I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 244 

To strengthen and enhance certain ethics requirements for the Federal 

Government, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 11, 2021 

Mr. GOMEZ (for himself and Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To strengthen and enhance certain ethics requirements for 

the Federal Government, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Executive Branch Con5 flict of Interest Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON PRIVATE SECTOR PAYMENT FOR 

2 GOVERNMENT SERVICE. 

3 Section 209 of title 18, United States Code, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘any salary’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘any salary (including a bonus)’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (b)— 

8 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), a pension, 

11 retirement, group life, health or accident insurance, 

12 profit-sharing, stock bonus, or other employee wel13 fare or benefit plan that makes payment of any por14 tion of compensation contingent on accepting a posi15 tion in the United States Government shall not be 

16 considered bona fide.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SLOWING THE RE18 VOLVING DOOR. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Ethics in Government Act of 

20 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘TITLE VI—ENHANCED RE23 QUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN 

24 EMPLOYEES 

25 ‘‘SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS. 

26 ‘‘In this title: 


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1 ‘‘(1) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘covered 

2 agency’— 

3 ‘‘(A) means an Executive agency, as de4 fined in section 105 of title 5, United States 

5 Code, the Postal Service and the Postal Rate 

6 Commission, but does not include the Govern7 ment Accountability Office or the Government 

8 of the District of Columbia; and 

9 ‘‘(B) shall include the Executive Office of 

10 the President. 

11 ‘‘(2) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘covered 

12 employee’ means an officer or employee referred to 

13 in paragraph (2) of section 207(c) of title 18, 

14 United States Code. 

15 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

16 the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 

17 ‘‘(4) EXECUTIVE BRANCH.—The term ‘execu18 tive branch’ has the meaning given that term in sec19 tion 109. 

20 ‘‘(5) FORMER CLIENT.—The term ‘former cli21 ent’— 

22 ‘‘(A) means a person for whom a covered 

23 employee served personally as an agent, attor24 ney, or consultant during the 2-year period end25 ing on the date before the date on which the 


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1 covered employee begins service in the Federal 

2 Government; and 

3 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

4 ‘‘(i) instances in which the service 

5 provided was limited to a speech or similar 

6 appearance by the covered employee; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) a client of the former employer 

8 of the covered employee to whom the cov9 ered employee did not personally provide 

10 such services. 

11 ‘‘(6) FORMER EMPLOYER.—The term ‘former 

12 employer’— 

13 ‘‘(A) means a person for whom a covered 

14 employee served as an employee, officer, direc15 tor, trustee, or general partner during the 2- 

16 year period ending on the date before the date 

17 on which the covered employee begins service in 

18 the Federal Government; and 

19 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

20 ‘‘(i) an entity in the Federal Govern21 ment, including an executive branch agen22 cy; 

23 ‘‘(ii) a State or local government; 

24 ‘‘(iii) the District of Columbia; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) an Indian tribe, as defined in 

2 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

3 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

4 5304); or 

5 ‘‘(v) the government of a territory or 

6 possession of the United States. 

7 ‘‘(7) PARTICULAR MATTER.—The term ‘par8 ticular matter’ has the meaning given that term in 

9 section 207(i) of title 18, United States Code. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 602. CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ELIGIBILITY 

11 STANDARDS. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A covered employee may not use, 

13 or attempt to use, the official position of the covered em14 ployee to participate in a particular matter in which the 

15 covered employee knows a former employer or former cli16 ent of the covered employee has a financial interest. 

17 ‘‘(b) WAIVER.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of the covered 

19 agency employing a covered employee, in consulta20 tion with the Director, may grant a written waiver 

21 of the restrictions under subsection (a) prior to en22 gaging in the action otherwise prohibited by sub23 section (a) if, and to the extent that, the head of the 

24 covered agency certifies in writing that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the application of the restriction to 

2 the particular matter is inconsistent with the 

3 purposes of the restriction; or 

4 ‘‘(B) it is in the public interest to grant 

5 the waiver. 

6 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—The head of the covered 

7 agency shall provide a waiver under paragraph (1) 

8 to the Director and post the waiver on the website 

9 of the agency within 30 calendar days after granting 

10 such waiver. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 603. PENALTIES AND INJUNCTIONS. 

12 ‘‘(a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who violates 

14 section 602 shall be fined under title 18, United 

15 States Code, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, 

16 or both. 

17 ‘‘(2) WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—Any person who 

18 willfully violates section 602 shall be fined under 

19 title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not 

20 more than 5 years, or both. 

21 ‘‘(b) CIVIL ENFORCEMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

23 bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 

24 of the United States against any person who vio25 lates, or whom the Attorney General has reason to 


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1 believe is engaging in conduct that violates, section 

2 602. 

3 ‘‘(2) CIVIL PENALTY.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the court finds by 

5 a preponderance of the evidence that a person 

6 violated section 602, the court shall impose a 

7 civil penalty of not more than the greater of— 

8 ‘‘(i) $100,000 for each violation; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) the amount of compensation the 

10 person received or was offered for the con11 duct constituting the violation. 

12 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A civil 

13 penalty under this subsection may be in addi14 tion to any other criminal or civil statutory, 

15 common law, or administrative remedy available 

16 to the United States or any other person. 

17 ‘‘(3) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In a civil action 

19 brought under paragraph (1) against a person, 

20 the Attorney General may petition the court for 

21 an order prohibiting the person from engaging 

22 in conduct that violates section 602. 

23 ‘‘(B) STANDARD.—The court may issue an 

24 order under subparagraph (A) if the court finds 


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1 by a preponderance of the evidence that the 

2 conduct of the person violates section 602. 

3 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The filing 

4 of a petition seeking injunctive relief under this 

5 paragraph shall not preclude any other remedy 

6 that is available by law to the United States or 

7 any other person.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF PROCUREMENT OFFICERS AC9 CEPTING EMPLOYMENT FROM GOVERNMENT 

10 CONTRACTORS. 

11 (a) EXPANSION OF PROHIBITION ON ACCEPTANCE

12 BY FORMER OFFICIALS OF COMPENSATION FROM CON13 TRACTORS.—Section 2104 of title 41, United States Code, 

14 is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a)— 

16 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

17 (1)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘or consultant’’ and in19 serting ‘‘attorney, consultant, subcon20 tractor, or lobbyist’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘one year’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘2 years’’; and 

23 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘person24 ally made for the Federal agency’’ and inserting 


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1 ‘‘participated personally and substantially in’’; 

2 and 

3 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON COMPENSATION FROM AFFILI6 ATES AND SUBCONTRACTORS.—A former official respon7 sible for a Government contract referred to in paragraph 

8 (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a) may not accept compensa9 tion for 2 years after awarding the contract from any divi10 sion, affiliate, or subcontractor of the contractor.’’. 

11 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR PROCUREMENT OFFICERS

12 TO DISCLOSE JOB OFFERS MADE ON BEHALF OF REL13 ATIVES.—Section 2103(a) of title 41, United States Code, 

14 is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by in15 serting after ‘‘that official’’ the following: ‘‘, or for a rel16 ative (as defined in section 3110 of title 5) of that offi17 cial,’’. 

18 (c) REQUIREMENT ON AWARD OF GOVERNMENT

19 CONTRACTS TO FORMER EMPLOYERS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 21 of division B of 

21 subtitle I of title 41, United States Code, is amend22 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 2108. Prohibition on involvement by certain 

2 former contractor employees in procure3 ments 

4 ‘‘An employee of the Federal Government may not 

5 be personally and substantially involved with any award 

6 of a contract to, or the administration of a contract award7 ed to, a contractor that is a former employer of the em8 ployee during the 2-year period beginning on the date on 

9 which the employee leaves the employment of the con10 tractor.’’. 

11 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND12 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 21 of title 

13 41, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

14 the end the following new item: 

‘‘2108. Prohibition on involvement by certain former contractor employees 

in procurements.’’. 

15 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator for Federal 

16 Procurement Policy and the Director of the Office of Man17 agement and Budget shall— 

18 (1) in consultation with the Director of the Of19 fice of Personnel Management and the Counsel to 

20 the President, promulgate regulations to carry out 

21 and ensure the enforcement of chapter 21 of title 

22 41, United States Code, as amended by this section; 

23 and 


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1 (2) in consultation with designated agency eth2 ics officials (as that term is defined in section 

3 109(3) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

4 U.S.C. App.)), monitor compliance with that chapter 

5 by individuals and agencies. 

6 SEC. 5. REVOLVING DOOR RESTRICTIONS ON EMPLOYEES 

7 MOVING INTO THE PRIVATE SECTOR. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 207 of 

9 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking 

11 ‘‘ONE-YEAR’’ and inserting ‘‘TWO-YEAR’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘1 year’’ in 

13 each instance and inserting ‘‘2 years’’; and 

14 (3) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘1-year’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘2-year’’. 

16 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub17 section (a) shall apply to any individual covered by sub18 section (c) of section 207 of title 18, United States Code, 

19 separating from the civil service on or after the date of 

20 enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

22 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

23 this Act, or the application of a provision or amendment 

24 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu25 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 


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1 by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 

2 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

3 affected by the holding. 

Æ 


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