IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2879 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To provide limitations on bonuses for Federal employees 

during sequestration, to provide for investigative leave 

requirements for members of the Senior Executive Service, to establish certain procedures for conducting inperson or telephonic interactions by Executive branch 

employees with individuals, and for other purposes. 


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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Stop Government Abuse Act’’. 

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

7 as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—COMMON SENSE IN COMPENSATION 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Limitations. 

Sec. 103. Regulations. 

TITLE II—GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE ACCOUNTABILITY 

Sec. 201. Suspension for 14 days or less for Senior Executive Service employees. 

Sec. 202. Investigative leave and termination authority for Senior Executive 

Service employees. 

Sec. 203. Suspension of Senior Executive Service employees. 

Sec. 204. Misappropriation of funds amendments. 

TITLE III—CITIZEN EMPOWERMENT 

Sec. 301. Amendments. 

8 TITLE I—COMMON SENSE IN 

9 COMPENSATION 

10 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

11 For purposes of this title— 

12 (1) the term ‘‘employee’’ means an employee 

13 (as defined by section 2105(a) of title 5, United 

14 States Code) holding a position in or under an Exec15 utive agency; 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ has the mean2 ing given such term by section 105 of title 5, United 

3 States Code; 

4 (3) the term ‘‘discretionary monetary payment’’ 

5 means— 

6 (A) any award or other monetary payment 

7 under chapter 45, or section 5753 or 5754, of 

8 title 5, United States Code; and 

9 (B) any step-increase under section 5336 

10 of title 5, United States Code; 

11 (4) the term ‘‘covered compensation’’, as used 

12 with respect to an employee in connection with any 

13 period, means the sum of— 

14 (A) the basic pay, and 

15 (B) any discretionary monetary payments 

16 (excluding basic pay), 

17 payable to such employee during such period; 

18 (5) the term ‘‘basic pay’’ means basic pay for 

19 service as an employee; and 

20 (6) the term ‘‘sequestration period’’ means a 

21 period beginning on the first day of a fiscal year in 

22 which a sequestration order with respect to discre23 tionary spending or direct spending is issued under 

24 section 251A or section 254 of the Balanced Budget 

25 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 and 


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1 ending on the last day of the fiscal year to which the 

2 sequestration order applies. 

3 SEC. 102. LIMITATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi5 sion of law— 

6 (1) no discretionary monetary payment may be 

7 made to an employee during any sequestration pe8 riod to the extent that such payment would cause in 

9 a fiscal year the total covered compensation of such 

10 employee for such fiscal year to exceed 105 percent 

11 of the total amount of basic pay payable to such in12 dividual (before the application of any step-increase 

13 in such fiscal year under section 5336 of title 5, 

14 United States Code) for such fiscal year; and 

15 (2) except as provided in subsection (b), during 

16 any sequestration period, an agency may not pay a 

17 performance award under section 5384 of title 5, 

18 United States Code, to the extent that such payment 

19 would cause the number of employees in the agency 

20 receiving such award during such period to exceed 

21 33 percent of the total number of employees in the 

22 agency eligible to receive such award during such pe23 riod. 

24 (b) WAIVERS.—For the purposes of any sequestra25 tion period— 


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1 (1) the head of any agency may, subject to ap2 proval by the Director of the Office of Personnel 

3 Management, waive the requirements of subsection 

4 (a)(2); and 

5 (2) the head of any agency may waive the re6 quirements of subsection (a)(1) with respect to any 

7 employee if the requirements of such subsection 

8 would violate the terms of a collective bargaining 

9 agreement covering such employee, except that this 

10 paragraph shall not apply to any employee covered 

11 by a collective bargaining agreement that is renewed 

12 on or after the date of enactment of this title. 

13 (c) NOTIFICATION.—In the case of an agency for 

14 which the Director of the Office of Personnel Management 

15 grants a waiver under subsection (b)(1), the agency shall 

16 notify the Committee on Oversight and Government Re17 form of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

18 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

19 Senate of the percentage of career appointees receiving 

20 performance awards under section 5384 of title 5, United 

21 States Code, and the dollar amount of each performance 

22 award. 

23 (d) APPLICATION.—This section shall apply to any 

24 discretionary monetary payment or performance award 


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1 under section 5384 of title 5, United States Code, made 

2 on or after the date of enactment of this title. 

3 SEC. 103. REGULATIONS. 

4 The Office of Personnel Management may prescribe 

5 regulations to carry out this title. 

6 TITLE II—GOVERNMENT 

7 EMPLOYEE ACCOUNTABILITY 

8 SEC. 201. SUSPENSION FOR 14 DAYS OR LESS FOR SENIOR 

9 EXECUTIVE SERVICE EMPLOYEES. 

10 Paragraph (1) of section 7501 of title 5, United 

11 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(1) ‘employee’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) an individual in the competitive serv14 ice who is not serving a probationary or trial 

15 period under an initial appointment or who has 

16 completed 1 year of current continuous employ17 ment in the same or similar positions under 

18 other than a temporary appointment limited to 

19 1 year or less; or 

20 ‘‘(B) a career appointee in the Senior Ex21 ecutive Service who— 

22 ‘‘(i) has completed the probationary 

23 period prescribed under section 3393(d); or 

24 ‘‘(ii) was covered by the provisions of 

25 subchapter II of this chapter immediately 


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1 before appointment to the Senior Executive 

2 Service;’’. 

3 SEC. 202. INVESTIGATIVE LEAVE AND TERMINATION AU4 THORITY FOR SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE 

5 EMPLOYEES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 75 of title 5, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER VI—INVESTIGATIVE LEAVE FOR 

10 SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE EMPLOYEES 

11 ‘‘§ 7551. Definitions 

12 ‘‘For the purposes of this subchapter— 

13 ‘‘(1) ‘employee’ has the meaning given such 

14 term in section 7541; and 

15 ‘‘(2) ‘investigative leave’ means a temporary ab16 sence without duty for disciplinary reasons, of a pe17 riod not greater than 90 days. 

18 ‘‘§ 7552. Actions covered 

19 ‘‘This subchapter applies to investigative leave. 

20 ‘‘§ 7553. Cause and procedure 

21 ‘‘(a)(1) Under regulations prescribed by the Office of 

22 Personnel Management, an agency may place an employee 

23 on investigative leave, without loss of pay and without 

24 charge to annual or sick leave, only for misconduct, ne25 glect of duty, malfeasance, or misappropriation of funds. 


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1 ‘‘(2) If an agency determines, as prescribed in regula2 tion by the Office of Personnel Management, that such 

3 employee’s conduct is flagrant and that such employee in4 tentionally engaged in such conduct, the agency may place 

5 such employee on investigative leave under this subchapter 

6 without pay. 

7 ‘‘(b)(1) At the end of each 45-day period during a 

8 period of investigative leave implemented under this sec9 tion, the relevant agency shall review the investigation into 

10 the employee with respect to the misconduct, neglect of 

11 duty, malfeasance, or misappropriation of funds. 

12 ‘‘(2) Not later than 5 business days after the end of 

13 each such 45-day period, the agency shall submit a report 

14 describing such review to the Committee on Oversight and 

15 Government Reform of the House of Representatives and 

16 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

17 Affairs of the Senate. 

18 ‘‘(3) At the end of a period of investigative leave im19 plemented under this section, the agency shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) remove an employee placed on investiga21 tive leave under this section; 

22 ‘‘(B) suspend such employee without pay; or 

23 ‘‘(C) reinstate or restore such employee to duty. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The agency may extend the period of investiga2 tive leave with respect to an action under this subchapter 

3 for an additional period not to exceed 90 days. 

4 ‘‘(c) An employee against whom an action covered by 

5 this subchapter is proposed is entitled to, before being 

6 placed on investigative leave under this section— 

7 ‘‘(1) at least 30 days’ advance written notice, 

8 stating specific reasons for the proposed action, un9 less— 

10 ‘‘(A) there is reasonable cause to believe 

11 that the employee has committed a crime for 

12 which a sentence of imprisonment can be im13 posed; or 

14 ‘‘(B) the agency determines, as prescribed 

15 in regulation by the Office of Personnel Man16 agement, that the employee’s conduct with re17 spect to which an action covered by this sub18 chapter is proposed is flagrant and that such 

19 employee intentionally engaged in such conduct; 

20 ‘‘(2) a reasonable time, but not less than 7 

21 days, to answer orally and in writing and to furnish 

22 affidavits and other documentary evidence in sup23 port of the answer; 

24 ‘‘(3) be represented by an attorney or other 

25 representative; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) a written decision and specific reasons 

2 therefor at the earliest practicable date. 

3 ‘‘(d) An agency may provide, by regulation, for a 

4 hearing which may be in lieu of or in addition to the op5 portunity to answer provided under subsection (c)(2). 

6 ‘‘(e) An employee against whom an action is taken 

7 under this section is entitled to appeal to the Merit Sys8 tems Protection Board under section 7701. 

9 ‘‘(f) Copies of the notice of proposed action, the an10 swer of the employee when written, and a summary there11 of when made orally, the notice of decision and reasons 

12 therefor, and any order effecting an action covered by this 

13 subchapter, together with any supporting material, shall 

14 be maintained by the agency and shall be furnished to the 

15 Merit Systems Protection Board upon its request and to 

16 the employee affected upon the employee’s request. 

17 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER VII—REMOVAL OF SENIOR 

18 EXECUTIVE SERVICE EMPLOYEES 

19 ‘‘§ 7561. Definition 

20 ‘‘For purposes of this subchapter, the term ‘em21 ployee’ has the meaning given such term in section 7541. 

22 ‘‘§ 7562. Removal of Senior Executive Service employ23 ees 

24 ‘‘(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and 

25 consistent with the requirements of subsection (b), the 


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1 head of an agency may remove an employee for serious 

2 neglect of duty, misappropriation of funds, or malfeasance 

3 if the head of the agency— 

4 ‘‘(1) determines that the employee knowingly 

5 acted in a manner that endangers the interest of the 

6 agency mission; 

7 ‘‘(2) considers the removal to be necessary or 

8 advisable in the interests of the United States; and 

9 ‘‘(3) determines that the procedures prescribed 

10 in other provisions of law that authorize the removal 

11 of such employee cannot be invoked in a manner 

12 that the head of an agency considers consistent with 

13 the efficiency of the Government. 

14 ‘‘(b) An employee may not be removed under this sec15 tion— 

16 ‘‘(1) on any basis that would be prohibited 

17 under— 

18 ‘‘(A) any provision of law referred to in 

19 section 2302(b)(1); or 

20 ‘‘(B) paragraphs (8) or (9) of section 

21 2302(b); or 

22 ‘‘(2) on any basis, described in paragraph (1), 

23 as to which any administrative or judicial pro24 ceeding— 


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1 ‘‘(A) has been commenced by or on behalf 

2 of such employee; and 

3 ‘‘(B) is pending. 

4 ‘‘(c) An employee removed under this section shall be 

5 notified of the reasons for such removal. Within 30 days 

6 after the notification, the employee is entitled to submit 

7 to the official designated by the head of the agency state8 ments or affidavits to show why the employee should be 

9 restored to duty. If such statements and affidavits are 

10 submitted, the head of the agency shall provide a written 

11 response, and may restore the employee’s employment if 

12 the head of the agency chooses. 

13 ‘‘(d) Whenever the head of the agency removes an 

14 employee under the authority of this section, the head of 

15 the agency shall notify Congress of such termination, and 

16 the specific reasons for the action. 

17 ‘‘(e) An employee against whom an action is taken 

18 under this section is entitled to appeal to the Merit Sys19 tems Protection Board under section 7701 of this title. 

20 ‘‘(f) Copies of the notice of proposed action, the an21 swer of the employee when written, and a summary there22 of when made orally, the notice of decision and reasons 

23 therefor, and any order effecting an action covered by this 

24 subchapter, together with any supporting material, shall 

25 be maintained by the agency and shall be furnished to the 


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1 Merit Systems Protection Board upon its request and to 

2 the employee affected upon the employee’s request. 

3 ‘‘(g) A removal under this section does not affect the 

4 right of the employee affected to seek or accept employ5 ment with any other department or agency of the United 

6 States if that employee is declared eligible for such em7 ployment by the Director of the Office of Personnel Man8 agement. 

9 ‘‘(h) The authority of the head of the agency under 

10 this section may not be delegated.’’. 

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

12 at the beginning of chapter 75 of title 5, United States 

13 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec14 tion 7543 the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER VI—INVESTIGATIVE LEAVE FOR SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE

EMPLOYEES

‘‘7551. Definitions. 

‘‘7552. Actions covered. 

‘‘7553. Cause and procedure. 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER VII—REMOVAL OF SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE EMPLOYEES

‘‘7561. Definition. 

‘‘7562. Removal of Senior Executive Service employees.’’. 

15 SEC. 203. SUSPENSION OF SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE EM16 PLOYEES. 

17 Section 7543 of title 5, United States Code, is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘misappro20 priation of funds,’’ after ‘‘malfeasance,’’; and 


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1 (2) in subsection (b), by amending paragraph 

2 (1) to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(1) at least 30 days’ advance written notice, 

4 stating specific reasons for the proposed action, un5 less— 

6 ‘‘(A) there is reasonable cause to believe 

7 that the employee has committed a crime for 

8 which a sentence of imprisonment can be im9 posed; or 

10 ‘‘(B) the agency determines, as prescribed 

11 in regulation by the Office of Personnel Man12 agement, that the employee’s conduct with re13 spect to which an action covered by this sub14 chapter is proposed is flagrant and that such 

15 employee intentionally engaged in such con16 duct;’’. 

17 SEC. 204. MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS AMENDMENTS. 

18 (a) REINSTATEMENT IN THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE

19 SERVICE.—Section 3593 of title 5, United States Code, 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘mis22 appropriation of funds,’’ after ‘‘malfeasance,’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘or malfea24 sance’’ and inserting ‘‘malfeasance, or misappropria25 tion of funds’’. 


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1 (b) PLACEMENT IN OTHER PERSONNEL SYSTEMS.— 

2 Section 3594(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

3 by striking ‘‘or malfeasance’’ and inserting ‘‘malfeasance, 

4 or misappropriation of funds’’. 

5 TITLE III—CITIZEN 

6 EMPOWERMENT 

7 SEC. 301. AMENDMENTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of title 5, United States 

9 Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 79 the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘CHAPTER 79A—SERVICES TO MEMBERS 

12 OF THE PUBLIC 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘7921. Procedure for in-person and telephonic interactions conducted by Executive Branch employees. 

13 ‘‘§ 7921. Procedure for in-person and telephonic inter14 actions conducted by Executive Branch 

15 employees 

16 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en17 sure that individuals have the right to record in-person 

18 and telephonic interactions with Executive agency employ19 ees and to ensure that individuals who are the target of 

20 enforcement actions conducted by Executive agency em21 ployees are notified of such right. 

22 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) the term ‘telephonic’ means by telephone 

24 or other similar electronic device; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘employee’ means an employee of 

2 an Executive agency. 

3 ‘‘(c) CONSENT OF EXECUTIVE AGENCY EMPLOY4 EES.—Participation by an employee, acting in an official 

5 capacity, in an in-person or telephonic interaction shall 

6 constitute consent by the employee to a recording of that 

7 interaction by any participant in the interaction. 

8 ‘‘(d) NOTICE OF RIGHTS WHEN FEDERAL EMPLOY9 EES ENGAGED IN CERTAIN ACTIONS.—A notice of an in10 dividual’s right to record conversations with employees 

11 shall be included in any written material provided by an 

12 Executive agency to the individual concerning an audit, 

13 investigation, inspection, or enforcement action that could 

14 result in the imposition of a fine, forfeiture of property, 

15 civil monetary penalty, or criminal penalty against, or the 

16 collection of an unpaid tax, fine, or penalty from, such 

17 individual or a business owned or operated by such indi18 vidual. 

19 ‘‘(e) OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE.—Any person who 

20 is permitted to represent before an Executive agency an 

21 individual under this section shall receive the same notice 

22 as required under subsection (d) with respect to such indi23 vidual. 

24 ‘‘(f) NO CAUSE OF ACTION.—This section does not 

25 create any express or implied private right of action. 


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1 ‘‘(g) DISCIPLINARY ACTION.—An employee who vio2 lates this section shall be subject to appropriate discipli3 nary action in accordance with otherwise applicable provi4 sions of law. 

5 ‘‘(h) PUBLIC INFORMATION CONCERNING RIGHT TO

6 RECORD.— 

7 ‘‘(1) POSTING ON AGENCY WEB SITES.—Within 

8 180 days after the date of the enactment of this sec9 tion, each Executive agency shall post prominently 

10 on its Web site information explaining the right of 

11 individuals to record interactions with employees. 

12 ‘‘(2) OMB GUIDANCE.—Within 90 days after 

13 the date of the enactment of this section, the Office 

14 of Management and Budget shall issue guidance to 

15 Executive agencies concerning implementation of 

16 paragraph (1).’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for part 

18 III of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

19 after the item relating to chapter 79 the following: 

‘‘79A. Services to members of the public .................................. 7921’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives August 1, 

2013. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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