I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8489 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to require additional ethics disclosures 

for the President, Vice President, and their family members, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2024 

Mr. COMER (for himself and Ms. PORTER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to require additional 

ethics disclosures for the President, Vice President, and 

their family members, 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 ‘‘Presidential Ethics Re5 form Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR 

2 PRESIDENTS AND VICE PRESIDENTS. 

3 (a) ADDITIONAL ETHICS REPORTING REQUIRE4 MENTS FOR PRESIDENTS AND VICE PRESIDENTS.—Sec5 tion 13103 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 

7 (j); 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol9 lowing new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL ETHICS REPORTS FOR PRESIDENTS

11 AND VICE PRESIDENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) UPON ENTERING.—Within 30 days of as13 suming the office of President or Vice President, an 

14 individual shall file a report containing the informa15 tion described in each of subsections (j) through (m) 

16 of section 13104 with respect to the 2 years pre17 ceding the assumption of such office. 

18 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL ANNUAL REPORTS.—Any in19 dividual who occupies the office of President or Vice 

20 President shall file on or before May 15 a report 

21 containing, with respect to the prior calendar year 

22 for which such individual occupies the office, the in23 formation described in each of subsections (j) 

24 through (o) of section 13104. 

25 ‘‘(3) POST-DEPARTURE REPORTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) INITIAL POST-DEPARTURE REPORT.— 

2 Following the date on which an individual 

3 ceases to occupy the office of President or Vice 

4 President, such individual shall file a report 

5 containing, with respect to the final calendar 

6 year during which such individual occupied the 

7 office and any applicable partial calendar year 

8 immediately preceding such date, the informa9 tion described in each of subsections (j) through 

10 (o) of section 13104— 

11 ‘‘(i) on or before the first-occurring 

12 May 15 after the full regular term in office 

13 of the individual has ended; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) within 30 calendar days of the 

15 date that such individual ceases to occupy 

16 office if such date is prior to the end of 

17 their full regular term in office. 

18 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT POST-DEPARTURE RE19 PORTS.—Beginning on the date that is one year 

20 after the date on which an individual ceased to 

21 occupy the office of President or Vice President 

22 and annually thereafter, such individual shall 

23 file on or before May 15 a report containing, 

24 with respect to the prior year, the information 


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1 described in each of subsections (j) through (m) 

2 of section 13104. 

3 ‘‘(C) DURATION.—The requirement under 

4 subparagraph (B) ends on the first-occurring 

5 May 15 following the date that is 2 years after 

6 the date on which such individual ceased to oc7 cupy such office. 

8 ‘‘(4) REPORTS REQUIRING PERIODIC UP9 DATES.—With respect to an individual required to 

10 submit a report under paragraphs (1) through (3), 

11 such individual shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) with respect to subsection (n), submit 

13 an addendum to the report required under 

14 paragraphs (2) and (3)(A) to the entities under 

15 paragraph (5)(A) within 30 days of a new con16 flict of interest becoming known; and 

17 ‘‘(B) with respect to subsection (o), submit 

18 an addendum to the report required under 

19 paragraphs (2) and (3)(A) to the entities des20 ignated under paragraph (5) within 30 days of 

21 a relative accompanying such individual on offi22 cial travel. 

23 ‘‘(5) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each report or adden25 dum required to be submitted under this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Jul 04, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8489.IH H8489

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1 section shall be submitted to the following enti2 ties: 

3 ‘‘(i) The Committee on Oversight and 

4 Accountability of the House of Representa5 tives. 

6 ‘‘(ii) The Judiciary Committee of the 

7 Senate. 

8 ‘‘(iii) The Director of the Office of 

9 Government Ethics to be made publicly 

10 available by the Director within 30 days of 

11 receipt, in conformity with the require12 ments under paragraph (6). 

13 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL ENTITIES.—In the case 

14 of subsection (o), the report or addendum shall 

15 also be submitted to the following: 

16 ‘‘(i) The Committee on Armed Serv17 ices of the House of Representatives. 

18 ‘‘(ii) The Permanent Select Com19 mittee on Intelligence of the House of Rep20 resentatives. 

21 ‘‘(iii) The Committee on Armed Serv22 ices of the Senate. 

23 ‘‘(iv) The Select Committee on Intel24 ligence of the Senate. 


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1 ‘‘(v) The Director of the White House 

2 Military Office to be made publicly avail3 able by the Director within 30 days of re4 ceipt, in conformity with the requirements 

5 under paragraph (6). 

6 ‘‘(6) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.—The applica7 ble reports under paragraph (5) shall be made pub8 licly available on a website, which may utilize an ex9 isting government website, in a manner that— 

10 ‘‘(A) allows the public to search, sort, fil11 ter, and download reports by the category of 

12 additional reports required under this sub13 section, the filer name or name of the filer’s rel14 ative, or a date or the date range of the period 

15 covered by the report; and 

16 ‘‘(B) is fully compliant with the web design 

17 requirements under subsection (a) of section 3 

18 of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experi19 ence Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 note).’’; and 

20 (3) in subsection (j) as redesignated by para21 graph (1), by inserting ‘‘, except subsection (i),’’ 

22 after ‘‘under this section’’. 

23 (b) CONTENTS OF ADDITIONAL ETHICS REPORTS.— 

24 Section 13104 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

25 by adding at the end the following new subsections: 


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1 ‘‘(j) GIFTS.—Each report filed pursuant to section 

2 13103(i) shall include a full and complete statement with 

3 respect to each gift valued at more than $10,000— 

4 ‘‘(1) received by such individual during the ap5 plicable time period from a relative; and 

6 ‘‘(2) received by a relative during the applicable 

7 time period. 

8 ‘‘(k) LOANS.—Each report filed pursuant to section 

9 13103(i) shall include a full and complete statement with 

10 respect to all loans or loan repayments, including the 

11 terms and repayment schedules of each such loan or loan 

12 repayment, made during the applicable time period— 

13 ‘‘(1) to such individual by a relative; or 

14 ‘‘(2) to a relative of such an individual in an 

15 amount greater than $10,000, other than commer16 cial loans or repayments thereof, which may include 

17 loans that have customary interest rates based on 

18 commonly accepted categories of loans and that are 

19 evidenced by a written instrument between parties 

20 that defines the terms of repayment. 

21 ‘‘(l) FOREIGN PAYMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) Each report filed pursuant to section 

23 13103(i) shall include a full and complete statement 

24 with respect to any payment, transfer, or other item 

25 of value received during the applicable time period 


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1 by such individual or a relative of such individual 

2 from a foreign principal or a foreign principal’s 

3 agent, representative, employee, or servant. 

4 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘foreign prin5 cipal’ includes— 

6 ‘‘(A) a government of a foreign country 

7 and a foreign political party; 

8 ‘‘(B) a person outside of the United 

9 States, unless it is established that such person 

10 is an individual and a citizen of and domiciled 

11 within the United States, or that such person is 

12 not an individual and is organized under or cre13 ated by the laws of the United States or of any 

14 State or other place subject to the jurisdiction 

15 of the United States and has its principal place 

16 of business within the United States; and 

17 ‘‘(C) a partnership, association, corpora18 tion, organization or other combination of per19 sons organized under the laws of or having its 

20 principal place of business in a foreign country. 

21 ‘‘(m) FEDERAL INCOME TAX RETURNS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each report filed pursuant 

23 to section 13103(i) shall include a copy of each ap24 plicable Federal income tax return with respect to 

25 the reporting individual for any taxable year which 


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1 ends in or with the time period covered by such re2 port. In the case of any such income tax return 

3 which is not filed with the Internal Revenue Service 

4 before the date on which such report is filed, such 

5 return shall be submitted under section 13103(i) not 

6 later than 30 days after the date that such income 

7 tax return is filed with the Internal Revenue Service. 

8 ‘‘(2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Before making pub9 licly available any income tax return under this sub10 chapter, the Director of the Office of Government 

11 Ethics shall redact such information as the Director 

12 determines is necessary for protecting against iden13 tity theft, such as social security numbers. 

14 ‘‘(3) APPLICABLE FEDERAL INCOME TAX RE15 TURN.—For purposes of this subsection, the term 

16 ‘applicable Federal income tax return’ means any 

17 Federal income tax return of— 

18 ‘‘(A) a reporting individual; 

19 ‘‘(B) an individual who is married (within 

20 the meaning of section 7703(a) of the Internal 

21 Revenue Code of 1986) to a reporting indi22 vidual for the taxable year to which such return 

23 relates; 

24 ‘‘(C) any corporation or partnership which 

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1 paragraph (A) or (B) at any time during the 

2 taxable year to which such return relates; 

3 ‘‘(D) the estate of any person described in 

4 (A) or (B) or any estate with respect to which 

5 any person described in subparagraph (A), (B), 

6 or (C) is an executor, or beneficiary at any time 

7 during the taxable year to which such return 

8 relates; and 

9 ‘‘(E) any trust with respect to which any 

10 person described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), 

11 or (D) is a grantor, fiduciary or beneficiary, or 

12 for which another trust described in this sub13 paragraph is a grantor or beneficiary, at any 

14 time during the taxable year to which such re15 turn relates. 

16 Such term shall include any schedule, attachment, or 

17 other document filed with such return. 

18 ‘‘(4) CONTROL.—For purposes of paragraph 

19 (3)(C)— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 

21 provided in this paragraph, control shall be de22 termined under the rules of paragraphs (2) and 

23 (3) of section 6038(e) of the Internal Revenue 

24 Code of 1986 (determined without regard to 

25 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of such paragraph 


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1 (2) and without regard to subparagraph (C) of 

2 paragraph (3) thereof). 

3 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTION ON FAMILY ATTRIBU4 TION.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro6 vided in clause (ii), for purposes of apply7 ing subparagraph (A)— 

8 ‘‘(I) section 318 of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986 shall be ap10 plied without regard to subsection 

11 (a)(1)(A)(ii) thereof; and 

12 ‘‘(II) section 267(c) of the Inter13 nal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be ap14 plied by treating the family of an indi15 vidual as including only such individ16 ual’s spouse (in lieu of the application 

17 of paragraph (4) thereof). 

18 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION FOR RECENT TRANS19 FER TO FAMILY MEMBERS.—For purposes 

20 of determining whether any corporation or 

21 partnership is controlled by a reporting in22 dividual under paragraph (3)(C) for any 

23 taxable year, clause (i) shall not apply if 

24 such corporation or partnership was con25 trolled by such reporting individual (after 


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1 application of clause (i)) at any time dur2 ing the 4 immediately preceding taxable 

3 years. 

4 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION TO AMENDED RETURNS.— 

5 For purposes of this paragraph (1), any amendment 

6 or supplement to a return of tax shall be treated as 

7 for the taxable year to which the underlying return 

8 relates. 

9 ‘‘(n) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each report filed pursuant 

11 to section 13103(i) shall include a full and complete 

12 statement with respect to each instance during the 

13 applicable time period in which the reporting indi14 vidual or a relative of such individual— 

15 ‘‘(A) knows that a particular matter in16 volving specific parties had a direct effect or is 

17 likely to have both a direct and predictable ef18 fect on the financial interest of such individual 

19 or such relative; or 

20 ‘‘(B) knows that a person with whom the 

21 individual or such relative has a covered rela22 tionship, as described in paragraph (2), is or 

23 represents a party to such matter. 

24 ‘‘(2) COVERED RELATIONSHIP.—With respect 

25 to a particular matter involving specific parties, an 


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1 individual or relative has a covered relationship with 

2 such a party or a representative of such a party if 

3 the individual or relative— 

4 ‘‘(A) has served, is serving, or is seeking to 

5 serve as an officer, director, trustee, general 

6 partner, agent, attorney, consultant, contractor 

7 or employee of the party or a representative; 

8 ‘‘(B) otherwise has or seeks a business, 

9 contractual, or other financial relationship with 

10 the party or a representative that involves other 

11 than a routine consumer transaction; 

12 ‘‘(C) is a member of the household of the 

13 party or is otherwise a family member of the 

14 party or a representative with a close personal 

15 relationship; or 

16 ‘‘(D) is otherwise an active participant in 

17 an organization in which the party or a rep18 resentative is also an active participant. 

19 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

20 ‘‘(A) DIRECT AND PREDICTABLE EF21 FECT.—For the purposes of the term ‘direct 

22 and predictable effect’— 

23 ‘‘(i) a ‘direct effect’ (of a particular 

24 matter on a financial interest)— 


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1 ‘‘(I) is characterized by a close 

2 causal link between any decision or 

3 action to be taken in the matter and 

4 any effect or expected effect of the 

5 matter on the financial interest, even 

6 if the effect does not occur imme7 diately; 

8 ‘‘(II) is not characterized by— 

9 ‘‘(aa) an attenuated chain of 

10 causation or a chain of causation 

11 contingent upon the occurrence 

12 of events that are speculative or 

13 that are independent of, and un14 related to, the matter; or 

15 ‘‘(bb) an effect on a finan16 cial interest only as a con17 sequence of effects on the general 

18 economy; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) a ‘predictable effect’ (of a par20 ticular matter on a financial interest) is 

21 characterized by a reasonable expectation 

22 of a real, as opposed to a speculative possi23 bility, that the matter will affect the finan24 cial interest regardless of whether the mag25 nitude of the gain or loss be known, or the 


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1 dollar amount of the gain or loss is imma2 terial. 

3 ‘‘(B) PARTICULAR MATTER INVOLVING

4 SPECIFIC PARTIES.—The term ‘particular mat5 ter involving specific parties’ means any judicial 

6 or other proceeding, application, request for a 

7 ruling or other determination, contract, claim, 

8 controversy, investigation, charge, accusation, 

9 arrest or other particular matter involving a 

10 specific party or parties in which the United 

11 States is a party or has a direct and substantial 

12 interest. 

13 ‘‘(o) ACCOMPANIMENT ON OFFICIAL TRAVEL.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each report or addendum 

15 filed pursuant to section 13103(i) shall, with respect 

16 to the applicable time period, include a full and com17 plete statement with respect to the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) Each instance on which a relative 

19 (other than a minor child) accompanied the re20 porting individual on official travel and a de21 scription of the official purpose for the relative 

22 to accompany the reporting individual, includ23 ing a listing of related events and meetings on 

24 the trip which the relative attended. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Each instance on which the accom2 paniment of the relative under subparagraph 

3 (A) also related to a commercial purpose. 

4 ‘‘(C) A description of each commercial pur5 pose under subparagraph (B) to which the ac6 companiment under subparagraph (A) is re7 lated. 

8 ‘‘(D) The name, professional title or role, 

9 and associated entity of each person involved in 

10 any meeting or other engagement or activity 

11 with the relative relating to each commercial 

12 purpose described in subparagraph (C). 

13 ‘‘(E) Each instance on which the accom14 paniment of the relative under subparagraph 

15 (A) included a meeting with a foreign principal 

16 that otherwise exceeded the scope of the official 

17 purpose of the travel described in subparagraph 

18 (A). 

19 ‘‘(2) CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—The reporting indi20 vidual may submit a classified annex to the report 

21 or addendum required under this subsection to pro22 tect properly classified national security information. 

23 ‘‘(p) INFORMATION RELATING TO RELATIVES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN CASE OF ESTRANGEMENT.—With re25 spect to each report or addendum required by secVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Jul 04, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8489.IH H8489

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1 tion 13103(i) containing the information required in 

2 each of subsections (j) through (o), the reporting in3 dividual may exclude the information of any relative 

4 if the reporting individual— 

5 ‘‘(A) certifies to the Director of the Office 

6 of Government Ethics that the reporting indi7 vidual— 

8 ‘‘(i) engaged in a sustained and dili9 gent effort to contact or connect with any 

10 such relative in order to acquire the rel11 evant information from any such relative; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(ii) is unable to acquire relevant in14 formation from any such relative to comply 

15 with the reporting requirements under sub16 sections (j) through (o) despite the effort 

17 engaged in under clause (i); and 

18 ‘‘(B) provides documentation of such en19 gagement. 

20 ‘‘(2) IN CASE OF RELATIVE WHO IS A FEDERAL

21 EMPLOYEE OR OFFICEHOLDER.—With respect to 

22 each report or addendum required by section 

23 13103(i) containing the information required in each 

24 of subsections (j) through (o), the reporting indi25 vidual may exclude the information of any relative if 


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1 the reporting individual certifies to the Director of 

2 the Office of Government Ethics that such informa3 tion is required to be disclosed by such relative 

4 under other provisions of this subchapter. 

5 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF RELATIVE.—With respect 

6 to each report or addendum required by section 

7 13103(i) containing the information required in each 

8 of subsections (j) through (o), the term ‘relative’ 

9 means any of the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) Father. 

11 ‘‘(B) Mother. 

12 ‘‘(C) Son. 

13 ‘‘(D) Daughter. 

14 ‘‘(E) Brother. 

15 ‘‘(F) Sister. 

16 ‘‘(G) Husband. 

17 ‘‘(H) Wife. 

18 ‘‘(I) Father-In-Law. 

19 ‘‘(J) Mother-In-Law. 

20 ‘‘(K) Son-In-Law. 

21 ‘‘(L) Daughter-In-Law. 

22 ‘‘(M) Brother-In-Law. 

23 ‘‘(N) Sister-In-Law. 

24 ‘‘(O) Stepfather. 

25 ‘‘(P) Stepmother. 


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1 ‘‘(Q) Stepson. 

2 ‘‘(R) Stepdaughter. 

3 ‘‘(S) Stepbrother. 

4 ‘‘(T) Stepsister. 

5 ‘‘(U) Half-Brother. 

6 ‘‘(V) Half-Sister.’’. 

Æ 


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