergency 

22 under section 201(a), the President shall, not less fre23 quently than every 90 days for the duration of the emer24 gency, report to Congress on the status of the emergency 

25 and the actions the President or other officers have taken 


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1 and authorities the President and such officers have relied 

2 on in addressing the emergency.’’. 

3 (c) EXCLUSION OF IMPOSITION OF DUTIES AND IM4 PORT QUOTAS FROM PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITIES

5 UNDER INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POW6 ERS ACT.—Section 203 of the International Emergency 

7 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub9 section (d); and 

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(c)(1) The authority granted to the President by 

13 this section does not include the authority to impose duties 

14 or tariff-rate quotas or (subject to paragraph (2)) other 

15 quotas on articles entering the United States. 

16 ‘‘(2) The limitation under paragraph (1) does not 

17 prohibit the President from excluding all articles imported 

18 from a country from entering the United States.’’. 

19 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (1) NATIONAL EMERGENCIES ACT.—Title III of 

21 the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1631) is 

22 repealed. 

23 (2) INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC

24 POWERS ACT.—Section 207 of the International 


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1 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1706) 

2 is amended— 

3 (A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘concur4 rent resolution’’ and inserting ‘‘joint resolution’’ 

5 each place it appears; and 

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

7 ‘‘(e) In this section, the term ‘National Emergencies 

8 Act’ means the National Emergencies Act, as in effect on 

9 the day before the date of the enactment of the Congres10 sional Power of the Purse Act.’’. 

11 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), this section and the amendments made by 

14 this section shall take effect on the date of the en15 actment of this Act and apply with respect to na16 tional emergencies declared under section 201 of the 

17 National Emergencies Act on or after that date. 

18 (2) APPLICABILITY TO RENEWALS OF EXISTING

19 EMERGENCIES.—When a national emergency de20 clared under section 201 of the National Emer21 gencies Act before the date of the enactment of the 

22 Congressional Power of the Purse Act would expire 

23 or be renewed under section 202(d) of that Act (as 

24 in effect on the day before such date of enactment), 

25 that national emergency shall be subject to the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00082 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880

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1 quirements for renewal under section 202(b) of that 

2 Act, as amended by subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 532. NATIONAL EMERGENCIES ACT DECLARATION 

4 SPENDING REPORTING IN THE PRESIDENT’S 

5 BUDGET. 

6 Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, as 

7 amended by section 514 of this Act, is further amended 

8 by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(44)(A) a report on the proposed, planned, 

10 and actual obligations and expenditures of funds (for 

11 the prior fiscal year, the current fiscal year, and the 

12 fiscal year for which the budget is submitted) attrib13 utable to the exercise of powers and authorities 

14 made available by statute for each national emer15 gency declared by the President, currently active or 

16 in effect during the applicable fiscal years. 

17 ‘‘(B) Obligations and expenditures contained in 

18 the report under subparagraph (A) shall— 

19 ‘‘(i) be organized by Treasury Appropria20 tion Fund Symbol or fund account and by pro21 gram, project, and activity; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) include— 

23 ‘‘(I) a description of each such pro24 gram, project, and activity; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the authorities under which such 

2 funding actions are taken; and 

3 ‘‘(III) the purpose and progress of 

4 such obligations and expenditures toward 

5 addressing the applicable national emer6 gency. 

7 ‘‘(C) The report under subparagraph (A) shall 

8 include, with respect to any transfer, reprogram9 ming, or repurposing of funds to address the appli10 cable national emergency— 

11 ‘‘(i) the amount of such transfer, re12 programming, or repurposing; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the authority authorizing each such 

14 transfer, reprogramming, or repurposing; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) a description of programs, projects, 

16 and activities affected by such transfer, re17 programming, or repurposing, including by a 

18 reduction in funding.’’. 

19 SEC. 533. DISCLOSURE TO CONGRESS OF PRESIDENTIAL 

20 EMERGENCY ACTION DOCUMENTS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

22 conclusion of the process for approval, adoption, or revi23 sion of any Presidential emergency action document, the 

24 President shall submit that document to the appropriate 

25 congressional committees. 


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1 (b) DOCUMENTS IN EXISTENCE BEFORE DATE OF

2 ENACTMENT.—Not later than 15 days after the date of 

3 the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to 

4 the appropriate congressional committees all Presidential 

5 emergency action documents in existence before such date 

6 of enactment. 

7 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com10 mittees’’, with respect to a Presidential emergency 

11 action document submitted under subsection (a) or 

12 (b), means— 

13 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

14 and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on 

15 the Judiciary, and the Select Committee on In16 telligence of the Senate; 

17 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Re18 form, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the 

19 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of 

20 the House of Representatives; and 

21 (C) any other committee of the Senate or 

22 the House of Representatives with jurisdiction 

23 over the subject matter addressed in the Presi24 dential emergency action document. 


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1 (2) PRESIDENTIAL EMERGENCY ACTION DOCU2 MENT.—The term ‘‘Presidential emergency action 

3 document’’ refers to— 

4 (A) each of the approximately 56 docu5 ments described as Presidential emergency ac6 tion documents in the budget justification mate7 rials for the Office of Legal Counsel of the De8 partment of Justice submitted to Congress in 

9 support of the budget of the President for fiscal 

10 year 2018; and 

11 (B) any other pre-coordinated legal docu12 ment in existence before, on, or after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act, that— 

14 (i) is designated as a Presidential 

15 emergency action document; or 

16 (ii) is designed to implement a Presi17 dential decision or transmit a Presidential 

18 request when an emergency disrupts nor19 mal governmental or legislative processes. 

20 SEC. 534. EMERGENCY AND OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OP21 ERATIONS DESIGNATIONS BY CONGRESS IN 

22 STATUTE. 

23 Section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and 

24 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 

25 901(b)(2)(A)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and the President 

2 subsequently so designates’’; and 

3 (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and the President 

4 subsequently so designates’’. 

5 TITLE VI—SECURITY FROM PO6 LITICAL INTERFERENCE IN 

7 JUSTICE 

8 SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Security from Political 

10 Interference in Justice Act of 2020’’. 

11 SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this title: 

13 (1) COMMUNICATIONS LOG.—The term ‘‘com14 munications log’’ means the log required to be main15 tained under section 603(a). 

16 (2) COVERED COMMUNICATION.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

18 communication’’ means any communication re19 lating to any contemplated or ongoing investiga20 tion or litigation conducted by the Department 

21 of Justice in any civil or criminal matter (re22 gardless of whether a civil action or criminal in23 dictment or information has been filed). 


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1 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘covered 

2 communication’’ does not include any of the fol3 lowing: 

4 (i) A communication that involves 

5 contact between the President, the Vice 

6 President, the Counsel to the President, or 

7 the Principal Deputy Counsel to the Presi8 dent, and the Attorney General, the Dep9 uty Attorney General, or the Associate At10 torney General, except to the extent that 

11 the communication concerns a con12 templated or ongoing investigation or liti13 gation in which a target or subject is one 

14 of the following: 

15 (I) The President, the Vice Presi16 dent, or a member of the immediate 

17 family of the President or Vice Presi18 dent. 

19 (II) Any individual working in 

20 the Executive Office of the President 

21 who is compensated at a rate of pay 

22 at or above level II of the Executive 

23 Schedule under section 5313 of title 

24 5, United States Code. 


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1 (III) The current or former chair 

2 or treasurer of any national campaign 

3 committee that sought the election or 

4 seeks the reelection of the President, 

5 or any officer of such a committee ex6 ercising authority at the national 

7 level, during the tenure in office of the 

8 President. 

9 (ii) A communication that involves 

10 contact between an officer or employee of 

11 the Department of Justice and an officer 

12 or employee of the Executive Office of the 

13 President on a particular matter, if any of 

14 the President, the Vice President, the 

15 Counsel to the President, or the Principal 

16 Deputy Counsel to the President, and if 

17 any of the Attorney General, the Deputy 

18 Attorney General, or the Associate Attor19 ney General, have designated a subordinate 

20 to carry on that contact, and the person so 

21 designating monitors all subsequent com22 munications and the person designated 

23 keeps the designating person informed of 

24 each such communication, except to the ex25 tent that the communication concerns a 


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1 contemplated or ongoing investigation or 

2 litigation in which a target or subject is 

3 one of the following: 

4 (I) The President, the Vice Presi5 dent, or a member of the immediate 

6 family of the President or Vice Presi7 dent. 

8 (II) Any individual working in 

9 the Executive Office of the President 

10 who is compensated at a rate of pay 

11 at or above level II of the Executive 

12 Schedule under section 5313 of title 

13 5, United States Code. 

14 (III) The current or former chair 

15 or treasurer of any national campaign 

16 committee that sought the election or 

17 seeks the reelection of the President, 

18 or any officer of such a committee ex19 ercising authority at the national 

20 level, during the tenure in office of the 

21 President. 

22 (iii) A communication that involves 

23 contact from or to the Deputy Counsel to 

24 the President for National Security Af25 fairs, the staff of the National Security 


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1 Council, or the staff of the Homeland Se2 curity Council that relates to a national se3 curity matter, except to the extent that the 

4 communication concerns pending litigation 

5 that may have national security implica6 tions. 

7 (iv) A communication that involves 

8 contact between the Office of the Pardon 

9 Attorney of the Department of Justice and 

10 the Counsel to the President or a Deputy 

11 Counsel to the President relating to par12 don matters. 

13 (v) A communication that relates sole14 ly to policy, appointments, legislation, rule15 making, budgets, public relations or af16 fairs, programmatic matters, intergovern17 mental relations, administrative or per18 sonnel matters, appellate litigation, or re19 quests for legal advice. 

20 (3) MEMBER OF THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY OF

21 THE PRESIDENT OR VICE PRESIDENT.—The term 

22 ‘‘member of the immediate family of the President 

23 or Vice President’’ means an individual to whom the 

24 President or Vice President— 


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1 (A) is related by blood, marriage, or adop2 tion; or 

3 (B) stands in loco parentis. 

4 SEC. 603. COMMUNICATIONS LOGS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall main6 tain a log of covered communications. 

7 (b) CONTENTS.—A communications log shall include, 

8 with respect to a covered communication— 

9 (1) the name and title of each officer or em10 ployee of the Department of Justice or the Executive 

11 Office of the President who participated in the cov12 ered communication; 

13 (2) the topic of the covered communication; and 

14 (3) a statement describing the purpose and ne15 cessity of the covered communication. 

16 (c) OVERSIGHT.— 

17 (1) PERIODIC DISCLOSURE OF LOGS.—Not later 

18 than January 30 and July 30 of each year, the At19 torney General shall submit to the Office of the In20 spector General of the Department of Justice a re21 port containing the communications log for the 6- 

22 month period preceding that January or July. 

23 (2) NOTICE OF INAPPROPRIATE OR IMPROPER

24 COMMUNICATIONS.—The Office of the Inspector 

25 General of the Department of Justice shall— 


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1 (A) review each communications log re2 ceived under paragraph (1); and 

3 (B) notify the Committee on the Judiciary 

4 of the Senate and the Committee on the Judici5 ary of the House of Representatives if the In6 spector General determines that a covered com7 munication described in the communications 

8 log— 

9 (i) is inappropriate from a law en10 forcement perspective; or 

11 (ii) raises concerns about improper 

12 political interference. 

13 SEC. 604. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

14 Nothing in this title may be construed to affect any 

15 requirement to report under title I of this Act or an 

16 amendment made by that title. 

17 TITLE VII—PROTECTING IN18 SPECTOR GENERAL INDE19 PENDENCE 

20 Subtitle A—Requiring Cause for 

21 Removal 

22 SEC. 701. SHORT TITLE. 

23 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Inspector General 

24 Independence Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 702. AMENDMENT. 

2 The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 

3 is amended— 

4 (1) in section 3(b)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘An Inspector General’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘(1) An Inspector General’’; 

7 (B) by inserting after ‘‘by the President’’ 

8 the following: ‘‘in accordance with paragraph 

9 (2)’’; and 

10 (C) by inserting at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(2) The President may remove an Inspector General 

12 only for any of the following grounds (and the documenta13 tion of any such ground shall be included in the commu14 nication required pursuant to paragraph (1)): 

15 ‘‘(A) Documented permanent incapacity. 

16 ‘‘(B) Documented neglect of duty. 

17 ‘‘(C) Documented malfeasance. 

18 ‘‘(D) Documented conviction of a felony or con19 duct involving moral turpitude. 

20 ‘‘(E) Documented knowing violation of a law or 

21 regulation. 

22 ‘‘(F) Documented gross mismanagement. 

23 ‘‘(G) Documented gross waste of funds. 

24 ‘‘(H) Documented abuse of authority. 

25 ‘‘(I) Documented inefficiency.’’; and 


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1 (2) in section 8G(e)(2), by adding at the end 

2 the following: ‘‘An Inspector General may be re3 moved only for any of the following grounds (and 

4 the documentation of any such ground shall be in5 cluded in the communication required pursuant to 

6 this paragraph): 

7 ‘‘(A) Documented permanent incapacity. 

8 ‘‘(B) Documented neglect of duty. 

9 ‘‘(C) Documented malfeasance. 

10 ‘‘(D) Documented conviction of a felony or con11 duct involving moral turpitude. 

12 ‘‘(E) Documented knowing violation of a law or 

13 regulation. 

14 ‘‘(F) Documented gross mismanagement. 

15 ‘‘(G) Documented gross waste of funds. 

16 ‘‘(H) Documented abuse of authority. 

17 ‘‘(I) Documented inefficiency.’’. 

18 Subtitle B—Inspectors General of 

19 Intelligence Community 

20 SEC. 711. INDEPENDENCE OF INSPECTORS GENERAL OF 

21 THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Security Act of 

23 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

24 the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘TITLE XII—MATTERS REGARD2 ING INSPECTORS GENERAL 

3 OF ELEMENTS OF THE INTEL4 LIGENCE COMMUNITY 

5 ‘‘Subtitle A—Inspectors General 

6 ‘‘SEC. 1201. INDEPENDENCE OF INSPECTORS GENERAL. 

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.—The term ‘ad9 ministrative leave’ includes any other type of paid or 

10 unpaid nonduty status. 

11 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON12 GRESS.—The term ‘appropriate committees of Con13 gress’ means— 

14 ‘‘(A) the congressional intelligence commit15 tees; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

17 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

18 Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 

19 House of Representatives. 

20 ‘‘(3) HEAD OFFICIAL.—The term ‘head official’ 

21 means— 

22 ‘‘(A) with respect to the position of a cov23 ered Inspector General that requires appoint24 ment by the President, by and with the advice 

25 and consent of the Senate, the President; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) with respect to the position of a cov2 ered Inspector General that requires appoint3 ment by a head of a department or agency of 

4 the Federal Government, the head of such de5 partment or agency. 

6 ‘‘(b) REMOVAL.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered Inspector Gen8 eral may be removed from office only by the head of9 ficial. 

10 ‘‘(2) GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL.—The head offi11 cial may remove a covered Inspector General only 

12 for any of the following grounds: 

13 ‘‘(A) Documented permanent incapacity. 

14 ‘‘(B) Documented neglect of duty. 

15 ‘‘(C) Documented malfeasance. 

16 ‘‘(D) Documented conviction of a felony or 

17 conduct involving moral turpitude. 

18 ‘‘(E) Documented knowing violation of a 

19 law or regulation. 

20 ‘‘(F) Documented gross mismanagement. 

21 ‘‘(G) Documented gross waste of funds. 

22 ‘‘(H) Documented abuse of authority. 

23 ‘‘(I) Documented Inefficiency. 

24 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered Inspector Gen2 eral may be placed on administrative leave only by 

3 the head official. 

4 ‘‘(2) GROUNDS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.— 

5 The head official may place a covered Inspector 

6 General on administrative leave only for any of the 

7 grounds specified in subsection (b)(2). 

8 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION.—The head official may not re9 move a covered Inspector General under subsection (b)(1) 

10 or place a covered Inspector General on administrative 

11 leave under subsection (c)(1) unless— 

12 ‘‘(1) the head official transmits in writing to 

13 the appropriate committees of Congress a notifica14 tion of such removal or placement, including an ex15 planation of the documented grounds specified in 

16 subsection (b)(2) for such removal or placement; and 

17 ‘‘(2) with respect to the removal of a covered 

18 Inspector General, a period of 30 days elapses fol19 lowing the date of such transmittal. 

20 ‘‘(e) REPORT.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 

22 after the date on which the head official notifies a 

23 covered Inspector General of being removed under 

24 subsection (b)(1) or placed on administrative leave 

25 under subsection (c)(1), the office of that Inspector 


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1 General shall submit to the appropriate committees 

2 of Congress a report on such removal or placement. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—A report submitted under 

4 paragraph (1) shall contain the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) A description of the facts and cir6 cumstances of any pending complaint, investiga7 tion, inspection, audit, or other review or in8 quiry, including any information, allegation, or 

9 complaint reported to the Attorney General in 

10 accordance with section 535 of title 28, United 

11 States Code, that the Inspector General was 

12 working on as of the date of such removal or 

13 placement. 

14 ‘‘(B) Any other significant matter that the 

15 office of the Inspector General determines ap16 propriate. 

17 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec18 tion shall be construed to prohibit a personnel action of 

19 a covered Inspector General otherwise authorized by law, 

20 other than transfer or removal.’’. 

21 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 3 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 

22 3003) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(8) The term ‘covered Inspector General’ 

24 means each of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The Inspector General of the Intel2 ligence Community. 

3 ‘‘(B) The Inspector General of the Central 

4 Intelligence Agency. 

5 ‘‘(C) The Inspector General of the Defense 

6 Intelligence Agency. 

7 ‘‘(D) The Inspector General of the Na8 tional Reconnaissance Office. 

9 ‘‘(E) The Inspector General of the Na10 tional Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 

11 ‘‘(F) The Inspector General of the Na12 tional Security Agency.’’. 

13 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections 

14 at the beginning of the National Security Act of 1947 is 

15 amended by adding after the items relating to title XI the 

16 end the following: 

‘‘TITLE XII—MATTERS REGARDING INSPECTORS GENERAL OF 

ELEMENTS OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY 

‘‘SUBTITLE A—INSPECTORS GENERAL 

‘‘Sec. 1201. Independence of Inspectors General.’’. 

17 SEC. 712. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS GENERAL OF THE 

18 INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TO DETERMINE 

19 MATTERS OF URGENT CONCERN. 

20 (a) DETERMINATION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title XII of the National Se22 curity Act of 1947, as added by section 711, is 


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1 amended by inserting after section 1201 the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 1203. DETERMINATION OF MATTERS OF URGENT 

4 CONCERN. 

5 ‘‘(a) DETERMINATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY.—Each covered 

7 Inspector General shall have sole authority to deter8 mine whether any complaint or information reported 

9 to the Inspector General is a matter of urgent con10 cern. 

11 ‘‘(2) FINAL AND CONCLUSIVE.—A determina12 tion under paragraph (1) is final and conclusive. 

13 ‘‘(b) FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS.—In 

14 addition to any other matter which is considered an urgent 

15 concern pursuant to section 103H(k)(5)(G), section 

16 17(d)(5)(G) of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 

17 1949 (50 U.S.C. 3517(d)(5)(G)), or other applicable pro18 vision of law, the term ‘urgent concern’ includes a serious 

19 or flagrant problem, abuse, violation of law or Executive 

20 order, or deficiency relating to foreign interference in elec21 tions in the United States.’’. 

22 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec23 tions at the beginning of the National Security Act 

24 of 1947 is amended by inserting after the item relatVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880

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1 ing to section 1201, as added by section 711, the 

2 following: 

‘‘Sec. 1203. Determination of matters of urgent concern.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—Section 

5 103H(k)(5)(G) of the National Security Act of 1947 

6 (50 U.S.C. 3033(k)(5)(G)) is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘In this paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘In accordance 

8 with section 1203, in this paragraph’’. 

9 (2) CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.—Section 

10 17(d)(5)(G) of the Central Intelligence Agency Act 

11 of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 3517(d)(5)(G)) is amended by 

12 striking ‘‘In this paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘In ac13 cordance with section 1203 of the National Security 

14 Act of 1947, in this paragraph’’. 

15 (c) REPORTS ON UNRESOLVED DIFFERENCES.— 

16 Paragraph (3) of section 103H(k) of the National Security 

17 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3033(k)) is amended by adding 

18 at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(C) With respect to each report submitted pursuant 

20 to subparagraph (A)(i), the Inspector General shall in21 clude in the report, at a minimum, the following: 

22 ‘‘(i) A general description of the unresolved dif23 ferences, the particular duties or responsibilities of 

24 the Inspector General involved, and, if such dif25 ferences relate to a complaint or information under 


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1 paragraph (5), a description of the complaint or in2 formation and the entities or individuals identified in 

3 the complaint or information. 

4 ‘‘(ii) To the extent such differences can be at5 tributed not only to the Director but also to any 

6 other official, department, agency, or office within 

7 the executive branch, or a component thereof, the ti8 tles of such official, department, agency, or office.’’. 

9 (d) CLARIFICATION OF ROLE OF DIRECTOR OF NA10 TIONAL INTELLIGENCE.—Section 102A(f)(1) of such Act 

11 (50 U.S.C. 3024(f)(1)) is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub13 paragraph (C); and 

14 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(B) The authority of the Director of National Intel17 ligence under subparagraph (A) includes coordinating and 

18 supervising activities undertaken by elements of the intel19 ligence community for the purpose of protecting the 

20 United States from any foreign interference in elections 

21 in the United States.’’. 


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1 SEC. 713. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS AND COORDINATION 

2 WITH OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW. 

3 (a) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—Paragraph (4) of 

4 section 103H(c) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 

5 U.S.C. 3033(c)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(4) The provisions of title XII shall apply to the In7 spector General with respect to the removal of the Inspec8 tor General and any other matter relating to the Inspector 

9 General as specifically provided for in such title.’’. 

10 (b) CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.—Paragraph 

11 (6) of section 17(b) of the Central Intelligence Agency Act 

12 of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 3517(b)) is amended to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(6) The provisions of title XII of the National Secu15 rity Act of 1947 shall apply to the Inspector General with 

16 respect to the removal of the Inspector General and any 

17 other matter relating to the Inspector General as specifi18 cally provided for in such title.’’. 

19 (c) OTHER ELEMENTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title XII of the National Se21 curity Act of 1947, as added by section 711, is fur22 ther amended by inserting after section 1203, as 

23 added by section 712(a), the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1205. COORDINATION WITH OTHER PROVISIONS OF 

2 LAW. 

3 ‘‘No provision of law that is inconsistent with any 

4 provision of this title shall be considered to supersede, re5 peal, or otherwise modify a provision of this title unless 

6 such other provision of law specifically cites a provision 

7 of this title in order to supersede, repeal, or otherwise 

8 modify that provision of this title.’’. 

9 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec10 tions at the beginning of the National Security Act 

11 of 1947 is amended by inserting after the item relat12 ing to section 1203, as added by section 713, the 

13 following: 

‘‘Sec. 1205. Coordination with other provisions of law.’’. 

14 Subtitle C—Congressional 

15 Notification 

16 SEC. 721. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Inspector General 

18 Protection Act’’. 

19 SEC. 722. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE IN 

20 STATUS OF INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

21 (a) CHANGE IN STATUS OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF

22 OFFICES.—Section 3(b)(1) of the Inspector General Act 

23 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), as designated by section 702, 

24 is amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘, is placed on paid or unpaid 

2 non-duty status,’’ after ‘‘is removed from office’’; 

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘, change in status,’’ after 

4 ‘‘any such removal’’; and 

5 (3) by inserting ‘‘, change in status,’’ after ‘‘be6 fore the removal’’. 

7 (b) CHANGE IN STATUS OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF

8 DESIGNATED FEDERAL ENTITIES.—Section 8G(e)(2) of 

9 the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by inserting ‘‘, is placed on paid or unpaid 

12 non-duty status,’’ after ‘‘office’’; 

13 (2) by inserting ‘‘, change in status,’’ after 

14 ‘‘any such removal’’; and 

15 (3) by inserting ‘‘, change in status,’’ after ‘‘be16 fore the removal’’. 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall take effect 30 days after the date of en19 actment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 723. PRESIDENTIAL EXPLANATION OF FAILURE TO 

21 NOMINATE AN INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 33 of 

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

24 section 3349d the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 3349e. Presidential explanation of failure to nomi2 nate an Inspector General 

3 ‘‘If the President fails to make a formal nomination 

4 for a vacant Inspector General position that requires a for5 mal nomination by the President to be filled within the 

6 period beginning on the date on which the vacancy oc7 curred and ending on the day that is 210 days after that 

8 date, the President shall communicate, within 30 days 

9 after the end of such period, to Congress in writing— 

10 ‘‘(1) the reasons why the President has not yet 

11 made a formal nomination; and 

12 ‘‘(2) a target date for making a formal nomina13 tion.’’. 

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

15 for chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

16 by inserting after the item relating to 3349d the following: 

‘‘3349e. Presidential explanation of failure to nominate an Inspector General.’’. 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

18 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of enactment 

19 of this Act and shall apply to any vacancy first occurring 

20 on or after that date. 


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1 TITLE VIII—PROTECTING 

2 WHISTLEBLOWERS 

3 Subtitle A—Whistleblower 

4 Protection Improvement 

5 SEC. 801. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Whistleblower Pro7 tection Improvement Act of 2020’’. 

8 SEC. 802. ADDITIONAL WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS. 

9 (a) INVESTIGATIONS AS PERSONNEL ACTIONS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2302(a)(2)(A) of 

11 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

12 (A) in clause (xi), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

13 end; 

14 (B) by redesignating clause (xii) as clause 

15 (xiii); and 

16 (C) by adding after the clause (xi) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(xii) the opening of any investigation 

19 as a result of a disclosure protected by 

20 subsection (b)(8) (but not including any 

21 investigation that is ministerial or nondis22 cretionary or that is conducted by an In23 spector General or Special Inspector Gen24 eral under the authority of the Inspector 

25 General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) or 


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1 any other law granting authority to an In2 spector General or Special Inspector Gen3 eral); and’’. 

4 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

5 paragraph (1) shall apply to any investigation 

6 opened (as described under section 

7 2302(a)(2)(A)(xii) of title 5, United States Code, as 

8 added by such paragraph) on or after the date of en9 actment of this Act. 

10 (b) RIGHT TO PETITION CONGRESS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2302(b)(9) of title 

12 5, United States Code, is amended— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

14 at the end; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (D), by adding ‘‘or’’ 

16 at the end after the semicolon; and 

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

18 ‘‘(E) the exercise of any right protected 

19 under section 7211;’’. 

20 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

21 paragraph (1) shall apply to the exercise of any 

22 right described in section 2302(b)(9)(E) of title 5, 

23 United States Code, as added by paragraph (1), oc24 curring on or after the date of enactment of this 

25 Act. 


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1 (c) PROHIBITION ON DISCLOSURE OF WHISTLE2 BLOWER IDENTITY.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2302 of title 5, 

4 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘(g)(1) No employee of an agency may willfully com7 municate or transmit to any individual who is not an offi8 cer or employee of the Government the identity of, or per9 sonally identifiable information about, any other employee 

10 who has made, or is suspected to have made, a disclosure 

11 protected by subsection (b)(8), unless— 

12 ‘‘(A) the other employee provides express 

13 written consent prior to the communication or 

14 transmission; 

15 ‘‘(B) the communication or transmission is 

16 made in accordance with the provisions of sec17 tion 552a; 

18 ‘‘(C) the communication or transmission is 

19 made to a lawyer for the sole purpose of pro20 viding legal advice to an employee accused of 

21 whistleblower retaliation; or 

22 ‘‘(D) the communication or transmission is 

23 required or permitted by any other provision of 

24 law. 


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1 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘officer or employee 

2 of the Government’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) the President; 

4 ‘‘(B) a Member of Congress; 

5 ‘‘(C) a member of the uniformed services; 

6 ‘‘(D) an employee as that term is defined in 

7 section 2105, including an employee of the United 

8 States Postal Service, the Postal Regulatory Com9 mission, or the Department of Veterans Affairs (in10 cluding any employee appointed pursuant to chapter 

11 73 or 74 of title 38); and 

12 ‘‘(E) any other officer or employee in any 

13 branch of the Government of the United States.’’. 

14 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

15 paragraph (1) shall apply to any transmission or 

16 communication described in subsection (g) of section 

17 2302 of title 5, United States Code, as added by 

18 paragraph (1), made on or after the date of enact19 ment of this Act. 

20 (d) RIGHT TO PETITION CONGRESS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 7211 of title 5, 

22 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 7211. Employees’ right to petition or furnish infor2 mation or respond to Congress 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each officer or employee of the 

4 Federal Government, individually or collectively, has a 

5 right to— 

6 ‘‘(1) petition Congress or a Member of Con7 gress; 

8 ‘‘(2) furnish information, documents, or testi9 mony to either House of Congress, any Member of 

10 Congress, or any committee or subcommittee of the 

11 Congress; or 

12 ‘‘(3) respond to any request for information, 

13 documents, or testimony from either House of Con14 gress or any Committee or subcommittee of Con15 gress. 

16 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITED ACTIONS.—No officer or employee 

17 of the Federal Government may interfere with or deny the 

18 right set forth in subsection (a), including by— 

19 ‘‘(1) prohibiting or preventing, or attempting or 

20 threatening to prohibit or prevent, any other officer 

21 or employee of the Federal Government from engag22 ing in activity protected in subsection (a); or 

23 ‘‘(2) removing, suspending from duty without 

24 pay, demoting, reducing in rank, seniority, status, 

25 pay, or performance or efficiency rating, denying 

26 promotion to, relocating, reassigning, transferring, 


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1 disciplining, or discriminating in regard to any em2 ployment right, entitlement, or benefit, or any term 

3 or condition of employment of, any other officer or 

4 employee of the Federal Government or attempting 

5 or threatening to commit any of the foregoing ac6 tions protected in subsection (a). 

7 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—This section shall not be con8 strued to authorize disclosure of any information that is— 

9 ‘‘(1) specifically prohibited from disclosure by 

10 any other provision of Federal law; or 

11 ‘‘(2) specifically required by Executive order to 

12 be kept secret in the interest of national defense or 

13 the conduct of foreign affairs, unless disclosure is 

14 otherwise authorized by law. 

15 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION OF OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE OF

16 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—For purposes of this sec17 tion, the term ‘officer or employee of the Federal Govern18 ment’ includes— 

19 ‘‘(1) the President; 

20 ‘‘(2) a Member of Congress; 

21 ‘‘(3) a member of the uniformed services; 

22 ‘‘(4) an employee (as that term is defined in 

23 section 2105); 

24 ‘‘(5) an employee of the United States Postal 

25 Service or the Postal Regulatory Commission; and 


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1 ‘‘(6) an employee appointed under chapter 73 

2 or 74 of title 38.’’. 

3 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec4 tions for subchapter II of chapter 72 of title 5, 

5 United States Code, is amended by striking the item 

6 related to section 7211 and inserting the following: 

‘‘7211. Employees’ right to petition or furnish information or respond to Congress.’’. 

7 SEC. 803. ENHANCEMENT OF WHISTLEBLOWER PROTEC8 TIONS. 

9 (a) DISCLOSURES RELATING TO OFFICERS OR EM10 PLOYEES OF AN OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Sec11 tion 1213(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

12 by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) If the information transmitted under this 

14 subsection disclosed a violation of law, rule, or regu15 lation, or gross waste of funds, gross mismanage16 ment, abuse of authority, or a substantial and spe17 cific danger to public health or safety, by any officer 

18 or employee of an Office of Inspector General, the 

19 Special Counsel may refer the matter to the Council 

20 of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Effi21 ciency, which shall comply with the standards and 

22 procedures applicable to investigations and reports 

23 under this subsection.’’. 

24 (b) ENSURING TIMELY RELIEF.— 


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1 (1) INDIVIDUAL RIGHT OF ACTION.—Section 

2 1221 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

3 striking ‘‘section 2302(b)(8) or section 

4 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or (D),’’ in each instance 

5 and inserting ‘‘section 2302(b)(8), section 

6 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), or (E), section 

7 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g),’’. 

8 (2) STAYS.—Section 1221(c)(2) of title 5, 

9 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(2) Any stay requested under paragraph (1) 

11 shall be granted within 10 calendar days (excluding 

12 Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) after the 

13 date the request is made, if the Board determines 

14 that such a stay would be appropriate. If the stay 

15 request is denied, the employee, former employee, or 

16 applicant may, within 7 days after receiving notice 

17 of the denial, file an appeal for expedited review by 

18 the Board. The agency shall have 7 days thereafter 

19 to respond. The Board shall provide a decision not 

20 later than 21 days after receiving the appeal. During 

21 the period of appeal, both parties may supplement 

22 the record with information unavailable to them at 

23 the time the stay was first requested.’’. 


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1 (3) ACCESS TO DISTRICT COURT; JURY

2 TRIALS.—Section 1221(i) of title 5, United States 

3 Code, is amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘(i) Subsections’’ and in5 serting ‘‘(i)(1) Subsections’’; and 

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

7 ‘‘(2)(A) If, in the case of an employee, former em8 ployee, or applicant for employment who seeks corrective 

9 action from the Merit Systems Protection Board based on 

10 an alleged prohibited personnel practice described in sec11 tion 2302(b)(8), section 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), 

12 or (E), section 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g), no final 

13 order or decision is issued by the Board within 180 days 

14 after the date on which a request for such corrective action 

15 has been duly submitted to the Board, such employee, 

16 former employee, or applicant may, after providing written 

17 notice to the Special Counsel and the Board and only with18 in 20 days after providing such notice, bring an action 

19 for review de novo before the appropriate United States 

20 district court, and such action shall, at the request of ei21 ther party to such action, be tried before a jury. Upon 

22 filing of an action with the appropriate United States dis23 trict court, any proceedings before the Board shall cease 

24 and the employee, former employee, or applicant for em25 ployment waives any right to refile with the Board. 


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1 ‘‘(B) If the Board certifies (in writing) to the parties 

2 of a case that the complexity of such case requires a longer 

3 period of review, subparagraph (A) shall be applied by 

4 substituting ‘240 days’ for ‘180 days’. 

5 ‘‘(C) In any such action brought before a United 

6 States district court under subparagraph (A), the court— 

7 ‘‘(i) shall apply the standards set forth in sub8 section (e); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) may award any relief which the court con10 siders appropriate, including any relief described in 

11 subsection (g).’’. 

12 (c) RECIPIENTS OF WHISTLEBLOWER DISCLO13 SURES.—Section 2302(b)(8)(B) of title 5, United States 

14 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘or to the Inspector General 

15 of an agency or another employee designated by the head 

16 of the agency to receive such disclosures’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘the Inspector General of an agency, a supervisor in the 

18 employee’s direct chain of command up to and including 

19 the head of the employing agency, or to an employee des20 ignated by any of the aforementioned individuals for the 

21 purpose of receiving such disclosures’’. 

22 (d) ATTORNEY FEES.—Section 7703(a) of title 5, 

23 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) If an employee, former employee, or appli2 cant for employment is the prevailing party under 

3 an appeal under this section, the employee, former 

4 employee, or applicant for employment shall be enti5 tled to attorney fees for all representation carried 

6 out pursuant to this section. In such an action for 

7 attorney fees, the agency responsible for taking the 

8 personnel action shall be the respondent and shall be 

9 responsible for paying the fees.’’. 

10 (e) EXTENDING WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION ACT

11 TO CERTAIN EMPLOYEES.—Section 2302(a)(2)(A) of title 

12 5, United States Code, is amended in the matter following 

13 clause (xiii)— 

14 (1) by inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(9)(A)(i), (B), 

15 (C), (D), or (E), subsection (b)(13), or subsection 

16 (g),’’ after ‘‘subsection (b)(8),’’; and 

17 (2) by inserting after ‘‘title 31’’ the following: 

18 ‘‘, a commissioned officer or applicant for employ19 ment in the Public Health Service, and a noncareer 

20 appointee in the Senior Executive Service’’. 

21 (f) RELIEF.—Section 7701(b)(2)(A) of title 5, 

22 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘upon the 

23 making of the decision’’ and inserting ‘‘upon making of 

24 the decision, necessary to make the employee whole as if 

25 there had been no prohibited personnel practice, including 


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1 training, seniority and promotions consistent with the em2 ployee’s prior record,’’. 

3 SEC. 804. CLASSIFYING CERTAIN FURLOUGHS AS ADVERSE 

4 PERSONNEL ACTIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7512 of title 5, United 

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

8 end; and 

9 (2) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(5) a furlough of more than 14 days but less 

12 than 30 days; and 

13 ‘‘(6) a furlough of 13 days or less that is not 

14 due to a lapse in appropriations;’’. 

15 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub16 section (a) shall apply to any furlough covered by such 

17 section 7512(5) or (6) (as amended by such subsection) 

18 occurring on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

19 SEC. 805. CODIFICATION OF PROTECTIONS FOR DISCLO20 SURES OF CENSORSHIP RELATED TO RE21 SEARCH, ANALYSIS, OR TECHNICAL INFOR22 MATION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2302 of title 5, United 

24 States Code, as amended by section 802(c)(1), is further 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(h)(1) In this subsection— 

2 ‘‘(A) the term ‘applicant’ means an applicant 

3 for a covered position; 

4 ‘‘(B) the term ‘censorship related to research, 

5 analysis, or technical information’ means any effort 

6 to distort, misrepresent, or suppress research, anal7 ysis, or technical information; and 

8 ‘‘(C) the term ‘employee’ means an employee in 

9 a covered position in an agency. 

10 ‘‘(2)(A) Any disclosure of information by an employee 

11 or applicant for employment that the employee or appli12 cant reasonably believes is evidence of censorship related 

13 to research, analysis, or technical information— 

14 ‘‘(i) shall come within the protections of sub15 section (b)(8)(A) if— 

16 ‘‘(I) the employee or applicant reasonably 

17 believes that the censorship related to research, 

18 analysis, or technical information is or will 

19 cause— 

20 ‘‘(aa) any violation of law, rule, or 

21 regulation; or 

22 ‘‘(bb) gross mismanagement, a gross 

23 waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or 

24 a substantial and specific danger to public 

25 health or safety; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) such disclosure is not specifically pro2 hibited by law or such information is not spe3 cifically required by Executive order to be kept 

4 classified in the interest of national defense or 

5 the conduct of foreign affairs; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) shall come within the protections of sub7 section (b)(8)(B) if— 

8 ‘‘(I) the employee or applicant reasonably 

9 believes that the censorship related to research, 

10 analysis, or technical information is or will 

11 cause— 

12 ‘‘(aa) any violation of law, rule, or 

13 regulation; or 

14 ‘‘(bb) gross mismanagement, a gross 

15 waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or 

16 a substantial and specific danger to public 

17 health or safety; and 

18 ‘‘(II) the disclosure is made to the Special 

19 Counsel, or to the Inspector General of an 

20 agency or another person designated by the 

21 head of the agency to receive such disclosures, 

22 consistent with the protection of sources and 

23 methods. 


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1 ‘‘(3) A disclosure shall not be excluded from para2 graph (2) for any reason described under subsection (f)(1) 

3 or (2). 

4 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 

5 imply any limitation on the protections of employees and 

6 applicants afforded by any other provision of law, includ7 ing protections with respect to any disclosure of informa8 tion believed to be evidence of censorship related to re9 search, analysis, or technical information.’’. 

10 (b) REPEAL.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 110 of the Whistle12 blower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 (5 

13 U.S.C. 2302 note) is hereby repealed. 

14 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

15 section shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect 

16 any action under such section 110 commenced be17 fore the date of enactment of this Act or any protec18 tions afforded by such section with respect to such 

19 action. 

20 SEC. 806. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

21 Title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) in section 1212(h), by striking ‘‘or (9)’’ in 

23 each instance and inserting ‘‘, (b)(9), (b)(13), or 

24 (g)’’; 

25 (2) in section 1214(a)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘section 2302(b)(8) or sec2 tion 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or (D)’’ in each 

3 instance and inserting ‘‘section 2302(b)(8), sec4 tion 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), or (E), 

5 section 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g)’’; and 

6 (B) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘section 

7 2302(b)(8) or subparagraph (A)(i), (B), (C), or 

8 (D) of section 2302(b)(9)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec9 tion 2302(b)(8), subparagraph (A)(i), (B), (C), 

10 (D), or (E) of section 2302(b)(9), section 

11 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g)’’; 

12 (3) in section 1215, by striking ‘‘section 

13 2302(b)(8), or 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or (D)’’ in 

14 each instance and inserting ‘‘section 2302(b)(8), sec15 tion 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), or (E), section 

16 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g)’’; 

17 (4) in section 2302— 

18 (A) in subsection (a)— 

19 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or 

20 (g)’’ after ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 

21 (ii) in paragraph (2)(C)(i), by striking 

22 ‘‘subsection (b)(8) or section 

23 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or (D)’’ and in24 serting ‘‘section 2302(b)(8), section 

25 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), or (E), 


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1 section 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g)’’; 

2 and 

3 (B) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking 

4 ‘‘paragraph (8) or subparagraph (A)(i), (B), 

5 (C), or (D) of paragraph (9) of subsection (b)’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘paragraph (8), subparagraph 

7 (A)(i), (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph (9), or 

8 paragraph (13) of subsection (b) or subsection 

9 (g)’’; 

10 (5) in section 7515(a)(2), by striking ‘‘para11 graph (8), (9), or (14) of section 2302(b)’’ and in12 serting ‘‘paragraph (8), (9), (13), or (14) of section 

13 2302(b) or section 2302(g)’’; 

14 (6) in section 7701(c)(2)(B), by inserting ‘‘or 

15 section 2302(g)’’ after ‘‘section 2302(b)’’; and 

16 (7) in section 7703(b)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘sec17 tion 2302(b)(8), or 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or 

18 (D)’’ in each instance and inserting ‘‘section 

19 2302(b)(8), section 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), 

20 or (E), section 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g)’’. 

21 Subtitle B—Reauthorization of 

22 Merit Systems Protection Board 

23 SEC. 811. SHORT TITLE. 

24 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Merit Systems Pro25 tection Board Empowerment Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 812. REAUTHORIZATION OF MERIT SYSTEMS PROTEC2 TION BOARD. 

3 Section 8(a)(1) of the Whistleblower Protection Act 

4 of 1989 (5 U.S.C. 5509 note) is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025’’. 

7 SEC. 813. AUTHORIZATION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEE SUR8 VEYS FOR MERIT SYSTEMS STUDIES. 

9 Section 1204(e)(3) of title 5, United States Code, is 

10 amended by— 

11 (1) striking ‘‘(3) In carrying’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘(3)(A) In carrying’’; and 

13 (2) adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(B) The Office of Personnel Management and other 

15 agencies shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) provide assistance to the Board to facilitate 

17 the conduct by the Board of surveys of employees; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(ii) upon request, unless otherwise prohibited 

20 by law, provide to the Board records and informa21 tion concerning applicants for Federal employ22 ment.’’. 

23 SEC. 814. WHISTLEBLOWER TRAINING FOR MSPB ADMINIS24 TRATIVE JUDGES. 

25 Section 7701(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is 

26 amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1)(A) The Board may hear any case appealed 

2 to it or may refer the case to an administrative law 

3 judge appointed under section 3105 or other em4 ployee of the Board designated by the Board to hear 

5 such cases, except that any case involving— 

6 ‘‘(i) a removal from the service shall be 

7 heard by the Board, an employee experienced in 

8 hearing appeals, or an administrative law judge; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ii) an alleged prohibited personnel prac11 tice in violation of section 2302(b)(8), section 

12 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C) or (D), or section 

13 2302(b)(13) shall be heard by the Board or an 

14 administrative law judge or other employee of 

15 the Board designated by the Board to hear 

16 such cases who has successfully completed 

17 training regarding protections afforded by the 

18 Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. 

19 ‘‘(B) The Board, administrative law judge, or 

20 other employee shall make a decision after receipt of 

21 the written representations of the parties to the ap22 peal and after opportunity for a hearing under sub23 section (a)(1) of this section. A copy of the decision 

24 shall be furnished to each party to the appeal and 

25 to the Office of Personnel Management.’’. 


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1 Subtitle C—Whistleblowers of the 

2 Intelligence Community 

3 SEC. 821. LIMITATION ON SHARING OF INTELLIGENCE 

4 COMMUNITY WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINTS 

5 WITH PERSONS NAMED IN SUCH COM6 PLAINTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XII of the National Security 

8 Act of 1947, as added by section 711, is further amended 

9 by inserting after section 1205, as added by section 

10 713(c), the following: 

11 ‘‘Subtitle B—Protections for 

12 Whistleblowers 

13 ‘‘SEC. 1223. LIMITATION ON SHARING OF INTELLIGENCE 

14 COMMUNITY WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINTS 

15 WITH PERSONS NAMED IN SUCH COM16 PLAINTS. 

17 ‘‘(a) WHISTLEBLOWER DISCLOSURE INFORMATION

18 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘whistleblower disclo19 sure information’ means, with respect to a whistleblower 

20 disclosure— 

21 ‘‘(1) the disclosure; 

22 ‘‘(2) confirmation of the fact of the existence of 

23 the disclosure; or 

24 ‘‘(3) the identity, or other identifying informa25 tion, of the whistleblower who made the disclosure. 


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1 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—It shall be unlawful for any em2 ployee or officer of the Federal Government to share, 

3 knowingly and willfully, any whistleblower disclosure infor4 mation with any individual named as a subject of the whis5 tleblower disclosure and alleged in the disclosure to have 

6 engaged in misconduct, unless— 

7 ‘‘(1) the whistleblower consented, in writing, to 

8 such sharing before the sharing occurs; 

9 ‘‘(2) a covered Inspector General to whom such 

10 disclosure is made— 

11 ‘‘(A) determines that such sharing is nec12 essary to advance an investigation, audit, in13 spection, review, or evaluation by the Inspector 

14 General; and 

15 ‘‘(B) notifies the whistleblower of such 

16 sharing before the sharing occurs; or 

17 ‘‘(3) an attorney for the Government— 

18 ‘‘(A) determines that such sharing is nec19 essary to advance an investigation by the attor20 ney; and 

21 ‘‘(B) notifies the whistleblower of such 

22 sharing before the sharing occurs.’’. 

23 (b) TECHNICAL AND CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) TRANSFER.—The National Security Act of 

2 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) is amended as fol3 lows: 

4 (A) Section 1104 is— 

5 (i) transferred to title XII of such 

6 Act, as added by section 711; 

7 (ii) inserted before section 1223 of 

8 such Act, as added by this section; and 

9 (iii) redesignated as section 1221. 

10 (B) Section 1106 is— 

11 (i) amended by striking ‘‘section 

12 1104’’ each place it appears and inserting 

13 ‘‘section 1221’’; 

14 (ii) transferred to title XII of such 

15 Act, as added by section 711; 

16 (iii) inserted after section 1223 of 

17 such Act, as added by this section; and 

18 (iv) redesignated as section 1225. 

19 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sec20 tions at the beginning of the National Security Act 

21 of 1947 is amended— 

22 (A) by striking the items relating to sec23 tion 1104 and section 1106; and 

24 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

25 section 1205 the following: 

‘‘SUBTITLE B—PROTECTIONS FOR WHISTLEBLOWERS 


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‘‘Sec. 1221. Prohibited personnel practices in the intelligence community. 

‘‘Sec. 1223. Limitation on sharing of intelligence community whistleblower complaints with persons named in such complaints. 

‘‘Sec. 1225. Inspector General external review panel.’’. 

1 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 

2 3003), as amended by section 711, is further amended by 

3 adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(9) The term ‘whistleblower’ means a person 

5 who makes a whistleblower disclosure. 

6 ‘‘(10) The term ‘whistleblower disclosure’ 

7 means a disclosure that is protected under section 

8 1221 of this Act or section 3001(j)(1) of the Intel9 ligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 

10 2004 (50 U.S.C. 3341(j)).’’. 

11 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5331 of the 

12 Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intel13 ligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, 

14 and 2020 (division E of Public Law 116–92; 50 U.S.C. 

15 3033 note) is amended by striking ‘‘section 1104 of the 

16 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3234)’’ and in17 serting ‘‘section 1221 of the National Security Act of 

18 1947’’. 

19 SEC. 822. DISCLOSURES TO CONGRESS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XII of the National Security 

21 Act of 1947, as added by section 711, is further amended 

22 by inserting after section 1225, as designated by section 

23 821(b), the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1227. PROCEDURES REGARDING DISCLOSURES TO 

2 CONGRESS. 

3 ‘‘(a) GUIDANCE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE SECURITY DI5 RECTION UPON REQUEST.—Upon the request of a 

6 whistleblower, the head of the relevant element of 

7 the intelligence community, acting through the cov8 ered Inspector General for that element, shall fur9 nish on a confidential basis to the whistleblower in10 formation regarding how the whistleblower may di11 rectly contact the congressional intelligence commit12 tees, in accordance with appropriate security prac13 tices, regarding a complaint or information of the 

14 whistleblower pursuant to section 103H(k)(5)(D) or 

15 other appropriate provision of law. 

16 ‘‘(2) NONDISCLOSURE.—Unless a whistleblower 

17 who makes a request under paragraph (1) provides 

18 prior consent, a covered Inspector General may not 

19 disclose to the head of the relevant element of the 

20 intelligence community— 

21 ‘‘(A) the identity of the whistleblower; or 

22 ‘‘(B) the element at which such whistle23 blower is employed, detailed, or assigned as a 

24 contractor employee. 

25 ‘‘(b) OVERSIGHT OF OBLIGATION.—If a covered In26 spector General determines that the head of an element 


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1 of the intelligence community denied a request by a whis2 tleblower under subsection (a), directed the whistleblower 

3 not to contact the congressional intelligence committees, 

4 or unreasonably delayed in providing information under 

5 such subsection, the covered Inspector General shall notify 

6 the congressional intelligence committees of such denial, 

7 direction, or unreasonable delay. 

8 ‘‘(c) PERMANENT SECURITY OFFICER.—The head of 

9 each element of the intelligence community may designate 

10 a permanent security officer in the element to provide to 

11 whistleblowers the information under subsection (a).’’. 

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

13 at the beginning of the National Security Act of 1947 is 

14 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

15 1225, as added by section 821(b), the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1227. Procedures regarding disclosures to Congress.’’. 

16 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

17 103H(k)(5)(D)(i) of the National Security Act of 1947 

18 (50 U.S.C. 3033(k)(5)(D)(i)) is amended by adding at the 

19 end the following: ‘‘The employee may request information 

20 pursuant to section 1227 with respect to contacting such 

21 committees.’’. 


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1 SEC. 823. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCLOSURE OF WHIS2 TLEBLOWER IDENTITY AS REPRISAL 

3 AGAINST WHISTLEBLOWER DISCLOSURE BY 

4 EMPLOYEES AND CONTRACTORS IN INTEL5 LIGENCE COMMUNITY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of subsection (a) 

7 of section 1221 of the National Security Act of 1947, as 

8 designated by section 821(b)(1)(A), is amended— 

9 (1) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 

10 inserting a semicolon; 

11 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub12 paragraph (K); and 

13 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(J) a knowing and willful disclosure re16 vealing the identity or other personally identifi17 able information of such employee or such con18 tractor employee without the express written 

19 consent of such employee or such contractor 

20 employee or if the Inspector General determines 

21 such disclosure is necessary for the exclusive 

22 purpose of investigating a complaint or infor23 mation received under section 8H of the Inspec24 tor General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 8H); 

25 or’’. 


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1 (b) APPLICABILITY TO DETAILEES.—Such subsection 

2 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(5) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘employee’, with 

4 respect to an agency or a covered intelligence com5 munity element, includes an individual who has been 

6 detailed to such agency or covered intelligence com7 munity element.’’. 

8 (c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR UNLAWFUL DIS9 CLOSURE OF WHISTLEBLOWER IDENTITY.—Subsection 

10 (d) of such section is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro13 vided in this subsection, the President shall provide 

14 for the enforcement of this section. 

15 ‘‘(2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR UNLAW16 FUL, WILLFUL DISCLOSURE OF WHISTLEBLOWER

17 IDENTITY.—In a case in which an employee of an 

18 agency, or other employee or officer of the Federal 

19 Government, takes a personnel action described in 

20 subsection (a)(3)(J) against an employee of a cov21 ered intelligence community element as a reprisal in 

22 violation of subsection (b) or in a case in which a 

23 contractor employee takes a personnel action de24 scribed in such subsection against another con25 tractor employee as a reprisal in violation of subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00134 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880

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1 section (c), the employee or contractor employee 

2 against whom the personnel action was taken may 

3 bring a private action for all appropriate remedies, 

4 including injunctive relief and compensatory and pu5 nitive damages, against the employee or contractor 

6 employee who took the personnel action, in a Fed7 eral district court of competent jurisdiction within 

8 180 days of when the employee or contractor em9 ployee first learned of or should have learned of the 

10 violation.’’. 

11 TITLE IX—ACCOUNTABILITY 

12 FOR ACTING OFFICIALS 

13 SEC. 901. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Accountability for Act15 ing Officials Act’’. 

16 SEC. 902. CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL VACANCIES RE17 FORM ACT OF 1998. 

18 (a) FIRST ASSISTANT REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

19 3345 of title 5, United States Code, is amended as follows: 

20 (1) In subsection (a)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 

22 before the semi-colon the following: ‘‘, but, and 

23 except as provided in subsection (e), only if the 

24 individual serving in the position of first assist25 ant has occupied such position for a period of 


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1 at least 30 days during the 365-day period pre2 ceding the date of the death, resignation, or be3 ginning of inability to serve’’; and 

4 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) of para5 graph (3) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(A) the officer or employee served in a 

7 position in such agency for a period of at least 

8 1 year preceding the date of death, resignation, 

9 or beginning of inability to serve of the applica10 ble officer; and’’. 

11 (2) By adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(d) For purposes of this section, a position shall be 

13 considered to be the first assistant to the office with re14 spect to which a vacancy occurs only if such position has 

15 been designated, at least 30 days before the date of the 

16 vacancy, by law, rule, or regulation as the first assistant 

17 position. The previous sentence shall begin to apply on the 

18 date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of the 

19 Accountability for Acting Officials Act. 

20 ‘‘(e) The 30-day service requirement in subsection 

21 (a)(1) shall not apply to any individual who is a first as22 sistant if— 

23 ‘‘(1) the office of such first assistant is an of24 fice for which appointment is required to be made by 


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1 the President, by and with the advice and consent 

2 of the Senate; and 

3 ‘‘(2) the Senate has approved the appointment 

4 of such individual to such office.’’. 

5 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—Section 3345(b) of title 5, 

6 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(3) Any individual directed to perform the functions 

9 and duties of the vacant office temporarily in an acting 

10 capacity under subsection (a)(2) or (f) shall possess the 

11 qualifications (if any) set forth in law, rule, or regulation 

12 that are otherwise applicable to an individual appointed 

13 by the President, by and with the advice and consent of 

14 the Senate, to occupy such office.’’. 

15 (c) APPLICATION TO INDIVIDUALS REMOVED FROM

16 OFFICE.—Paragraph (2) of section 3345(c) of title 5, 

17 United States Code, is amended by inserting after ‘‘the 

18 expiration of a term of office’’ the following: ‘‘or removal 

19 (voluntarily or involuntarily) from office’’. 

20 (d) VACANCY OF INSPECTOR GENERAL POSITIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3345 of title 5, 

22 United States Code, as amended by subsection 

23 (a)(2), is further amended by adding at the end the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(f)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if an Inspec2 tor General position that requires appointment by the 

3 President by and with the advice and consent of the Sen4 ate to be filled is vacant, the first assistant of such posi5 tion shall perform the functions and duties of the Inspec6 tor General temporarily in an acting capacity subject to 

7 the time limitations of section 3346. 

8 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if for purposes 

9 of carrying out paragraph (1) of this subsection, by reason 

10 of absence, disability, or vacancy, the first assistant to the 

11 position of Inspector General is not available to perform 

12 the functions and duties of the Inspector General, an act13 ing Inspector General shall be appointed by the President 

14 from among individuals serving in an office of any Inspec15 tor General, provided that— 

16 ‘‘(A) during the 365-day period preceding the 

17 date of death, resignation, or beginning of inability 

18 to serve of the applicable Inspector General, the in19 dividual served in a position in an office of any In20 spector General for not less than 90 days; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the rate of pay for the position of such in22 dividual is equal to or greater than the minimum 

23 rate of pay payable for a position at GS–15 of the 

24 General Schedule.’’. 


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1 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

2 paragraph (1) shall apply to any vacancy first occur3 ring with respect to an Inspector General position on 

4 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

5 (e) TESTIMONY OF ACTING OFFICIALS BEFORE CON6 GRESS.—Section 3345 of title 5, United States Code, as 

7 amended by subsection (d)(1), is further amended by add8 ing at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(g)(1) Any individual serving as an acting officer 

10 due to a vacancy to which this section applies, or any indi11 vidual who has served in such capacity and continues to 

12 perform the same or similar duties beyond the time limits 

13 described in section 3346, shall appear, at least once dur14 ing any 60-day period that the individual is so serving, 

15 before the appropriate committees of jurisdiction of the 

16 House of Representatives and the Senate. 

17 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) may be waived upon mutual 

18 agreement of the chairs and ranking minority members 

19 of such committees.’’. 

20 (f) TIME LIMITATION FOR PRINCIPAL OFFICERS.— 

21 Section 3346 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘or as pro23 vided in subsection (d)’’ after ‘‘sickness’’; and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(d) With respect to the vacancy of the position of 

2 head of any agency listed in subsection (b) of section 901 

3 of title 31, or any other position that is within the Presi4 dent’s cabinet and to which this section applies, sub5 sections (a) through (c) of this section and sections 

6 3348(c), 3349(b), and 3349a(b) shall be applied by sub7 stituting ‘120’ for ‘210’ in each instance.’’. 

8 (g) EXCLUSIVITY.—Section 3347 of title 5, United 

9 States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub11 section (c); and 

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), any statutory 

15 provision covered under paragraph (1) of such subsection 

16 that contains a non-discretionary order or directive to des17 ignate an officer or employee to perform the functions and 

18 duties of a specified office temporarily in an acting capac19 ity shall be the exclusive means for temporarily author20 izing an acting official to perform the functions and duties 

21 of such office.’’. 

22 (h) REPORTING OF VACANCIES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3349 of title 5, 

24 United States Code, is amended— 

25 (A) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘immediately upon’’ in 

2 each instance and inserting ‘‘not later than 

3 7 days after’’; 

4 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 

5 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

6 (iii) in paragraph (4), by striking the 

7 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

8 and 

9 (iv) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(5) notification of the end of the term of serv12 ice of any person serving in an acting capacity and 

13 the name of any subsequent person serving in an 

14 acting capacity and the date the service of such sub15 sequent person began not later than 7 days after 

16 such date.’’; and 

17 (B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘imme18 diately’’ and inserting ‘‘not later than 14 days 

19 after the date of such determination’’. 

20 (2) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Paragraphs 

21 (1) and (2) of subsection (b) of such section 3349 

22 are amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

24 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

2 of the House of Representatives;’’. 

3 (i) VACANCIES DURING PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURAL

4 TRANSITIONS.—Subsection (b) of section 3349a of title 5, 

5 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding section 3346 (except as pro7 vided in paragraph (2) of this subsection) or 3348(c), with 

8 respect to any vacancy that exists on a transitional inau9 guration day, or that arises during the 60-day period be10 ginning on such day, the person serving as an acting offi11 cer as described under section 3345 may serve in the of12 fice— 

13 ‘‘(1) for no longer than 300 days beginning on 

14 such day; or 

15 ‘‘(2) subject to section 3346(b), once a first or 

16 second nomination for the office is submitted to the 

17 Senate, from the date of such nomination for the pe18 riod that the nomination is pending in the Senate.’’. 

19 TITLE X—STRENGTHENING 

20 HATCH ACT ENFORCEMENT 

21 AND PENALTIES 

22 SEC. 1001. SHORT TITLE. 

23 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Hatch Act Account24 ability Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 1002. STRENGTHENING HATCH ACT ENFORCEMENT 

2 AND PENALTIES AGAINST POLITICAL AP3 POINTEES. 

4 (a) INVESTIGATIONS BY OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUN5 SEL.—Section 1216 of title 5, United States Code, as 

6 amended by section 307, is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(1),’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(e)(1) In addition to the authority otherwise pro10 vided in this chapter, the Special Counsel— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall conduct an investigation with respect 

12 to any allegation concerning political activity prohib13 ited under subchapter III of chapter 73 (relating to 

14 political activities by Federal employees); and 

15 ‘‘(B) may, regardless of whether the Special 

16 Counsel has received an allegation, conduct any in17 vestigation as the Special Counsel considers nec18 essary concerning political activity prohibited under 

19 such subchapter. 

20 ‘‘(2) With respect to any investigation under para21 graph (1), the Special Counsel may seek corrective action 

22 under section 1214 and disciplinary action under section 

23 1215 in the same way as if a prohibited personnel practice 

24 were involved. 

25 ‘‘(f)(1) Consistent with paragraph (3), if after an in26 vestigation under subsection (d)(1) the Special Counsel 


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1 determines that a political appointee has violated section 

2 7323 or 7324, the Special Counsel may assess an adminis3 trative fine, not to exceed $50,000, against such political 

4 appointee. 

5 ‘‘(2)(A) Any political appointee assessed a fine under 

6 paragraph (1) shall have the opportunity to request a 

7 hearing in a time and manner prescribed for by regula8 tions issued by the Special Counsel. 

9 ‘‘(B) If a political appointee assessed a fine under 

10 paragraph (1) does not request a hearing under subpara11 graph (A), the decision of the Special Counsel finding a 

12 violation and assessing a fine shall be considered a final 

13 decision and shall not be subject to judicial review. 

14 ‘‘(C) If a political appointee requests a hearing under 

15 subparagraph (A), the Special Counsel shall conduct a 

16 hearing in accordance with section 554 and issue a final 

17 decision not more than 30 days after the conclusion of 

18 the hearing. 

19 ‘‘(D) Not later than 30 days after the issuance of 

20 a final decision by the Special Counsel under subpara21 graph (C), the political appointee who is the subject of 

22 the final decision may file an action seeking judicial review 

23 in accordance with section 702. 

24 ‘‘(E) Consistent with paragraph (3), the Special 

25 Counsel may file a civil action in the district courts of the 


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1 United States seeking an order and such other relief as 

2 the court deems appropriate to enforce a final decision by 

3 the Special Counsel under this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(3) The Special Counsel may not assess an adminis5 trative fine or file a civil action to enforce a final decision 

6 of the Special Counsel under paragraph (2)— 

7 ‘‘(A) unless no disciplinary action or civil pen8 alty has been taken or assessed, respectively, against 

9 the political appointee pursuant to section 7326; and 

10 ‘‘(B) until on or after the date that is 90 days 

11 after the date that the complaint regarding the polit12 ical appointee was presented to the President under 

13 section 1215(b). 

14 ‘‘(4)(A) Not later than 90 days after receiving from 

15 the Special Counsel a complaint recommending discipli16 nary action under section 1215(b) with respect to a polit17 ical appointee for a violation of section 7323 or 7324, the 

18 President shall provide a written statement to the Special 

19 Counsel on whether the President imposed the rec20 ommended disciplinary action, imposed another form of 

21 disciplinary action, or took no disciplinary action against 

22 the political appointee. 

23 ‘‘(B) Not later than 14 days after receiving a written 

24 statement under subparagraph (A)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the Special Counsel shall submit the writ2 ten statement to the Committee on Oversight and 

3 Reform of the House of Representatives and the 

4 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

5 Affairs of the Senate; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) publish the written statement on the public 

7 website of the Office of Special Counsel. 

8 ‘‘(5) Not later than 14 days after the date that the 

9 Special Counsel determines a political appointee has vio10 lated section 7323 or 7324, the Special Counsel shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) submit a report on the investigation into 

12 such political appointee, and any communications 

13 sent from the Special Counsel to the President rec14 ommending discipline of such political appointee, to 

15 the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 

16 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

17 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

18 Senate; and 

19 ‘‘(B) publish the report and such communica20 tions on the public website of the Office of Special 

21 Counsel. 

22 ‘‘(6) In this subsection, the term ‘political appointee’ 

23 means any individual, other than the President and the 

24 Vice-President, employed or holding office— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in the Executive Office of the President, 

2 the Office of the Vice President, and any other office 

3 of the White House, but not including any career 

4 employee; or 

5 ‘‘(B) in a confidential, policy-making, policy-de6 termining, or policy-advocating position appointed by 

7 the President, by and with the advice and consent 

8 of the Senate (other than an individual in the For9 eign Service of the United States).’’. 

10 (b) CLARIFICATION ON APPLICATION OF HATCH ACT

11 TO EOP AND OVP EMPLOYEES.—Section 7322(1)(A) of 

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

13 ‘‘Executive agency’’ the following: ‘‘, including the Execu14 tive Office of the President, the Office of the Vice Presi15 dent, and any other office of the White House,’’. 

16 DIVISION C—DEFENDING ELEC17 TIONS AGAINST FOREIGN IN18 TERFERENCE 

19 TITLE XI—REPORTING FOREIGN 

20 INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS 

21 SEC. 1101. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN REPORTING OF FOREIGN 

22 CONTACTS. 

23 (a) INITIAL NOTICE.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal 

25 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) 


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1 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 subsection: 

3 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF REPORTABLE FOREIGN CON4 TACTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) COMMITTEE OBLIGATION TO NOTIFY.— 

6 Not later than 1 week after a reportable foreign con7 tact, each political committee shall notify the Fed8 eral Bureau of Investigation and the Commission of 

9 the reportable foreign contact and provide a sum10 mary of the circumstances with respect to such re11 portable foreign contact. The Federal Bureau of In12 vestigation, not later than 1 week after receiving a 

13 notification from a political committee under this 

14 paragraph, shall submit to the political committee, 

15 the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of 

16 the House of Representatives, and the Select Com17 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate written or elec18 tronic confirmation of receipt of the notification. 

19 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL OBLIGATION TO NOTIFY.— 

20 Not later than 3 days after a reportable foreign con21 tact— 

22 ‘‘(A) each candidate and each immediate 

23 family member of a candidate shall notify the 

24 treasurer or other designated official of the 

25 principal campaign committee of such candidate 


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1 of the reportable foreign contact and provide a 

2 summary of the circumstances with respect to 

3 such reportable foreign contact; and 

4 ‘‘(B) each official, employee, or agent of a 

5 political committee shall notify the treasurer or 

6 other designated official of the committee of the 

7 reportable foreign contact and provide a sum8 mary of the circumstances with respect to such 

9 reportable foreign contact. 

10 ‘‘(3) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACT.—In this 

11 subsection: 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘reportable 

13 foreign contact’ means any direct or indirect 

14 contact or communication that— 

15 ‘‘(i) is between— 

16 ‘‘(I) a candidate, an immediate 

17 family member of the candidate, a po18 litical committee, or any official, em19 ployee, or agent of such committee; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(II) an individual that the per22 son described in subclause (I) knows, 

23 has reason to know, or reasonably be24 lieves is a covered foreign national; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the person described in clause 

2 (i)(I) knows, has reason to know, or rea3 sonably believes involves— 

4 ‘‘(I) an offer or other proposal 

5 for a contribution, donation, expendi6 ture, disbursement, or solicitation de7 scribed in section 319; or 

8 ‘‘(II) coordination or collabora9 tion with, an offer or provision of in10 formation or services to or from, or 

11 persistent and repeated contact with, 

12 a covered foreign national in connec13 tion with an election. 

14 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) CONTACTS IN OFFICIAL CAPACITY

16 AS ELECTED OFFICIAL.—The term ‘report17 able foreign contact’ shall not include any 

18 contact or communication with a covered 

19 foreign national by an elected official or an 

20 employee of an elected official solely in an 

21 official capacity as such an official or em22 ployee. 

23 ‘‘(ii) CONTACTS FOR PURPOSES OF

24 ENABLING OBSERVATION OF ELECTIONS

25 BY INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS.—The 


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1 term ‘reportable foreign contact’ shall not 

2 include any contact or communication with 

3 a covered foreign national by any person 

4 which is made for purposes of enabling the 

5 observation of elections in the United 

6 States by a foreign national or the obser7 vation of elections outside of the United 

8 States by a candidate, political committee, 

9 or any official, employee, or agent of such 

10 committee. 

11 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTIONS NOT APPLICABLE

12 IF CONTACTS OR COMMUNICATIONS IN13 VOLVE PROHIBITED DISBURSEMENTS.—A 

14 contact or communication by an elected of15 ficial or an employee of an elected official 

16 shall not be considered to be made solely 

17 in an official capacity for purposes of 

18 clause (i), and a contact or communication 

19 shall not be considered to be made for pur20 poses of enabling the observation of elec21 tions for purposes of clause (ii), if the con22 tact or communication involves a contribu23 tion, donation, expenditure, disbursement, 

24 or solicitation described in section 319. 


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1 ‘‘(C) COVERED FOREIGN NATIONAL DE2 FINED.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In this paragraph, 

4 the term ‘covered foreign national’ 

5 means— 

6 ‘‘(I) a foreign principal (as de7 fined in section 1(b) of the Foreign 

8 Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 

9 U.S.C. 611(b))) that is a government 

10 of a foreign country or a foreign polit11 ical party; 

12 ‘‘(II) any person who acts as an 

13 agent, representative, employee, or 

14 servant, or any person who acts in 

15 any other capacity at the order, re16 quest, or under the direction or con17 trol, of a foreign principal described in 

18 subclause (I) or of a person any of 

19 whose activities are directly or indi20 rectly supervised, directed, controlled, 

21 financed, or subsidized in whole or in 

22 major part by a foreign principal de23 scribed in subclause (I); or 

24 ‘‘(III) any person included in the 

25 list of specially designated nationals 


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1 and blocked persons maintained by 

2 the Office of Foreign Assets Control 

3 of the Department of the Treasury 

4 pursuant to authorities relating to the 

5 imposition of sanctions relating to the 

6 conduct of a foreign principal de7 scribed in subclause (I). 

8 ‘‘(ii) CLARIFICATION REGARDING AP9 PLICATION TO CITIZENS OF THE UNITED

10 STATES.—In the case of a citizen of the 

11 United States, subclause (II) of clause (i) 

12 applies only to the extent that the person 

13 involved acts within the scope of that per14 son’s status as the agent of a foreign prin15 cipal described in subclause (I) of clause 

16 (i). 

17 ‘‘(4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.—In this 

18 subsection, the term ‘immediate family member’ 

19 means, with respect to a candidate, a parent, parent20 in-law, spouse, adult child, or sibling.’’. 

21 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

22 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to report23 able foreign contacts which occur on or after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act. 

25 (b) INFORMATION INCLUDED ON REPORT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304(b) of such Act 

2 (52 U.S.C. 30104(b)) is amended— 

3 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para4 graph (7); 

5 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

6 paragraph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(9) for any reportable foreign contact (as de10 fined in subsection (j)(3))— 

11 ‘‘(A) the date, time, and location of the 

12 contact; 

13 ‘‘(B) the date and time of when a des14 ignated official of the committee was notified of 

15 the contact; 

16 ‘‘(C) the identity of individuals involved; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(D) a description of the contact, including 

19 the nature of any contribution, donation, ex20 penditure, disbursement, or solicitation involved 

21 and the nature of any activity described in sub22 section (j)(3)(A)(ii)(II) involved.’’. 

23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

24 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to reports 

25 filed on or after the expiration of the 60-day period 


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1 which begins on the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act. 

3 SEC. 1102. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FOREIGN CONTACT RE4 PORTING COMPLIANCE SYSTEM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Federal Elec6 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(j) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACTS COMPLIANCE

9 POLICY.— 

10 ‘‘(1) REPORTING.—Each political committee 

11 shall establish a policy that requires all officials, em12 ployees, and agents of such committee to notify the 

13 treasurer or other appropriate designated official of 

14 the committee of any reportable foreign contact (as 

15 defined in section 304(j)) not later than 3 days after 

16 such contact was made. 

17 ‘‘(2) RETENTION AND PRESERVATION OF

18 RECORDS.—Each political committee shall establish 

19 a policy that provides for the retention and preserva20 tion of records and information related to reportable 

21 foreign contacts (as so defined) for a period of not 

22 less than 3 years. 

23 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon filing its state25 ment of organization under section 303(a), and 


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1 with each report filed under section 304(a), the 

2 treasurer of each political committee (other 

3 than an authorized committee) shall certify 

4 that— 

5 ‘‘(i) the committee has in place poli6 cies that meet the requirements of para7 graphs (1) and (2); 

8 ‘‘(ii) the committee has designated an 

9 official to monitor compliance with such 

10 policies; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) not later than 1 week after the 

12 beginning of any formal or informal affili13 ation with the committee, all officials, em14 ployees, and agents of such committee 

15 will— 

16 ‘‘(I) receive notice of such poli17 cies; 

18 ‘‘(II) be informed of the prohibi19 tions under section 319; and 

20 ‘‘(III) sign a certification affirm21 ing their understanding of such poli22 cies and prohibitions. 

23 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—With 

24 respect to an authorized committee, the canVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00156 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880

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1 didate shall make the certification required 

2 under subparagraph (A).’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 

5 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to political 

6 committees which file a statement of organization 

7 under section 303(a) of the Federal Election Cam8 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103(a)) on or after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 (2) TRANSITION RULE FOR EXISTING COMMIT11 TEES.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act, each political committee 

13 under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

14 shall file a certification with the Federal Election 

15 Commission that the committee is in compliance 

16 with the requirements of section 302(j) of such Act 

17 (as added by subsection (a)). 

18 SEC. 1103. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

19 Section 309(d)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign 

20 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)) is amended by add21 ing at the end the following new subparagraphs: 

22 ‘‘(E) Any person who knowingly and willfully com23 mits a violation of subsection (j) or (b)(9) of section 304 

24 or section 302(j) shall be fined not more than $500,000, 

25 imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Any person who knowingly and willfully conceals 

2 or destroys any materials relating to a reportable foreign 

3 contact (as defined in section 304(j)) shall be fined not 

4 more than $1,000,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, 

5 or both.’’. 

6 SEC. 1104. REPORT TO CONGRESSIONAL INTELLIGENCE 

7 COMMITTEES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

10 the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall 

11 submit to the congressional intelligence committees a re12 port relating to notifications received by the Federal Bu13 reau of Investigation under section 304(j)(1) of the Fed14 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by section 

15 1101(a) of this Act). 

16 (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report under subsection (a) 

17 shall include, at a minimum, the following with respect 

18 to notifications described in subsection (a): 

19 (1) The number of such notifications received 

20 from political committees during the year covered by 

21 the report. 

22 (2) A description of protocols and procedures 

23 developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation re24 lating to receipt and maintenance of records relating 

25 to such notifications. 


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1 (3) With respect to such notifications received 

2 during the year covered by the report, a description 

3 of any subsequent actions taken by the Director re4 sulting from the receipt of such notifications. 

5 (c) CONGRESSIONAL INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEES

6 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘congressional intel7 ligence committees’’ has the meaning given that term in 

8 section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

9 3003). 

10 SEC. 1105. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

11 Nothing in this title or the amendments made by this 

12 title shall be construed— 

13 (1) to impede legitimate journalistic activities; 

14 or 

15 (2) to impose any additional limitation on the 

16 right to express political views or to participate in 

17 public discourse of any individual who— 

18 (A) resides in the United States; 

19 (B) is not a citizen of the United States or 

20 a national of the United States, as defined in 

21 section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Na22 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)); and 

23 (C) is not lawfully admitted for permanent 

24 residence, as defined by section 101(a)(20) of 


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1 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

2 1101(a)(20)). 

3 TITLE XII—ELIMINATING FOR4 EIGN INTERFERENCE IN 

5 ELECTIONS 

6 SEC. 1201. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF FOREIGN 

7 MONEY BAN. 

8 (a) CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF PROVISION

9 OF CERTAIN INFORMATION AS CONTRIBUTION OR DONA10 TION OF A THING OF VALUE.—Section 319 of the Federal 

11 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following new sub13 section: 

14 ‘‘(c) CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF PROVISION

15 OF CERTAIN INFORMATION AS CONTRIBUTION OR DONA16 TION OF A THING OF VALUE.—For purposes of this sec17 tion, a ‘contribution or donation of money or other thing 

18 of value’ includes the provision of opposition research, 

19 polling, or other non-public information relating to a can20 didate for election for a Federal, State, or local office for 

21 the purpose of influencing the election, regardless of 

22 whether such research, polling, or information has mone23 tary value, except that nothing in this subsection shall be 

24 construed to treat the mere provision of an opinion about 


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1 a candidate as a thing of value for purposes of this sec2 tion.’’. 

3 (b) CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF FOREIGN

4 MONEY BAN TO ALL CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONATIONS

5 OF THINGS OF VALUE AND TO ALL SOLICITATIONS OF

6 CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONATIONS OF THINGS OF

7 VALUE.—Section 319(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

8 30121(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘promise 

10 to make a contribution or donation’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘promise to make such a contribution or donation’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘donation’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘donation of money or other thing of 

14 value, or to make an express or implied promise to 

15 make such a contribution or donation,’’; and 

16 (3) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol17 lows: 

18 ‘‘(2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive (di19 rectly or indirectly) a contribution or donation de20 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph 

21 (1), or to solicit, accept, or receive (directly or indi22 rectly) an express or implied promise to make such 

23 a contribution or donation, from a foreign na24 tional.’’. 


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1 (c) ENHANCED PENALTY FOR CERTAIN VIOLA2 TIONS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(d)(1) of such 

4 Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)), as amended by section 

5 1103, is further amended by adding at the end the 

6 following new subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(G)(i) Any person who knowingly and willfully com8 mits a violation of section 319 which involves a foreign 

9 national which is a government of a foreign country or 

10 a foreign political party, or which involves a thing of value 

11 consisting of the provision of opposition research, polling, 

12 or other non-public information relating to a candidate for 

13 election for a Federal, State, or local office for the purpose 

14 of influencing the election, shall be fined under title 18, 

15 United States Code, or imprisoned for not more than 5 

16 years, or both. 

17 ‘‘(ii) In clause (i), each of the terms ‘government of 

18 a foreign country’ and ‘foreign political party’ has the 

19 meaning given such term in section 1 of the Foreign 

20 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as Amended (22 U.S.C. 

21 611).’’. 

22 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

23 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to viola24 tions committed on or after the date of the enact25 ment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 1202. REQUIRING ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF FOREIGN 

2 MONEY BAN BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES. 

3 (a) PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY FEDERAL ELEC4 TION COMMISSION.—Section 303 of the Federal Election 

5 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(e) ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF FOREIGN MONEY

8 BAN.— 

9 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION BY COMMISSION.—Not later 

10 than 30 days after a political committee files its 

11 statement of organization under subsection (a), and 

12 biennially thereafter until the committee terminates, 

13 the Commission shall provide the committee with a 

14 written explanation of section 319. 

15 ‘‘(2) ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY COMMITTEE.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 

17 days after receiving the written explanation of 

18 section 319 under paragraph (1), the committee 

19 shall transmit to the Commission a signed cer20 tification that the committee has received such 

21 written explanation and has provided a copy of 

22 the explanation to all members, employees, con23 tractors, and volunteers of the committee. 

24 ‘‘(B) PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR SIGNA25 TURE.—The certification required under sub26 paragraph (A) shall be signed— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in the case of an authorized com2 mittee of a candidate, by the candidate; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any other political 

4 committee, by the treasurer of the com5 mittee.’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION FOR EXISTING

7 COMMITTEES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 

9 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to political 

10 committees which file statements of organization 

11 under section 303 of the Federal Election Campaign 

12 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103) on or after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act. 

14 (2) TRANSITION FOR EXISTING COMMITTEES.— 

15 (A) NOTIFICATION BY FEDERAL ELECTION

16 COMMISSION.—Not later than 90 days after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

18 Election Commission shall provide each political 

19 committee under such Act with the written ex20 planation of section 319 of such Act, as re21 quired under section 303(e)(1) of such Act (as 

22 added by subsection (a)). 

23 (B) ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY COMMITTEE.— 

24 Not later than 30 days after receiving the writ25 ten explanation under subparagraph (A), each 


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1 political committee under such Act shall trans2 mit to the Federal Election Commission the 

3 signed certification, as required under section 

4 303(e)(2) of such Act (as added by subsection 

5 (a)). 

6 DIVISION D—SEVERABILITY 

7 TITLE XIII—SEVERABILITY 

8 SEC. 1301. SEVERABILITY. 

9 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

10 by this Act, or the application of a provision of this Act 

11 or an amendment made by this Act to any person or cir12 cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 

13 of this Act, and the application of the provisions to any 

14 person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the hold15 ing. 

Æ 


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