I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 745 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide for reform 

in the operations of the Office of Government Ethics, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 24, 2019 

Mr. RASKIN (for himself, Mr. CUMMINGS, and Mr. NADLER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide 

for reform in the operations of the Office of Government 

Ethics, 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 

5 Comprehensive Ethics Enforcement Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERN2 MENT ETHICS. 

3 Section 405 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 

4 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2007’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2019 through 2023.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. TENURE OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF 

7 GOVERNMENT ETHICS. 

8 Section 401(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of 

9 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking the period 

10 at the end and inserting ‘‘, subject to removal only for 

11 inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The 

12 Director may continue to serve beyond the expiration of 

13 the term until a successor is appointed and has qualified, 

14 except that the Director may not continue to serve for 

15 more than one year after the date on which the term would 

16 otherwise expire under this subsection.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERN18 MENT ETHICS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(b) of the Ethics in 

20 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘developing, in consulta23 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘consulting’’; 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘Management, rules, and 

25 regulations to be promulgated by the President 

26 or the Director,’’ and inserting ‘‘Management 


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1 for input on the promulgation of rules and reg2 ulations to be promulgated by the Director’’; 

3 and 

4 (C) by striking ‘‘title II’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘title I’’; 

6 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(2) providing mandatory education and train9 ing programs for designated agency ethics officials, 

10 which may be delegated to each agency or the White 

11 House Counsel as deemed appropriate by the Direc12 tor;’’; 

13 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘title II’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘title I’’; 

15 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘problems’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘issues’’; 

17 (5) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘problems’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘issues’’; 

19 (6) in paragraph (7)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘, when requested,’’; and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘conflict of interest prob22 lems’’ and inserting ‘‘conflicts of interest, as 

23 well as other ethics issues’’; 

24 (7) in paragraph (9)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘ordering’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘receiving allegations of violations of this Act 

3 and, when necessary, investigating an allegation 

4 to determine whether a violation occurred, and 

5 ordering’’; and 

6 (B) by inserting before the semi-colon the 

7 following: ‘‘, and recommending appropriate 

8 disciplinary action’’; 

9 (8) in paragraph (12)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘evaluating, with the as11 sistance of’’ and inserting ‘‘promulgating, with 

12 input from’’; 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘the need for’’; and 

14 (C) by striking ‘‘conflict of interest and 

15 ethical problems’’ and inserting ‘‘conflict of in16 terest and ethics issues’’; 

17 (9) in paragraph (13)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘with the Attorney Gen19 eral’’ and inserting ‘‘with the Inspectors Gen20 eral and the Attorney General’’; 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘violations of the conflict 

22 of interest laws’’ and inserting ‘‘conflict of in23 terest issues and allegations of violations of eth24 ics laws and regulations and this Act’’; and 


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1 (C) by striking ‘‘, as required by section 

2 535 of title 28, United States Code’’; 

3 (10) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

4 the end; 

5 (11) in paragraph (15)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘title II’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘title I’’; and 

8 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

9 inserting a semicolon; and 

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

11 ‘‘(16) directing and providing final approval, 

12 when determined appropriate by the Director, for 

13 designated agency ethics officials regarding the reso14 lution of conflicts of interest as well as any other 

15 ethics issues under the purview of this Act in indi16 vidual cases; and 

17 ‘‘(17) reviewing and approving, when deter18 mined appropriate by the Director, any recusals, ex19 emptions, or waivers from the conflicts of interest 

20 and ethics laws, rules, and regulations and making 

21 approved recusals, exemptions, and waivers made 

22 publicly available by the relevant agency available in 

23 a central location on the official website of the Office 

24 of Government Ethics.’’. 


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1 (b) WRITTEN PROCEDURES.—Section 402(d) of the 

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

3 amended in paragraph (1)— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘, by the exercise of any author5 ity otherwise available to the Director under this 

6 title,’’; and 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘the agency is’’. 

8 (c) CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.—Section 402(f) of the 

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

10 amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (A) in clause (i) of subparagraph (A), by 

13 striking ‘‘of such agency’’; and 

14 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting at 

15 the end before the period the following: ‘‘and 

16 determine that a violation of this Act has oc17 curred and issue appropriate administrative or 

18 legal remedies as prescribed in paragraph (2)’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

21 (i) in clause (ii)— 

22 (I) in subclause (I), by inserting 

23 ‘‘to the President or the President’s 

24 designee if the matter involves em25 ployees of the Executive Office of the 


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1 President or’’ after ‘‘may rec2 ommend’’; and 

3 (II) in subclause (II)— 

4 (aa) by inserting ‘‘President 

5 or’’ after ‘‘determines that the’’; 

6 and 

7 (bb) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

8 end; 

9 (ii) in subclause (II) of clause (iii)— 

10 (I) by striking ‘‘notify in writ11 ing,’’ and inserting ‘‘advise the Presi12 dent in writing or order’’; 

13 (II) by inserting ‘‘take appro14 priate disciplinary action including 

15 reprimand, suspension, demotion, or 

16 dismissal against the officer or em17 ployee’’ after ‘‘employee’s agency’’; 

18 (III) by striking ‘‘of the officer’s 

19 or employee’s noncompliance, except 

20 that, if the officer or employee in21 volved is the agency head, the notifi22 cation shall instead be submitted to 

23 the President and Congress and’’; and 

24 (IV) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the 

25 end and inserting a period; and 


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1 (iii) by striking clause (iv); 

2 (B) in subparagraph (B)(i)— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)(iii) 

4 or (iv)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; 

5 (ii) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ before ‘‘In 

6 order to’’; and 

7 (iii) by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(II)(aa) The Director may secure directly 

10 from any agency information necessary to en11 able the Director to carry out this Act. Upon 

12 request of the Director, the head of such agency 

13 shall furnish that information to the Director. 

14 ‘‘(bb) The Director may require by sub15 poena the production of all information, docu16 ments, reports, answers, records, accounts, pa17 pers, and other data in any medium and docu18 mentary evidence necessary in the performance 

19 of the functions assigned by this Act, which 

20 subpoena, in the case of refusal to obey, shall 

21 be enforceable by order of any appropriate 

22 United States district court.’’; 

23 (C) in subparagraph (B)(ii)(I)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘Subject to clause (iv) 

2 of this subparagraph, before’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘Before’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A) 

5 (iii) or (iv)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

6 (A)(iii)’’; 

7 (D) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking 

8 ‘‘Subject to clause (iv) of this subparagraph, 

9 before’’ and inserting ‘‘Before’’; and 

10 (E) in subparagraph (B)(iv)— 

11 (i) by striking ‘‘title 2’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘title I’’; and 

13 (ii) by striking ‘‘section 206’’ and in14 serting ‘‘section 104’’; 

15 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(iv),’’; and 

16 (4) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(5)(A) The Office of Government Ethics shall 

19 provide, on the official website of the Office, public 

20 access to records made available by agencies of all 

21 conflicts of interest and ethics laws, rules and regu22 lations, recusals, waivers and exemptions, ethics ad23 visory opinions, ethics agreements of senior executive 

24 branch personnel and employee certificates of dives25 titure, financial disclosure reports, compliance reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H745.IH H745

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1 views, enforcement actions, and any other public 

2 records concerning conflicts of interest and ethics 

3 records for the executive branch required by law. 

4 ‘‘(B) All financial disclosure reports and 

5 records related to conflict of interest waivers and 

6 other records of ethics determinations deemed public 

7 information by the Director or by law shall be made 

8 available to the public either by internet link to such 

9 information if publicly available, or at no charge on 

10 the website of the Office of Government Ethics in a 

11 searchable, sortable, and downloadable format, and 

12 at reasonable fees for reproduction of paper docu13 ments at the Office of Government Ethics.’’. 

14 (d) DEFINITIONS.—Section 402 of the Ethics in Gov15 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by add16 ing at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(g) For purposes of this title— 

18 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ shall include the Execu19 tive Office of the President; and 

20 ‘‘(2) the term ‘officer or employee’ shall include 

21 any individual occupying a position, providing any 

22 official services, or acting in an advisory capacity, in 

23 the White House or the Executive Office of the 

24 President. 


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1 ‘‘(h) In this title, a reference to the head of an agency 

2 shall include the President or the President’s designee. 

3 ‘‘(i) The Director shall not be required to obtain the 

4 prior approval, comment, or review of any officer or agen5 cy of the United States, including the Office of Manage6 ment and Budget, before submitting to Congress, or any 

7 committee or subcommittee thereof, any information, re8 ports, recommendations, testimony, or comments, if such 

9 submissions include a statement indicating that the views 

10 expressed therein are those of the Director and do not nec11 essarily represent the views of the President.’’. 

12 SEC. 5. AGENCY ETHICS OFFICIALS TRAINING AND DUTIES. 

13 Section 403 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 

14 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(c)(1) All designated agency ethics officials and al17 ternate designated agency ethics officials shall register 

18 with, and report to, the Director as well as with the ap19 pointing authority of the official. 

20 ‘‘(2) The Director shall provide ethics education and 

21 training to all designated and alternate designated agency 

22 ethics officials in a time and manner deemed appropriate 

23 by the Director. 

24 ‘‘(d)(1) The head of each agency shall ensure that 

25 all records and information provided to the Director under 


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1 this Act shall be provided, to the greatest extent prac2 ticable, in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable for3 mat. 

4 ‘‘(2) The head of each agency shall post on the offi5 cial website of the agency each recusal, waiver, exemption, 

6 ethics advisory opinion, ethics agreement, and certificate 

7 of divestiture issued by the agency under this Act and its 

8 implanting regulations.’’. 

Æ 


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