I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8363 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New 

York, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. NEAL, Mr. COHEN, 

Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. DEAN, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. TED LIEU of California, 

Ms. PORTER, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SPEIER, and Mr. 

SWALWELL of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the 

Committees on the Judiciary, the Budget, Transportation and Infrastructure, Rules, Foreign Affairs, Ways and Means, Intelligence (Permanent 

Select), and House Administration, 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 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Our Democ3 racy Act’’. 

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

5 CONTENTS. 

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

7 as follows: 

8 (1) Division A—Preventing Abuses of Presi9 dential Power. 

10 (2) Division B—Restoring Checks and Bal11 ances, Accountability, and Transparency. 

12 (3) Division C—Defending Elections Against 

13 Foreign Interference. 

14 (4) Division D—Severability. 

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

16 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. 


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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. 

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. Cancelled 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 


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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. 

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 


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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 

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. 


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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) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—In the event 

12 that the President grants an individual a pardon for a cov13 ered offense, not later than 30 days after the date of such 

14 pardon— 

15 (1) the Attorney General shall submit to the 

16 chairmen and ranking minority members of the ap17 propriate congressional committees— 

18 (A) all materials obtained or produced by 

19 the prosecution team, including the Attorney 

20 General and any United States Attorney, and 

21 all materials obtained or prepared by any inves22 tigative agency of the United States govern23 ment, relating to the offense for which the indi24 vidual was so pardoned; and 


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1 (B) all materials obtained or produced by 

2 the Department of Justice in relation to the 

3 pardon; and 

4 (2) the President shall submit to the chairmen 

5 and ranking minority members of the appropriate 

6 congressional committees all materials obtained or 

7 produced within the Executive Office of the Presi8 dent in relation to the pardon. 

9 (b) TREATMENT OF INFORMATION.—Rule 6(e) of the 

10 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure may not be con11 strued to prohibit the disclosure of information required 

12 by subsection (a) of this section. 

13 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com15 mittees’’ means— 

16 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

17 House of Representatives and the Committee 

18 on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 

19 (B) if an investigation relates to intel20 ligence or counterintelligence matters, the Per21 manent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

22 House of Representatives and the Select Com23 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate. 

24 (2) The term ‘‘covered offense’’ means— 


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1 (A) an offense against the United States 

2 that arises from an investigation in which the 

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

4 target or subject; 

5 (B) an offense under section 192 of title 2, 

6 United States Code; or 

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

8 1512, or 1621 of title 18, United States Code, 

9 provided that the offense occurred in relation to 

10 a Congressional proceeding or investigation. 

11 (3) The term ‘‘pardon’’ includes a commutation 

12 of sentence. 

13 (4) The term ‘‘relative’’ has the meaning given 

14 that term in section 3110(a) of title 5, United 

15 States Code. 

16 SEC. 103. BRIBERY IN CONNECTION WITH PARDONS AND 

17 COMMUTATIONS. 

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

19 amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in22 cluding the President and the Vice President of 

23 the United States,’’ after ‘‘or an officer or em24 ployee or person’’; and 


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

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

3 any pardon, commutation, or reprieve, or an 

4 offer of any such pardon, commutation, or re5 prieve’’; and 

6 (2) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting ‘‘(includ7 ing, for purposes of this paragraph, any pardon, 

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

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

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

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

12 The President’s grant of a pardon to himself or her13 self is void and of no effect, and shall not deprive the 

14 courts of jurisdiction, or operate to confer on the Presi15 dent any legal immunity from investigation or prosecution. 

16 TITLE II—ENSURING NO 

17 PRESIDENT IS ABOVE THE LAW 

18 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

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

20 the Law Act’’. 

21 SEC. 202. TOLLING OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. 

22 (a) OFFENSES COMMITTED BY THE PRESIDENT OR

23 VICE PRESIDENT DURING OR PRIOR TO TENURE IN OF24 FICE.—Section 3282 of title 18, United States Code, is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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

2 VICE PRESIDENT DURING OR PRIOR TO TENURE IN OF3 FICE.—In the case of any person serving as President or 

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

5 person’s tenure in office shall not be considered for pur6 poses of any statute of limitations applicable to any Fed7 eral criminal offense committed by that person (including 

8 any offenses committed during any period of time pre9 ceding such tenure in office).’’. 

10 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub11 section (a) shall apply to any offense committed before the 

12 date of the enactment of this section, if the statute of limi13 tations applicable to that offense had not run as of such 

14 date. 

15 TITLE III—ENFORCEMENT OF 

16 THE FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC 

17 EMOLUMENTS CLAUSES OF 

18 THE CONSTITUTION 

19 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

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

21 Emoluments Enforcement Act’’. 

22 SEC. 302. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this title: 

24 (1) The term ‘‘emolument’’ means any profit, 

25 gain, or advantage that is received directly or indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8363.IH H8363

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1 rectly from any government of a foreign country, the 

2 Federal government, or any State or local govern3 ment, or from any instrumentality thereof, including 

4 payments arising from commercial transactions at 

5 fair market value. 

6 (2) The term ‘‘person holding any office of 

7 profit or trust under the United States’’ includes the 

8 President of the United States and the Vice-Presi9 dent of the United States. 

10 (3) The term ‘‘government of a foreign coun11 try’’ has the meaning given such term in section 1(e) 

12 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (22 U.S.C. 

13 611(e)). 

14 SEC. 303. PROHIBITION ON ACCEPTANCE OF FOREIGN AND 

15 DOMESTIC EMOLUMENTS. 

16 (a) FOREIGN.—Except as otherwise provided in sec17 tion 7342 of title 5, United States Code, it shall be unlaw18 ful for any person holding an office of profit or trust under 

19 the United States to accept from a government of a for20 eign country, without first obtaining the consent of Con21 gress, any present or emolument, or any office or title. 

22 The prohibition under this subsection applies without re23 gard to whether the present, emolument, office, or title 

24 is— 


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1 (1) provided directly or indirectly by that gov2 ernment of a foreign country; or 

3 (2) provided to that person or to any private 

4 business interest of that person. 

5 (b) DOMESTIC.—It shall be unlawful for the Presi6 dent to accept from the United States, or any of them, 

7 any emolument other than the compensation for his or her 

8 services as President provided for by Federal law. The 

9 prohibition under this subsection applies without regard 

10 to whether the emolument is provided directly or indi11 rectly, and without regard to whether the emolument is 

12 provided to the President or to any private business inter13 est of the President. 

14 SEC. 304. CIVIL ACTIONS BY CONGRESS CONCERNING FOR15 EIGN EMOLUMENTS. 

16 (a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—The House of Representa17 tives or the Senate may bring a civil action against any 

18 person for a violation of subsection (a) of section 303. 

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

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

21 (1) The action shall be filed before the United 

22 States District Court for the District of Columbia. 

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

24 court convened pursuant to section 2284 of title 28, 

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


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1 court to advance on the docket and to expedite to 

2 the greatest possible extent the disposition of any 

3 such action. Such action shall be reviewable only by 

4 appeal directly to the Supreme Court of the United 

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

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

7 a jurisdictional statement within 30 days, of the 

8 entry of the final decision. 

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

10 of the United States to advance on the docket and 

11 to expedite to the greatest possible extent the dis12 position of any such action and appeal. 

13 (c) REMEDY.—If the court determines that a viola14 tion of subsection (a) of section 303 has occurred, the 

15 court shall issue an order enjoining the course of conduct 

16 found to constitute the violation, and such of the following 

17 as are appropriate: 

18 (1) The disgorgement of the value of any for19 eign present or emolument. 

20 (2) The surrender of the physical present or 

21 emolument to the Department of State, which shall, 

22 if practicable, dispose of the present or emolument 

23 and deposit the proceeds into the United States 

24 Treasury. 


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1 (3) The renunciation of any office or title ac2 cepted in violation of such subsection. 

3 (4) A prohibition on the use or holding of such 

4 an office or title. 

5 (5) Such other relief as the court determines 

6 appropriate. 

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

8 appropriated funds, funds provided from any accounts in 

9 the United States Treasury, funds derived from the collec10 tion of fees, or any other Government funds shall be used 

11 to pay any disgorgement imposed by the court pursuant 

12 to this section. 

13 SEC. 305. DISCLOSURES CONCERNING FOREIGN AND DO14 MESTIC EMOLUMENTS. 

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

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

17 adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(9) Any present, emolument, office, or title re19 ceived from a government of a foreign country, in20 cluding the source, date, type, and amount or value 

21 of each present or emolument accepted on or before 

22 the date of filing during the preceding calendar year. 

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

24 expected to result in the receipt of any present or 


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1 emolument from a government of a foreign country 

2 during the current calendar year. 

3 ‘‘(11) In addition, the President shall report— 

4 ‘‘(A) any emolument received from the 

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

6 compensation for his or her services as Presi7 dent provided for by Federal law; and 

8 ‘‘(B) any business interest that is reason9 ably expected to result in the receipt of any 

10 emolument from the United States, or any of 

11 them.’’. 

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

13 amendments made by this section shall be construed to 

14 affect the prohibition against the acceptance of presents 

15 and emoluments under section 303. 

16 SEC. 306. ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY OF THE DIRECTOR 

17 OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS. 

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

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

20 amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) The Director’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘(a)(1) The Director’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

24 paragraph: 


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

2 executive branch policies related to compliance with the 

3 Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act and 

4 the amendments made by such Act and shall have the au5 thority to— 

6 ‘‘(A) issue administrative fines to individuals 

7 for violations; 

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

9 including disgorgement, divestiture, and recusal, as 

10 the Director deems necessary; and 

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

12 and orders.’’. 

13 (b) SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES.—Section 402(b) of such 

14 Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

16 (14); 

17 (2) by striking the period at the end of para18 graph (15) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(16) developing and promulgating rules and 

22 regulations to ensure compliance with the Foreign 

23 and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act and the 

24 amendments made by such Act, including estab25 lishing— 


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1 ‘‘(A) requirements for reporting and disclo2 sure; 

3 ‘‘(B) a schedule of administrative fines 

4 that may be imposed by the Director for viola5 tions; and 

6 ‘‘(C) a process for referral of matters to 

7 the Office of Special Counsel for investigation 

8 in compliance with section 1216(d) of title 5, 

9 United States Code.’’. 

10 SEC. 307. JURISDICTION OF THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL 

11 COUNSEL. 

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

13 amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)— 

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

16 the end; 

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

18 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

21 and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act or of 

22 the amendments made by section 305 of such Act.’’; 

23 and 

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


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1 ‘‘(d) If the Director of the Office of Government Eth2 ics refers a matter for investigation pursuant to section 

3 402 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, or if the 

4 Special Counsel receives a credible complaint of a violation 

5 referred to in subsection (a)(6), the Special Counsel shall 

6 complete an investigation not later than 120 days there7 after. If the Special Counsel investigates any violation pur8 suant to subsection (a)(6), the Special Counsel shall re9 port not later than 7 days after the completion of such 

10 investigation to the Director of the Office of Government 

11 Ethics and to Congress on the results of such investiga12 tion.’’. 

13 DIVISION B—RESTORING 

14 CHECKS AND BALANCES, AC15 COUNTABILITY, AND TRANS16 PARENCY 

17 TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT OF 

18 CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS 

19 SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE. 

20 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Sub21 poena Compliance and Enforcement Act’’. 

22 SEC. 402. FINDINGS. 

23 The Congress finds as follows: 

24 (1) As the Supreme Court has repeatedly af25 firmed, including in its July 9, 2020, holding in 


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1 Trump v. Mazars, Congress’ ‘‘power of inquiry— 

2 with process to enforce it—is an essential and ap3 propriate auxiliary to the legislative function’’. Con4 gress’ power to obtain information, including 

5 through the issuance of subpoenas and the enforce6 ment of such subpoenas, is ‘‘broad and indispen7 sable’’. 

8 (2) Congress ‘‘suffers a concrete and particular9 ized injury when denied the opportunity to obtain in10 formation necessary’’ to the exercise of its constitu11 tional functions, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for 

12 the District of Columbia Circuit correctly recognized 

13 in its August 7, 2020, en banc decision in Com14 mittee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Rep15 resentatives v. McGahn. 

16 (3) Accordingly, the Constitution secures to 

17 each House of Congress an inherent right to enforce 

18 its subpoenas in court. Explicit statutory authoriza19 tion is not required to secure such a right of action, 

20 and the contrary holding by a divided panel of the 

21 U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 

22 Circuit in McGahn, entered on August 31, 2020, 

23 was in error. 


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1 SEC. 403. ENFORCEMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS. 

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

3 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1365 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 1365a. Congressional actions against subpoena re6 cipients 

7 ‘‘(a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—The United States House 

8 of Representatives, the United States Senate, or a com9 mittee or subcommittee thereof, may bring a civil action 

10 against the recipient of a subpoena issued by a congres11 sional committee or subcommittee to enforce compliance 

12 with the subpoena. 

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

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

15 ‘‘(1) The action may be filed in a United States 

16 district court of competent jurisdiction. 

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

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

19 expedite to the greatest possible extent the disposi20 tion of any such action and appeal. Upon a showing 

21 by the plaintiff of undue delay, other irreparable 

22 harm, or good cause, a court to which an appeal of 

23 the action may be taken shall issue any necessary 

24 and appropriate writs and orders to ensure compli25 ance with this paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(3) If a three-judge court is expressly re2 quested by the plaintiff in the initial pleading, the 

3 action shall be heard by a three-judge court con4 vened pursuant to section 2284, and shall be review5 able only by appeal directly to the Supreme Court of 

6 the United States. Such appeal shall be taken by the 

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

8 filing of a jurisdictional statement within 30 days, of 

9 the entry of the final decision. 

10 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) CASES INVOLVING GOVERNMENT AGEN12 CIES.— 

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

14 monetary penalties directly against each head of 

15 a Government agency and the head of each 

16 component thereof held to have knowingly failed 

17 to comply with any part of a congressional sub18 poena. 

19 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON USE OF GOVERN20 MENT FUNDS.—No appropriated funds, funds 

21 provided from any accounts in the Treasury, 

22 funds derived from the collection of fees, or 

23 other Government funds shall be used to pay 

24 any monetary penalty imposed by the court 

25 pursuant to this paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(2) LEGAL FEES.—In addition to any other 

2 penalties or sanctions, the court shall require that 

3 any defendant, other than a Government agency, 

4 held to have willfully failed to comply with any part 

5 of a congressional subpoena, pay a penalty in an 

6 amount equal to that party’s legal fees, including at7 torney’s fees, litigation expenses, and other costs. If 

8 such defendant if is an officer or employee of a Gov9 ernment agency, such fees may be paid from funds 

10 appropriated to pay the salary of the defendant. 

11 ‘‘(d) WAIVER.—Any ground for noncompliance as12 serted by the recipient of a congressional subpoena shall 

13 be deemed to have been waived as to any particular infor14 mation withheld from production if the court finds that 

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

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

17 the United States with respect to such information. 

18 ‘‘(e) RULES OF PROCEDURE.—The Supreme Court 

19 and the Judicial Conference of the United States shall 

20 prescribe rules of procedure to ensure the expeditious 

21 treatment of actions described in subsection (a). Such 

22 rules shall be prescribed and submitted to the Congress 

23 pursuant to sections 2072, 2073, and 2074. This shall in24 clude procedures for expeditiously considering any asser25 tion of constitutional or Federal statutory privilege made 


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1 in connection with testimony by any recipient of a sub2 poena from a congressional committee or subcommittee. 

3 The Supreme Court shall transmit such rules to Congress 

4 within 6 months after the effective date of this section and 

5 then pursuant to section 2074 thereafter. 

6 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

7 term ‘Government agency’ means any office or entity de8 scribed in section 105 and 106 of title 3, an executive de9 partment listed in section 101 of title 5, an independent 

10 establishment, commission, board, bureau, division, or of11 fice in the executive branch, or other agency or instrumen12 tality of the Federal Government, including wholly or part13 ly owned Government corporations.’’. 

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

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

16 by inserting after the item relating to section 1365 the 

17 following: 

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

18 SEC. 404. COMPLIANCE WITH CONGRESSIONAL SUB19 POENAS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title II of the Re21 vised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 191 et seq.) 

22 is amended— 

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


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

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

3 Any recipient of any subpoena from a congressional com4 mittee or subcommittee shall appear and testify, produce, 

5 or otherwise disclose information in a manner consistent 

6 with the subpoena and this section. 

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

8 ‘‘(1) GROUNDS FOR WITHHOLDING INFORMA9 TION.—Unless required by the Constitution or by 

10 Federal statute, no claim of privilege or protection 

11 from disclosure shall be a ground for withholding in12 formation responsive to the subpoena or required by 

13 this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFICATION OF INFORMATION WITH15 HELD.—In the case of information that is withheld, 

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

17 subpoena recipient shall, without delay provide a log 

18 containing the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) An express assertion and description 

20 of the ground asserted for withholding the in21 formation. 

22 ‘‘(B) The type of information. 

23 ‘‘(C) The general subject matter. 

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

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

26 addressee to each other. 


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

2 ‘‘(G) Any other descriptive information 

3 that may be produced or disclosed regarding 

4 the information that will enable the congres5 sional committee or subcommittee issuing the 

6 subpoena to assess the ground asserted for 

7 withholding the information. 

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

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

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

11 a congressional committee or subcommittee.’’; and 

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

13 end and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘, or the Attorney General for the District of Colum15 bia, in which case, notwithstanding section 23–101, Dis16 trict of Columbia Official Code, the offense may be pros17 ecuted by the Attorney General for the District of Colum18 bia, and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than 

19 $1,000 and imprisonment of not more than 12 months.’’. 

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

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

22 United States is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 

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


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1 SEC. 405. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

2 Nothing in this title may be interpreted to limit or 

3 constrain Congress’ inherent authority or foreclose any 

4 other means for enforcing compliance with congressional 

5 subpoenas, nor may anything in this title be interpreted 

6 to establish or recognize any ground for noncompliance 

7 with a congressional subpoena. 

8 TITLE V—REASSERTING CON9 GRESSIONAL POWER OF THE 

10 PURSE 

11 SEC. 500. SHORT TITLE. 

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

13 of the Purse Act’’. 

14 Subtitle A—Strengthening Con15 gressional Control and Review 

16 To Prevent Impoundment 

17 SEC. 501. STRENGTHENING CONGRESSIONAL CONTROL. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Impoundment Control Act of 

19 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

20 end the following: 

21 ‘‘PRUDENT OBLIGATION OF BUDGET AUTHORITY AND

22 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPIRING BUDGET

23 AUTHORITY

24 ‘‘SEC. 1018. (a) SPECIAL MESSAGE REQUIRE25 MENT.—With respect to budget authority proposed to be 

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


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1 deferred in a special message transmitted under section 

2 1012 or 1013, such budget authority— 

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

4 sufficient time to be prudently obligated as required 

5 under section 1012(b) or 1013; and 

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

7 from obligation during the 90-day period before the 

8 expiration of the period of availability of such budget 

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

10 before the expiration of an initial period of avail11 ability for which such budget authority was pro12 vided. 

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

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

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

16 made pursuant to section 1512 of such title, an appropria17 tion shall be apportioned— 

18 ‘‘(1) to make available all amounts for obliga19 tion in sufficient time to be prudently obligated; and 

20 ‘‘(2) to make available all amounts for obliga21 tion, without precondition or limitation (including 

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

23 later than 90 days before the expiration of the pe24 riod of availability of such appropriation, including, 

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1 tial period of availability for which such appropria2 tion was provided.’’. 

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

4 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control 

5 Act of 1974 set forth in section 1(b) of such Act is amend6 ed by adding after the item relating to section 1017 the 

7 following: 

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

8 SEC. 502. STRENGTHENING CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Impoundment Control Act of 

10 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.), as amended by section 

11 501(a), is further amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘REPORTING

14 ‘‘SEC. 1019. (a) APPORTIONMENT OF APPROPRIA15 TIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

17 after the date of enactment of this section, the Of18 fice of Management and Budget shall complete im19 plementation of an automated system to post each 

20 document apportioning an appropriation, pursuant 

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

22 including any associated footnotes, in a format that 

23 qualifies each such document as an Open Govern24 ment Data Asset (as defined in section 3502 of title 


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1 44, United States Code), not later than 2 business 

2 days after the date of approval of such apportion3 ment, and shall place on such website each docu4 ment apportioning an appropriation, pursuant to 

5 such section 1513(b), including any associated foot6 notes, already approved for the fiscal year, and shall 

7 report the date of completion of such requirements 

8 to the Committees on the Budget and Appropria9 tions of the House of Representatives and Senate. 

10 ‘‘(2) EXPLANATORY STATEMENT.—Each docu11 ment apportioning an appropriation posted on a 

12 publicly accessible website under paragraph (1) shall 

13 also include a written explanation by the official ap14 proving each such apportionment (pursuant to sec15 tion 1513(b) of title 31, United States Code) of the 

16 rationale for the apportionment schedule and for any 

17 footnotes. 

18 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL PROCESS FOR TRANSMITTING

19 CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTATION TO THE CONGRESS.— 

20 The Office of Management and Budget or the appli21 cable department or agency shall make available 

22 classified documentation relating to apportionment 

23 to appropriate congressional committees on a sched24 ule to be determined by each such committee. 


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

2 Each department or agency shall notify the Commit3 tees on the Budget and Appropriations of the House 

4 of Representatives and the Senate and any other ap5 propriate congressional committees if— 

6 ‘‘(A) an apportionment is not made in the 

7 required time period provided in section 

8 1513(b) of title 31, United States Code; 

9 ‘‘(B) an approved apportionment received 

10 by the department or agency conditions the 

11 availability of an appropriation on further ac12 tion; or 

13 ‘‘(C) an approved apportionment received 

14 by the department or agency may hinder the 

15 prudent obligation of such appropriation or the 

16 execution of a program, project, or activity by 

17 such department or agency, 

18 and such notification shall contain information iden19 tifying the bureau, account name, appropriation 

20 name, and Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbol or 

21 fund account. 

22 ‘‘(b) APPROVING OFFICIALS.— 

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

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1 suant to section 1513(b) of title 31, United States 

2 Code that is in effect as of such date shall be sub3 mitted for publication in the Federal Register. Any 

4 delegation of such apportionment authority after the 

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

6 of such delegation, be submitted for publication in 

7 the Federal Register. The Office of Management 

8 and Budget shall publish such delegations in a for9 mat that qualifies such publications as an Open 

10 Government Data Asset (as defined in section 3502 

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

12 website, which shall be continuously updated with 

13 the position of each Federal officer or employee to 

14 whom apportionment authority has been delegated. 

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

16 days after any change in the position of the approv17 ing official with respect to such delegated apportion18 ment authority for any account is made, the Office 

19 shall submit a report to the Congress explaining why 

20 such change was made.’’. 

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

22 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control 

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

24 amended by section 501(b), is further amended by adding 

25 after the item relating to section 1018 the following: 

‘‘1019. Reporting.’’. 


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1 SEC. 503. UPDATED AUTHORITIES FOR AND REPORTING BY 

2 THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 

3 (a) Section 1015 of the Impoundment Control Act 

4 of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 686) is amended— 

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

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

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

8 ‘‘(c) REVIEW.— 

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

10 shall review compliance with this part and shall sub11 mit to the Committees on the Budget, Appropria12 tions, and Oversight and Reform of the House of 

13 Representatives, the Committees on the Budget, Ap14 propriations, and Homeland Security and Govern15 mental Affairs of the Senate, and any other appro16 priate congressional committee of the House of Rep17 resentatives and Senate a report, and any relevant 

18 information related to the report, on any noncompli19 ance with this part. 

20 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION, DOCUMENTATION, AND

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

22 department or agency of the United States shall pro23 vide information, documentation, and views to the 

24 Comptroller General, as is determined by the Comp25 troller General to be necessary to determine such 

26 compliance, not later than 20 days after the date on 


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1 which the request from the Comptroller General is 

2 received, or if the Comptroller General determines 

3 that a shorter or longer period is appropriate based 

4 on the specific circumstances, within such shorter or 

5 longer period. 

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

7 of this part, the Comptroller General shall also have 

8 access to interview the officers, employees, contrac9 tors, and other agents and representatives of a de10 partment, agency, or office of the United States at 

11 any reasonable time as the Comptroller General may 

12 request.’’. 

13 (b) Section 1001 of the Impoundment Control Act 

14 of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681) is amended— 

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

16 the end of the paragraph; 

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

18 the end and inserting a semicolon; 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. If, under this chapter, budget authority 

7 is required to be made available for obligation and such 

8 budget authority is not made available for obligation or 

9 information, documentation, views, or access are required 

10 to be produced and such information, documentation, 

11 views, or access are not produced, the Comptroller General 

12 is expressly empowered, through attorneys of their own 

13 selection, to bring a civil action in the United States Dis14 trict Court for the District of Columbia to require such 

15 budget authority to be made available for obligation or 

16 such information, documentation, views, or access to be 

17 produced, and such court is expressly empowered to enter 

18 in such civil action, against any department, agency, offi19 cer, or employee of the United States, any decree, judg20 ment, or order which may be necessary or appropriate to 

21 make such budget authority available for obligation or 

22 compel production of such information, documentation, 

23 views, or access. No civil action shall be brought by the 

24 Comptroller General to require budget authority be made 

25 available under this section until the expiration of 15 cal26 endar days following the date on which an explanatory 


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1 statement by the Comptroller General of the cir2 cumstances giving rise to the action contemplated is filed 

3 with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 

4 President of the Senate, except that expiration of such pe5 riod shall not be required if the Comptroller General finds 

6 (and incorporates the finding in the explanatory statement 

7 filed) that the delay would be contrary to the public inter8 est.’’. 

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

10 IMPOUNDMENT CONTROL ACT OF 1974. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Impoundment Control Act of 

12 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.), as amended by section 

13 502(a), is further amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY

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

17 officer or employee of the Executive Branch of the United 

18 States Government violating this part shall be subject to 

19 appropriate administrative discipline including, when cir20 cumstances warrant, suspension from duty without pay or 

21 removal from office. 

22 ‘‘(b) REPORTING VIOLATIONS.— 

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

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

25 or in the case that the Government Accountability 

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1 partment, agency, or office of the United States vio2 lated this part, the President or the head of the rel3 evant department or agency as the case may be, 

4 shall report immediately to Congress all relevant 

5 facts and a statement of actions taken. A copy of 

6 each report shall also be transmitted to the Comp7 troller General and the relevant inspector general on 

8 the same date the report is transmitted to the Con9 gress. 

10 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Any such report shall include 

11 a summary of the facts pertaining to the violation, 

12 the title and Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbol 

13 of the appropriation or fund account, the amount in14 volved for each violation, the date on which the vio15 lation occurred, the position of any individuals re16 sponsible for the violation, a statement of the admin17 istrative discipline imposed and any further action 

18 taken with respect to any officer or employee in19 volved in the violation, and a statement of any addi20 tional action taken to prevent recurrence of the same 

21 type of violation. In the case that the Government 

22 Accountability Office issues a legal decision con23 cluding that a department, agency, or office of the 

24 United States violated this part and the relevant de25 partment, agency, or office does not agree that a 


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1 violation has occurred, the report provided to Con2 gress, the Comptroller General, and relevant inspec3 tor general will explain its position. 

4 ‘‘(3) OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.—If the report 

5 identifies the position of any officer or employee as 

6 involved in the violation, such officer or employee 

7 shall be provided a reasonable opportunity to re8 spond in writing, and any such response shall be ap9 pended to the report.’’. 

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 502(b), is further amended by adding 

14 after the item relating to section 1019 the following: 

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

15 Subtitle B—Strengthening 

16 Transparency and Reporting 

17 PART 1—FUNDS MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING 

18 TO THE CONGRESS 

19 SEC. 511. EXPIRED BALANCE REPORTING IN THE PRESI20 DENT’S BUDGET. 

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

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(40) for the budgets for each of fiscal years 

24 2022 through 2026, a report on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) unobligated expired balances as of the 

2 beginning of the current fiscal year and the be3 ginning of each of the preceding 2 fiscal years 

4 by agency and the applicable Treasury Appro5 priation Fund Symbol or fund account; and 

6 ‘‘(B) an explanation of expired balances in 

7 any Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbol or 

8 fund account that exceed the lesser of 5 percent 

9 of total appropriations made available for that 

10 account or $100,000,000.’’. 

11 SEC. 512. CANCELLED BALANCE REPORTING IN THE PRESI12 DENT’S BUDGET. 

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

14 amended by section 511, is further amended by adding 

15 at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(41) for the budgets for each of fiscal years 

17 2022 through 2026, a report on— 

18 ‘‘(A) cancelled balances (pursuant to sec19 tion 1552(a)) for the preceding 3 fiscal years by 

20 agency and Treasury Appropriation Fund Sym21 bol or fund account; 

22 ‘‘(B) an explanation of cancelled balances 

23 in any Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbol or 

24 fund account that exceed the lesser of 5 percent 


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1 of total appropriations made available for that 

2 account or $100,000,000; and 

3 ‘‘(C) a tabulation, by Treasury Appropria4 tion Fund Symbol or fund account and appro5 priation, of all balances of appropriations avail6 able for an indefinite period in an appropriation 

7 account available for an indefinite period that 

8 do not meet the criteria for closure under sec9 tion 1555, but for which either— 

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

11 or the President has determined that the 

12 purposes for which the appropriation was 

13 made have been carried out; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) no disbursement has been made 

15 against the appropriation— 

16 ‘‘(I) in the prior year and the 

17 preceding fiscal year; or 

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

19 the budget estimates zero disburse20 ments in the current year.’’. 

21 SEC. 513. LAPSE IN APPROPRIATIONS—REPORTING IN THE 

22 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET. 

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

24 amended by section 512, is further amended by adding 

25 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(42) a report on— 

2 ‘‘(A) any obligation or expenditure made 

3 by a department or agency affected in whole or 

4 in part by any lapse in appropriations of 5 con5 secutive days or more during the preceding fis6 cal year; and 

7 ‘‘(B)(i) with respect to any such obligation 

8 or expenditure, the amount so obligated or ex9 pended, the account affected, and an expla10 nation of which Antideficiency Act exceptions 

11 permitted the department or agency, as the 

12 case may be, to incur such obligation or expend13 iture; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) an explanation of any changes in the 

15 application of any Antideficiency Act exception 

16 for a program, project, or activity from any ex17 planations previously reported on pursuant to 

18 this paragraph.’’. 

19 SEC. 514. TRANSFER AND OTHER REPURPOSING AUTHOR20 ITY REPORTING IN THE PRESIDENT’S BUDG21 ET. 

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

23 amended by section 513, is further amended by adding 

24 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(43) for the budget for fiscal year 2022, a re2 port on— 

3 ‘‘(A) any transfer authority or other au4 thority to repurpose appropriations provided in 

5 a law other than an appropriation act; and 

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

7 the citation to the statute, the list of depart8 ments or agencies covered, an explanation of 

9 when such authority may be used, and an ex10 planation on any use of such authority in the 

11 preceding 3 fiscal years.’’. 

12 SEC. 515. AUTHORIZING CANCELLATIONS IN INDEFINITE 

13 ACCOUNTS BY APPROPRIATION. 

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

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

16 section 1555 the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 1555a. CANCELLATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AVAIL18 ABLE FOR INDEFINITE PERIODS WITHIN AN 

19 ACCOUNT. 

20 ‘‘Any remaining balance (whether obligated or unobli21 gated) from an appropriation available for an indefinite 

22 period in an appropriation account available for an indefi23 nite period that does not meet the requirements for closure 

24 under section 1555 shall be canceled, and thereafter shall 


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1 not be available for obligation or expenditure for any pur2 pose, if— 

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

4 President determines that the purposes for which 

5 the appropriation was made have been carried out; 

6 and 

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

8 the appropriation for two consecutive fiscal years.’’. 

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

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

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

12 section 1555 the following: 

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

account.’’. 

13 PART 2—EMPOWERING CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW 

14 THROUGH NONPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL 

15 AGENCIES AND TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVES 

16 SEC. 521. REQUIREMENT TO RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR 

17 INFORMATION FROM THE GOVERNMENT AC18 COUNTABILITY OFFICE FOR BUDGET AND AP19 PROPRIATIONS LAW DECISIONS. 

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

21 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

22 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 722. REQUIREMENT TO RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR 

2 INFORMATION FROM THE GOVERNMENT AC3 COUNTABILITY OFFICE FOR BUDGET AND AP4 PROPRIATIONS 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 the request for informa16 tion, documentation, or views within the time required by 

17 this section— 

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

19 writing, the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 

20 the House of Representatives, Committee on Home21 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen22 ate, and any other appropriate congressional com23 mittee of the House of Representatives and the Sen24 ate of such failure; and 

25 ‘‘(2) the Comptroller General is hereby ex26 pressly empowered, through attorneys of their own 


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1 selection, to bring a civil action in the United States 

2 District Court for the District of Columbia to re3 quire such information, documentation, or views to 

4 be produced, and such court is expressly empowered 

5 to enter in such civil action, against any department, 

6 agency, officer, or employee of the United States, 

7 any decree, judgment, or order which may be nec8 essary or appropriate to require such production. 

9 ‘‘(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as af10 fecting or otherwise limiting the authorities provided to 

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

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

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

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

15 section 721 the following: 

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

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

16 SEC. 522. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR ANTIDEFI17 CIENCY ACT VIOLATIONS. 

18 (a) VIOLATIONS OF SECTION 1341 OR 1342.—Sec19 tion 1351 of title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

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

21 Government Accountability Office, an executive 

22 agency, or the District of Columbia government de23 termines that’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(b) Any such report shall include a summary of the 

2 facts pertaining to the violation, the title and Treasury 

3 Appropriation Fund Symbol of the appropriation or fund 

4 account, the amount involved for each violation, the date 

5 on which the violation occurred, the position of any officer 

6 or employee responsible for the violation, a statement of 

7 the administrative discipline imposed and any further ac8 tion taken with respect to any officer or employee involved 

9 in the violation, a statement of any additional action taken 

10 to prevent recurrence of the same type of violation, a 

11 statement of any determination that the violation was not 

12 knowing and willful that has been made by the executive 

13 agency or District of Columbia government, and any writ14 ten response by any officer or employee identified by posi15 tion as involved in the violation. In the case that the Gov16 ernment Accountability Office issues a legal decision con17 cluding that section 1341(a) or 1342 was violated and the 

18 executive agency or District of Columbia government, as 

19 applicable, does not agree that a violation has occurred, 

20 the report provided to the President, the Congress, and 

21 the Comptroller General will explain its position.’’. 

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

23 title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘If’’ and in25 serting ‘‘If the Government Accountability Office, an 


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1 executive agency, or the District of Columbia gov2 ernment determines that’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(c) Any such report shall include a summary of the 

5 facts pertaining to the violation, the title and Treasury 

6 Appropriation Fund Symbol of the appropriation or fund 

7 account, the amount involved for each violation, the date 

8 on which the violation occurred, the position of any officer 

9 or employee responsible for the violation, a statement of 

10 the administrative discipline imposed and any further ac11 tion taken with respect to any officer or employee involved 

12 in the violation, a statement of any additional action taken 

13 to prevent recurrence of the same type of violation, a 

14 statement of any determination that the violation was not 

15 knowing and willful that has been made by the executive 

16 agency or District of Columbia government, and any writ17 ten response by any officer or employee identified by posi18 tion as involved in the violation. In the case that the Gov19 ernment Accountability Office issues a legal decision con20 cluding that subsection (a) was violated and the executive 

21 agency or District of Columbia government, as applicable, 

22 does not agree that a violation has occurred, the report 

23 provided to the President, the Congress, and the Comp24 troller General will explain its position.’’. 


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1 SEC. 523. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORTING TO CON2 GRESS FOR ANTIDEFICIENCY ACT VIOLA3 TIONS. 

4 (a) VIOLATIONS OF SECTIONS 1341 OR 1342.—Sec5 tion 1350 of title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

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

7 An officer’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘(b)(1) If an executive agency or the District of Co10 lumbia government reports, under section 1351, a viola11 tion of section 1341(a) or 1342, the Attorney General 

12 shall promptly review such report and investigate to the 

13 extent necessary to determine whether there are reason14 able grounds to believe that the responsible officer or em15 ployee knowingly and willfully violated such section 

16 1341(a) or 1342, as applicable. If the Attorney General 

17 determines that there are such reasonable grounds, the 

18 Attorney General diligently shall investigate a criminal 

19 violation under this section. 

20 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall submit to Congress 

21 and the Comptroller General on or before March 31 of 

22 each calendar year an annual report detailing separately 

23 for each executive agency and the District of Columbia 

24 government— 


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

2 transmitted to the President during the preceding 

3 calendar year; 

4 ‘‘(B) the number of reports reviewed in accord5 ance with paragraph (1) during the preceding cal6 endar year; 

7 ‘‘(C) without identification of any individual of8 ficer or employee of the United States Government 

9 or of the District of Columbia government, a de10 scription of each investigation undertaken in accord11 ance with paragraph (1) during the preceding cal12 endar year and an explanation of the status of any 

13 such investigation; and 

14 ‘‘(D) without identification of any individual of15 ficer or employee of the United States Government 

16 or of the District of Columbia government, an expla17 nation of any update to the status of any review or 

18 investigation previously reported pursuant to this 

19 subsection.’’. 

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

21 title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

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

23 An officer’’; and 

24 (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 such section 1517(a). If 

8 the Attorney General determines that there are such rea9 sonable grounds, the Attorney General diligently shall in10 vestigate a criminal violation under this section. 

11 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall submit to Congress 

12 and the Comptroller General on or before March 31 of 

13 each calendar year an annual report detailing separately 

14 for each executive agency and the District of Columbia 

15 government— 

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

17 1517(b) transmitted to the President during the pre18 ceding calendar year; 

19 ‘‘(B) the number of reports reviewed in accord20 ance with paragraph (1) during the preceding cal21 endar year; 

22 ‘‘(C) without identification of any individual of23 ficer or employee of the United States Government 

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1 ance with paragraph (1) during the preceding cal2 endar year and an explanation of the status of any 

3 such investigation; and 

4 ‘‘(D) without identification of any individual of5 ficer or employee of the United States Government 

6 or of the District of Columbia government, an expla7 nation of any update to the status of any review or 

8 investigation previously reported pursuant to this 

9 subsection.’’. 

10 SEC. 524. PUBLICATION OF BUDGET OR APPROPRIATIONS 

11 LAW OPINIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUS12 TICE OFFICE OF LEGAL COUNSEL. 

13 (a) SCHEDULE OF PUBLICATION FOR FINAL OLC 

14 OPINIONS.—Each final opinion issued by the Office of 

15 Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice relating to 

16 section 1301(a), 1341, 1342, 1501, 1502, 1512, 1513, 

17 1515, 1517, or 3302(b) of title 31, United States Code, 

18 any provision of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 

19 Deficit Control Act of 1985, the Federal Credit Reform 

20 Act of 1990, the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, an 

21 appropriation Act, continuing resolution, or another provi22 sion of law providing or governing appropriations or budg23 et authority shall be made available on its public website 

24 in a manner that is searchable, sortable, and downloadable 

25 in its entirety as soon as is practicable, but— 


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

2 issued or updated if such action takes place on or 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act; 

4 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of en5 actment of this Act for an opinion issued on or after 

6 January 20, 1993; 

7 (3) not later than 2 years after the date of en8 actment of this Act for an opinion issued on or after 

9 January 20, 1981, and before or on January 19, 

10 1993; 

11 (4) not later than 3 years after the date of en12 actment of this Act for an opinion issued on or after 

13 January 20, 1969, and before or on January 19, 

14 1981; and 

15 (5) not later than 4 years after the date of en16 actment of this Act for all other opinions. 

17 (b) EXCEPTIONS AND LIMITATION ON PUBLIC

18 AVAILABILITY OF FINAL OLC OPINIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—A final OLC opinion or part 

20 thereof may be withheld only to the extent— 

21 (A) information contained in the opinion 

22 was— 

23 (i) specifically authorized to be kept 

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1 ecutive order, in the interest of national 

2 defense or foreign policy; 

3 (ii) properly classified, including all 

4 procedural and marking requirements, pur5 suant to such Executive order; 

6 (iii) the Attorney General determines 

7 that the national defense or foreign policy 

8 interests protected outweigh the public’s 

9 interest in access to the information; and 

10 (iv) put through declassification re11 view within the past two years; 

12 (B) information contained in the opinion 

13 relates to the appointment of a specific indi14 vidual not confirmed to Federal office; 

15 (C) information contained in the opinion is 

16 specifically exempted from disclosure by statute 

17 (other than sections 552 and 552b of title 5, 

18 United States Code), if such statute— 

19 (i) requires that the material be with20 held in such a manner as to leave no dis21 cretion on the issue; or 

22 (ii) establishes particular criteria for 

23 withholding or refers to particular types of 

24 material to be withheld; 


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1 (D) information in the opinion includes 

2 trade secrets and commercial or financial infor3 mation obtained from a person and privileged 

4 or confidential whose disclosure would likely 

5 cause substantial harm to the competitive posi6 tion of the person from whom the information 

7 was obtained; 

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

9 nondelegable determination, formally and per10 sonally claims in writing that executive privilege 

11 prevents the release of the information and dis12 closure would cause specific identifiable harm to 

13 an interest protected by an exception or the dis14 closure is prohibited by law; or 

15 (F) information in the opinion includes 

16 personnel and medical files and similar files the 

17 disclosure of which would constitute a clearly 

18 unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. 

19 (2) DETERMINATION TO WITHHOLD.—Any de20 termination under this subsection to withhold infor21 mation contained in a final OLC opinion shall be 

22 made by the Attorney General or a designee of the 

23 Attorney General. The determination shall be— 

24 (A) in writing; 


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1 (B) made available to the public within the 

2 same timeframe as is required of a formal OLC 

3 opinion; 

4 (C) sufficiently detailed as to inform the 

5 public of what kind of information is being 

6 withheld and the reason therefore; and 

7 (D) effective only for a period of 3 years, 

8 subject to review and reissuance, with each 

9 reissuance made available to the public. 

10 (3) FINAL OPINIONS.—For final OLC opinions 

11 for which the text is withheld in full or in substan12 tial part, a detailed unclassified summary of the 

13 opinion shall be made available to the public, in the 

14 same timeframe as required of the final OLC opin15 ion, that conveys the essence of the opinion, includ16 ing any interpretations of a statute, the Constitu17 tion, or other legal authority. A notation shall be in18 cluded in any published list of OLC opinions regard19 ing the extent of the withholdings. 

20 (4) NO LIMITATION ON FREEDOM OF INFORMA21 TION.—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed 

22 as limiting the availability of information under sec23 tion 552 of title 5, United States Code or construed 

24 as an exemption under paragraph (3) of subsection 

25 (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 title shall not preclude any ac4 tion or relief conferred by statutory or regulatory re5 gime that empowers 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 an opinion shall be provided after 

10 withholding of the portions which are exempt under 

11 this section. The amount of information withheld, 

12 and the exemption under which the withholding is 

13 made, shall be indicated on the released portion of 

14 the opinion, unless including that indication would 

15 harm an interest protected by the exemption in this 

16 paragraph under which the withholding is made. If 

17 technically feasible, the amount of the information 

18 withheld, and the exemption under which the with19 holding is made, shall be indicated at the place in 

20 the opinion where such withholding is made. 

21 (c) METHOD OF PUBLICATION.—The Attorney Gen22 eral shall publish each final OLC opinion to the extent 

23 the law permits, including by publishing the opinions on 

24 a publicly accessible website that— 

25 (1) with respect to each opinion— 


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1 (A) contains an electronic copy of the opin2 ion, including any transmittal letter associated 

3 with the opinion, in an open format that is plat4 form independent and that is available to the 

5 public without restrictions; 

6 (B) provides the public the ability to re7 trieve an opinion, to the extent practicable, 

8 through searches based on— 

9 (i) the title of the opinion; 

10 (ii) the date of publication or revision; 

11 or 

12 (iii) the full text of the opinion; 

13 (C) identifies the time and date when the 

14 opinion was required to be published, and when 

15 the opinion was transmitted for publication; 

16 and 

17 (D) provides a permanent means of access18 ing the opinion electronically; 

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

20 OLC opinions or a selection of opinions retrieved 

21 using a text-based search; 

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

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

24 any other limitation in exchange for access to the 

25 website; and 


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

2 carry out the purposes of this section. 

3 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) OLC OPINION.—The term ‘‘OLC opinion’’ 

5 means views on a matter of legal interpretation com6 municated by the Office of Legal Counsel of the De7 partment of Justice to any other office or agency, or 

8 person in an office or agency, in the Executive 

9 Branch, including any office in the Department of 

10 Justice, the White House, or the Executive Office of 

11 the President, and rendered in accordance with sec12 tions 511–513 of title 28, United States Code. 

13 Where the communication of the legal interpretation 

14 takes place verbally, a memorialization of that com15 munication qualifies as an ‘‘OLC opinion’’. 

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

17 OLC opinion’’ means an OLC opinion that— 

18 (A) the Attorney General, Assistant Attor19 ney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, or 

20 a Deputy Assistant General for the Office of 

21 Legal Counsel, has determined is final; 

22 (B) government officials or government 

23 contractors are relying on or have relied on; 

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

25 legal guidance; or 


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1 (D) is cited in another Office of Legal 

2 Counsel opinion. 

3 Subtitle C—Strengthening Con4 gressional Role in and Over5 sight of Emergency Declarations 

6 and Designations 

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

8 OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCIES ACT. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO DECLARATION

10 AND RENEWAL OF NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.—Title II of 

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

12 is amended by striking sections 201 and 202 and inserting 

13 the following: 

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

15 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO DECLARE NATIONAL EMER16 GENCIES.—With respect to Acts of Congress authorizing 

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

18 of any special or extraordinary power, the President is au19 thorized to declare such a national emergency by procla20 mation. Such proclamation shall immediately be trans21 mitted to Congress and published in the Federal Register. 

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

23 EXERCISED AND REPORTING.—No powers or authorities 

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

25 national emergency shall be exercised unless and until the 


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1 President specifies the provisions of law under which the 

2 President proposes that the President or other officers will 

3 act in— 

4 ‘‘(1) a proclamation declaring a national emer5 gency under subsection (a); or 

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

7 the emergency published in the Federal Register and 

8 transmitted to Congress. 

9 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON SUBSEQUENT ACTIONS IF

10 EMERGENCIES NOT APPROVED.— 

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

12 resolution of approval is not enacted under section 

13 203 with respect to a national emergency before the 

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

15 or with respect to a national emergency proposed to 

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

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

18 that President, declare a subsequent national emer19 gency under subsection (a) with respect to the same 

20 circumstances. 

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

22 resolution of approval is not enacted under section 

23 203 with respect to a power or authority specified by 

24 the President under subsection (b) with respect to a 

25 national emergency, the President may not, during 


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1 the remainder of the term of office of that Presi2 dent, exercise that power or authority with respect 

3 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.—Unless previously termi14 nated pursuant to Presidential order or Act of Con15 gress, a declaration of a national emergency shall re16 main in effect for 20 session days, in the case of the 

17 Senate, and 20 legislative days, in the case of the 

18 House, from the issuance of the proclamation under 

19 section 201(a) (not counting the day on which the 

20 proclamation was issued) and shall terminate when 

21 that period expires unless there is enacted into law 

22 a joint resolution of approval under section 203 with 

23 respect to the proclamation. 

24 ‘‘(2) EXERCISE OF POWERS AND AUTHORI25 TIES.—Unless the declaration of national emergency 


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1 has been terminated pursuant to Presidential order 

2 or Act of Congress, any emergency power or author3 ity made available under a provision of law specified 

4 pursuant to section 201(b) may be exercised pursu5 ant to a declaration of a national emergency for 20 

6 session days, in the case of the Senate, and 20 legis7 lative days, in the case of the House, from the 

8 issuance of the proclamation or Executive order (not 

9 counting the day on which such proclamation or Ex10 ecutive order was issued). That power or authority 

11 may not be exercised after that period expires unless 

12 there is enacted into law a joint resolution of ap13 proval under section 203 approving— 

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 ‘‘(b) RENEWAL OF NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.—A na20 tional emergency declared by the President under section 

21 201(a) or previously renewed under this subsection, and 

22 not already terminated pursuant to subsection (a) or (c), 

23 shall terminate on the date that is one year after the 

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1 claring the emergency or the enactment of a previous re2 newal pursuant to this subsection, unless— 

3 ‘‘(1) the President publishes in the Federal 

4 Register and transmits to Congress an Executive 

5 order renewing the emergency; and 

6 ‘‘(2) there is enacted into law a joint resolution 

7 of approval renewing the emergency pursuant to sec8 tion 203 before the termination of the emergency or 

9 previous renewal of the emergency. 

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

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

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

13 terminate on the earliest of— 

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

15 (a); 

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

17 (b); 

18 ‘‘(C) the date specified in an Act of Con19 gress terminating the emergency; or 

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

21 of the President terminating the emergency. 

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

23 the date of the termination of a national emergency 

24 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 of national emergency 

22 made 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); or 

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 seven legislative days after 

8 the 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 of 

5 an Executive order described in subsection 

6 (a)(1) or a list described in subsection (a)(2) 

7 shall not be in order prior to the enactment of 

8 a joint resolution of approval of the proclama9 tion described in subsection (a)(1) that is the 

10 subject of such Executive order or list. 

11 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION.—The joint resolu12 tion of approval shall be considered as read. All 

13 points of order against the joint resolution of 

14 approval and against its consideration are 

15 waived. The previous question shall be consid16 ered as ordered on the joint resolution of ap17 proval to final passage without intervening mo18 tion except two hours of debate equally divided 

19 and controlled by the sponsor of the joint reso20 lution of approval (or a designee) and an oppo21 nent. A motion to reconsider the vote on pas22 sage of the joint resolution of approval shall not 

23 be in order. 

24 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION WITH ACTION BY OTHER

25 HOUSE.— 


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

2 by one House of a joint resolution of approval 

3 of that House, that House receives from the 

4 other House a joint resolution of approval with 

5 regard to the same proclamation or Executive 

6 order, then the following procedures shall apply: 

7 ‘‘(i) The joint resolution of approval 

8 of the other House shall not be referred to 

9 a committee. 

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

11 of approval of the House receiving the 

12 joint resolution— 

13 ‘‘(I) the procedure in that House 

14 shall be the same as if no joint resolu15 tion of approval had been received 

16 from the other House; but 

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

18 on the joint resolution of approval of 

19 the other House. 

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

21 the joint resolution of approval of the other 

22 House, the question shall immediately 

23 occur on passage of the joint resolution of 

24 approval of the receiving House. 


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1 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF LEGISLATION OF

2 OTHER HOUSE.—If one House fails to introduce 

3 a joint resolution of approval under this section, 

4 the joint resolution of approval of the other 

5 House shall be entitled to expedited floor proce6 dures under this section. 

7 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION TO REVENUE MEAS8 URES.—The provisions of this paragraph shall 

9 not apply in the House of Representatives to a 

10 joint resolution of approval which is a revenue 

11 measure. 

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

13 on a veto message in the Senate under this section 

14 shall be 1 hour evenly divided between the majority 

15 and minority leaders or their designees. 

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

17 joint resolution of approval under this section shall not 

18 be interpreted to serve as a grant or modification by Con19 gress of statutory authority for the emergency powers of 

20 the President. 

21 ‘‘(d) RULES OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE.—This sec22 tion is enacted by Congress— 

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

24 the Senate and the House of Representatives, re25 spectively, and as such is deemed a part of the rules 


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1 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with 

2 respect to the procedure to be followed in the House 

3 in the case of joint resolutions described in this sec4 tion, and supersedes other rules only to the extent 

5 that it is inconsistent with such other rules; and 

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

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

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

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

10 the case of any other rule of that House. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 204. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN NATIONAL EMER12 GENCIES INVOKING INTERNATIONAL EMER13 GENCY ECONOMIC POWERS ACT. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a national emer15 gency described in subsection (b), the provisions of the 

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

17 the date of the enactment of the Congressional Power of 

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

19 date of enactment. 

20 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL EMERGENCY DESCRIBED.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A national emergency de22 scribed in this subsection is a national emergency 

23 pursuant to which the President proposes to exercise 

24 emergency powers or authorities made available 

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1 ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), supplemented as 

2 necessary by a provision of law specified in para3 graph (2). 

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

5 provisions of law specified in this paragraph are— 

6 ‘‘(A) the United Nations Participation Act 

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

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

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

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

11 the implementation, imposition, or enforcement 

12 of economic sanctions with respect to a foreign 

13 country. 

14 ‘‘(c) EFFECT OF ADDITIONAL POWERS AND AU15 THORITIES.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to a national 

16 emergency or the exercise of emergency powers and au17 thorities pursuant to the national emergency if, in addition 

18 to the exercise of emergency powers and authorities de19 scribed in subsection (b), the President proposes to exer20 cise, pursuant to the national emergency, any emergency 

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

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

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

24 by adding at the end the following: 


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

2 shall transmit to Congress, with any proclamation declar3 ing a national emergency under section 201(a) or any Ex4 ecutive order specifying emergency powers or authorities 

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

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

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) A description of the circumstances necessi9 tating the declaration of a national emergency, the 

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

11 emergency authority specified in the Executive 

12 order, as the case may be. 

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

14 emergency, or a statement that the duration of the 

15 national emergency cannot reasonably be estimated 

16 at the time of transmission of the report. 

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

18 other officers intend to take, including any re19 programming or transfer of funds and any contracts 

20 anticipated to be entered into, and the statutory au21 thorities the President and such officers expect to 

22 rely on in addressing the national emergency. 

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

24 emergency, a summary of the actions the President 

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1 year period, including any reprogramming or trans2 fer of funds, to address the emergency. 

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

4 The President shall provide to Congress such other infor5 mation as Congress may request in connection with any 

6 national emergency in effect under title II. 

7 ‘‘(f) PERIODIC REPORTS ON STATUS OF EMER8 GENCIES.—If the President declares a national emergency 

9 under section 201(a), the President shall, not less fre10 quently than every 3 months for the duration of the emer11 gency, report to Congress on the status of the emergency 

12 and the actions the President or other officers have taken 

13 and authorities the President and such officers have relied 

14 on in addressing the emergency.’’. 

15 (c) EXCLUSION OF IMPOSITION OF DUTIES AND IM16 PORT QUOTAS FROM PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITIES

17 UNDER INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POW18 ERS ACT.—Section 203 of the International Emergency 

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

20 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub21 section (d); and 

22 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol23 lowing: 

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

25 this section does not include the authority to impose duties 


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

2 quotas on articles entering the United States. 

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

4 prohibit the President from excluding all articles imported 

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

6 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

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

9 repealed. 

10 (2) INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC

11 POWERS ACT.—Section 207 of the International 

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

13 is amended— 

14 (A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘concur15 rent resolution’’ and inserting ‘‘joint resolution’’ 

16 each place it appears; and 

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

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

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

20 the day before the date of the enactment of the Congres21 sional Power of the Purse Act.’’. 

22 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24 graph (2), this section and the amendments made by 

25 this section shall take effect upon enactment and 


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1 apply with respect to national emergencies declared 

2 under section 201 of the National Emergencies Act 

3 on or after that date. 

4 (2) APPLICABILITY TO RENEWALS OF EXISTING

5 EMERGENCIES.—When a national emergency de6 clared under section 201 of the National Emer7 gencies Act before the date of the enactment of the 

8 Congressional Power of the Purse Act would expire 

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

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

11 that national emergency shall be subject to the re12 quirements for renewal under section 202(b) of that 

13 Act, as amended by subsection (a). 

14 SEC. 532. NATIONAL EMERGENCIES ACT DECLARATION 

15 SPENDING REPORTING IN THE PRESIDENT’S 

16 BUDGET. 

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

18 amended by section 514, is further amended by adding 

19 at the end the following: 

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

21 and actual obligations and expenditures of funds (for 

22 the prior fiscal year, the current fiscal year, and the 

23 fiscal years for which the budget is submitted) at24 tributable to the exercise of powers and authorities 

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1 gency declared by the President, currently active or 

2 in effect during the applicable fiscal years. 

3 ‘‘(B) Obligations and expenditures contained in 

4 the report under subparagraph (A) shall be orga5 nized by Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbol or 

6 fund account and by program, project, and activity, 

7 and include— 

8 ‘‘(i) a description of each such program, 

9 project, and activity; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the authorities under which such 

11 funding actions are taken; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) the purpose and progress of such ob13 ligations and expenditures toward addressing 

14 the applicable national emergency. 

15 ‘‘(C) Such report shall include, with respect to 

16 any transfer, reprogramming, or repurposing of 

17 funds to address the applicable national emer18 gency— 

19 ‘‘(i) the amount of such transfer, re20 programming, or repurposing; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the authority authorizing each such 

22 transfer, reprogramming, or repurposing; and 

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

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1 programming, or repurposing, including by a 

2 reduction in funding.’’. 

3 SEC. 533. DISCLOSURE TO CONGRESS OF PRESIDENTIAL 

4 EMERGENCY ACTION DOCUMENTS. 

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

6 conclusion of the process for approval, adoption, or revi7 sion of any presidential emergency action document, the 

8 President shall submit that document to the appropriate 

9 congressional committees. 

10 (b) DOCUMENTS IN EXISTENCE BEFORE DATE OF

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

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

13 the appropriate congressional committees all presidential 

14 emergency action documents in existence before such date 

15 of enactment. 

16 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT18 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com19 mittees’’, with respect to a presidential emergency 

20 action document submitted under subsection (a) or 

21 (b), means— 

22 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

23 and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on 

24 the Judiciary, and the Select Committee on In25 telligence of the Senate; 


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1 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Re2 form, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the 

3 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of 

4 the House of Representatives; and 

5 (C) any other committee of the Senate or 

6 the House of Representatives with jurisdiction 

7 over the subject matter addressed in the presi8 dential emergency action document. 

9 (2) PRESIDENTIAL EMERGENCY ACTION DOCU10 MENT.—The term ‘‘presidential emergency action 

11 document’’ refers to— 

12 (A) each of the approximately 56 docu13 ments described as presidential emergency ac14 tion documents in the budget justification mate15 rials for the Office of Legal Counsel of the De16 partment of Justice submitted to Congress in 

17 support of the budget of the President for fiscal 

18 year 2018; and 

19 (B) any other pre-coordinated legal docu20 ment in existence before, on, or after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act, that— 

22 (i) is designated as a presidential 

23 emergency action document; or 

24 (ii) is designed to implement a presi25 dential decision or transmit a presidential 


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1 request when an emergency disrupts nor2 mal governmental or legislative processes. 

3 SEC. 534. EMERGENCY AND OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OP4 ERATIONS DESIGNATIONS BY CONGRESS IN 

5 STATUTE. 

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

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

8 901(b)(2)(A)) is amended— 

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

10 subsequently so designates’’; and 

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

12 subsequently so designates’’. 

13 TITLE VI—SECURITY FROM PO14 LITICAL INTERFERENCE IN 

15 JUSTICE 

16 SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE. 

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

18 Interference in Justice Act of 2020’’. 

19 SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this title: 

21 (1) COMMUNICATIONS LOG.—The term ‘‘com22 munications log’’ means the log required to be main23 tained under section 603(a). 

24 (2) COVERED COMMUNICATION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

2 communication’’ means any communication re3 lating to any contemplated or ongoing investiga4 tion or litigation conducted by the Department 

5 of Justice in any civil or criminal matter (re6 gardless of whether a civil action or criminal in7 dictment or information has been filed). 

8 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term does not in9 clude a communication that is any of the fol10 lowing: 

11 (i) A communication that involves 

12 contact between the President, the Vice 

13 President, the Counsel to the President, or 

14 the Principal Deputy Counsel to the Presi15 dent, and the Attorney General, the Dep16 uty Attorney General, or the Associate At17 torney General, except to the extent that 

18 the communication concerns a con19 templated or ongoing investigation or liti20 gation in which a target or subject is one 

21 of the following: 

22 (I) The President, the Vice Presi23 dent, or a member of the immediate 

24 family of the President or Vice Presi25 dent. 


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1 (II) Any individual working in 

2 the Executive Office of the President 

3 who is compensated at a rate of pay 

4 at or above level II of the Executive 

5 Schedule under section 5313 of title 

6 5, United States Code. 

7 (III) The current or former chair 

8 or treasurer of any national campaign 

9 committee that sought the election or 

10 seeks the reelection of the President, 

11 or any officer of such a committee ex12 ercising authority at the national 

13 level, during the tenure in office of the 

14 President. 

15 (ii) A communication that involves 

16 contact between an officer or employee of 

17 the Department of Justice and an officer 

18 or employee of the Executive Office of the 

19 President on a particular matter, if any of 

20 the President, the Vice President, the 

21 Counsel to the President, or the Principal 

22 Deputy Counsel to the President, and if 

23 any of the Attorney General, the Deputy 

24 Attorney General, or the Associate Attor25 ney General have designated a subordinate 


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1 to carry on such contact, and the person so 

2 designating monitors all subsequent com3 munications and the person designated 

4 keeps the designating person informed of 

5 each such communication, except to the ex6 tent that the communication concerns a 

7 contemplated or ongoing investigation or 

8 litigation in which a target or subject is 

9 one of the following: 

10 (I) The President, the Vice Presi11 dent, or a member of the immediate 

12 family of the President or Vice Presi13 dent. 

14 (II) Any individual working in 

15 the Executive Office of the President 

16 who is compensated at a rate of pay 

17 at or above level II of the Executive 

18 Schedule under section 5313 of title 

19 5, United States Code. 

20 (III) The current or former chair 

21 or treasurer of any national campaign 

22 committee that sought the election or 

23 seeks the reelection of the President, 

24 or any officer of such a committee ex25 ercising authority at the national 


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1 level, during the tenure in office of the 

2 President. 

3 (iii) A communication that involves 

4 contact from or to the Deputy Counsel to 

5 the President for National Security Af6 fairs, the staff of the National Security 

7 Council, and the staff of the Homeland Se8 curity Council that relates to a national se9 curity matter, except to the extent that the 

10 communication concerns a pending adver11 sary case in litigation that may have na12 tional security implications. 

13 (iv) A communication that involves 

14 contact between the Office of the Pardon 

15 Attorney of the Department of Justice and 

16 the Counsel to the President or the Deputy 

17 Counsels to the President relating to par18 don matters. 

19 (v) A communication that relates sole20 ly to policy, appointments, legislation, rule21 making, budgets, public relations or af22 fairs, programmatic matters, intergovern23 mental relations, administrative or per24 sonnel matters, appellate litigation, or re25 quests for legal advice. 


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1 (3) IMMEDIATE FAMILY.—The term ‘‘immediate 

2 family of the President or Vice President’’ means 

3 those persons to whom the President or Vice Presi4 dent— 

5 (A) is related by blood, marriage, or adop6 tion; or 

7 (B) stands in loco parentis. 

8 SEC. 603. COMMUNICATIONS LOGS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall main10 tain a log of covered communications. 

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

12 with respect to a covered communication— 

13 (1) the name and title of each officer or em14 ployee of the Department of Justice or the Executive 

15 Office of the President who participated in the cov16 ered communication; 

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

18 (3) a statement describing the purpose and ne19 cessity of the covered communication. 

20 (c) OVERSIGHT.— 

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

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1 port containing the communications log for the 6- 

2 month period preceding that January or July. 

3 (2) NOTICE OF INAPPROPRIATE OR IMPROPER

4 COMMUNICATIONS.—The Office of the Inspector 

5 General of the Department of Justice shall— 

6 (A) review each communications log re7 ceived under paragraph (1)(A); and 

8 (B) notify the Committee on the Judiciary 

9 of the House of Representatives and the Com10 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate if the In11 spector General determines that a covered com12 munication described in the communications 

13 log— 

14 (i) is inappropriate from a law en15 forcement perspective; or 

16 (ii) raises concerns about improper 

17 political interference. 

18 SEC. 604. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

19 Nothing in this title may be construed to affect any 

20 requirement to report pursuant to title I of this Act, or 

21 the amendments made by that title. 


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1 TITLE VII—PROTECTING IN2 SPECTOR GENERAL INDE3 PENDENCE 

4 Subtitle A—Requiring Cause for 

5 Removal 

6 SEC. 701. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Inspector General 

8 Independence Act’’. 

9 SEC. 702. AMENDMENT. 

10 The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 

11 is amended— 

12 (1) in section 3(b)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘An Inspector General’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘(1) An Inspector General’’; 

15 (B) by inserting after ‘‘by the President’’ 

16 the following: ‘‘in accordance with paragraph 

17 (2)’’; and 

18 (C) by inserting at the end the following 

19 new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(2) The President may remove an Inspector General 

21 only for any of the following grounds (and the documenta22 tion of any such ground shall be included in the commu23 nication required pursuant to paragraph (1)): 

24 ‘‘(A) Documented permanent incapacity. 

25 ‘‘(B) Documented neglect of duty. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Documented malfeasance. 

2 ‘‘(D) Documented conviction of a felony or con3 duct involving moral turpitude. 

4 ‘‘(E) Documented knowing violation of a law or 

5 regulation. 

6 ‘‘(F) Documented gross mismanagement. 

7 ‘‘(G) Documented gross waste of funds. 

8 ‘‘(H) Documented abuse of authority. 

9 ‘‘(I) Documented inefficiency.’’; and 

10 (2) in section 8G(e)(2), by adding at the end 

11 the following new sentence: ‘‘An Inspector General 

12 may be removed only for any of the following 

13 grounds (and the documentation of any such ground 

14 shall be included in the communication required pur15 suant to this paragraph): 

16 ‘‘(A) Documented permanent incapacity. 

17 ‘‘(B) Documented neglect of duty. 

18 ‘‘(C) Documented malfeasance. 

19 ‘‘(D) Documented conviction of a felony or con20 duct involving moral turpitude. 

21 ‘‘(E) Documented knowing violation of a law or 

22 regulation. 

23 ‘‘(F) Documented gross mismanagement. 

24 ‘‘(G) Documented gross waste of funds. 

25 ‘‘(H) Documented abuse of authority. 


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1 ‘‘(I) Documented inefficiency.’’. 

2 Subtitle B—Inspectors General of 

3 Intelligence Community 

4 SEC. 711. INDEPENDENCE OF INSPECTORS GENERAL OF 

5 THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Security Act of 

7 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

8 the end the following new title: 

9 ‘‘TITLE XII—MATTERS REGARD10 ING INSPECTORS GENERAL 

11 OF ELEMENTS OF THE INTEL12 LIGENCE COMMUNITY 

13 ‘‘Subtitle A—Inspectors General 

14 ‘‘SEC. 1201. INDEPENDENCE OF INSPECTORS GENERAL. 

15 ‘‘(a) REMOVAL.—A covered Inspector General may be 

16 removed from office only by the head official. The head 

17 official may remove a covered Inspector General only for 

18 any of the following grounds: 

19 ‘‘(1) Documented permanent incapacity. 

20 ‘‘(2) Documented neglect of duty. 

21 ‘‘(3) Documented malfeasance. 

22 ‘‘(4) Documented conviction of a felony or con23 duct involving moral turpitude. 

24 ‘‘(5) Documented knowing violation of a law or 

25 regulation. 


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1 ‘‘(6) Documented gross mismanagement. 

2 ‘‘(7) Documented gross waste of funds. 

3 ‘‘(8) Documented abuse of authority. 

4 ‘‘(9) Documented Inefficiency. 

5 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.—A covered Inspector 

6 General may be placed on administrative leave only by the 

7 head official. The head official may place a covered Inspec8 tor General on administrative leave only for any of the 

9 grounds specified in subsection (a). 

10 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION.—The head official may not re11 move a covered Inspector General under subsection (a) or 

12 place a covered Inspector General on administrative leave 

13 under subsection (b) unless— 

14 ‘‘(1) the head official transmits in writing to 

15 the appropriate congressional committees a notifica16 tion of such removal or placement, including an ex17 planation of the documented grounds specified in 

18 subsection (a) for such removal or placement; and 

19 ‘‘(2) with respect to the removal of a covered 

20 Inspector General, a period of 30 days elapses fol21 lowing the date of such transmittal. 

22 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

23 on which the head official notifies a covered Inspector 

24 General of being removed under subsection (a) or placed 

25 on administrative leave under subsection (b), the office of 


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1 that Inspector General shall submit to the appropriate 

2 congressional committees a report containing— 

3 ‘‘(1) a description of the facts and cir4 cumstances of any pending complaint, investigation, 

5 inspection, audit, or other review or inquiry, includ6 ing any information, allegation, or complaint re7 ported to the Attorney General in accordance with 

8 section 535 of title 28, United States Code, that the 

9 Inspector General was working on as of the date of 

10 such removal or placement; and 

11 ‘‘(2) any other significant matter that the office 

12 of the Inspector General determines appropriate. 

13 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec14 tion shall be construed to prohibit a personnel action of 

15 a covered Inspector General otherwise authorized by law, 

16 other than transfer or removal. 

17 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE.—The term ‘ad19 ministrative leave’ includes any other type of paid or 

20 unpaid non-duty status. 

21 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) the congressional intelligence commit25 tees; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Oversight and Re2 form of the House of Representatives and the 

3 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern4 mental Affairs of the Senate. 

5 ‘‘(3) HEAD OFFICIAL.—The term ‘head official’ 

6 means— 

7 ‘‘(A) with respect to the position of a cov8 ered Inspector General that requires appoint9 ment by the President, by and with the advice 

10 and consent of the Senate, the President; and 

11 ‘‘(B) with respect to the position of a cov12 ered Inspector General that requires appoint13 ment by a head of a department or agency of 

14 the Federal Government, the head of such de15 partment or agency.’’. 

16 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 3 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 

17 3003) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(8) The term ‘covered Inspector General’ 

20 means each of the following: 

21 ‘‘(A) The Inspector General of the Intel22 ligence Community. 

23 ‘‘(B) The Inspector General of the Central 

24 Intelligence Agency. 


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1 ‘‘(C) The Inspector General of the Defense 

2 Intelligence Agency. 

3 ‘‘(D) The Inspector General of the Na4 tional Reconnaissance Office. 

5 ‘‘(E) The Inspector General of the Na6 tional Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 

7 ‘‘(F) The Inspector General of the Na8 tional Security Agency.’’. 

9 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections 

10 at the beginning of the National Security Act of 1947 is 

11 amended by adding after the items relating to title XI the 

12 end the following new items: 

‘‘TITLE XII—MATTERS REGARDING INSPECTORS GENERAL OF 

ELEMENTS OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY 

‘‘SUBTITLE A—INSPECTORS GENERAL 

‘‘Sec. 1201. Independence of Inspectors General.’’. 

13 SEC. 712. AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS GENERAL OF THE 

14 INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TO DETERMINE 

15 MATTERS OF URGENT CONCERN. 

16 (a) DETERMINATION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title XII of the National Se18 curity Act of 1947, as added by section 711, is 

19 amended by inserting after section 1201 the fol20 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1203. DETERMINATION OF MATTERS OF URGENT 

2 CONCERN. 

3 ‘‘(a) DETERMINATION.—Each covered Inspector 

4 General shall have sole authority to determine whether any 

5 complaint or information reported to the Inspector Gen6 eral is a matter of urgent concern. Such determination is 

7 final and conclusive. 

8 ‘‘(b) FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS.—In 

9 addition to any other matter which is considered an urgent 

10 concern pursuant to section 103H(k)(5)(G), section 

11 17(d)(5)(G) of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 

12 1949 (50 U.S.C. 3517(d)(5)(G)), or other applicable pro13 vision of law, the term ‘urgent concern’ includes a serious 

14 or flagrant problem, abuse, violation of law or Executive 

15 order, or deficiency relating to foreign interference in elec16 tions in the United States.’’. 

17 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec18 tions at the beginning of the National Security Act 

19 of 1947 is amended by inserting after the item relat20 ing to section 1201, as added by section 711, the 

21 following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 1203. Determination of matters of urgent concern.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

23 (1) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—Section 

24 103H(k)(5)(G) of the National Security Act of 1947 

25 (50 U.S.C. 3033(k)(5)(G)) is amended by striking 


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1 ‘‘In this paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘In accordance 

2 with section 1203, in this paragraph’’. 

3 (2) CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.—Section 

4 17(d)(5)(G) of the Central Intelligence Agency Act 

5 of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 3517(d)(5)(G)) is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘In this paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘In ac7 cordance with section 1203 of the National Security 

8 Act of 1947, in this paragraph’’. 

9 (c) REPORTS ON UNRESOLVED DIFFERENCES.— 

10 Paragraph (3) of section 103H(k) of the National Security 

11 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3033(k)) is amended by adding 

12 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(C) With respect to each report submitted pursuant 

14 to subparagraph (A)(i), the Inspector General shall in15 clude in the report, at a minimum— 

16 ‘‘(i) a general description of the unresolved dif17 ferences, the particular duties or responsibilities of 

18 the Inspector General involved, and, if such dif19 ferences relate to a complaint or information under 

20 paragraph (5), a description of the complaint or in21 formation and the entities or individuals identified in 

22 the complaint or information; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) to the extent such differences can be at24 tributed not only to the Director but also to any 

25 other official, department, agency, or office within 


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1 the executive branch, or a component thereof, the ti2 tles of such official, department, agency, or office.’’. 

3 (d) CLARIFICATION OF ROLE OF DIRECTOR OF NA4 TIONAL INTELLIGENCE.—Section 102A(f)(1) of such Act 

5 (50 U.S.C. 3024(f)(1)) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub7 paragraph (C); and 

8 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol9 lowing new subparagraph: 

10 ‘‘(B) The authority of the Director of National 

11 Intelligence under subparagraph (A) includes coordi12 nating and supervising activities undertaken by ele13 ments of the intelligence community for the purpose 

14 of protecting the United States from any foreign in15 terference in elections in the United States.’’. 

16 SEC. 713. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS AND COORDINATION 

17 WITH OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW. 

18 (a) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—Paragraph (4) of 

19 section 103H(c) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 

20 U.S.C. 3033(c)) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(4) The provisions of title XII shall apply to the In22 spector General with respect to the removal of the Inspec23 tor General and any other matter relating to the Inspector 

24 General as specifically provided for in such title.’’. 


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1 (b) CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.—Paragraph 

2 (6) of section 17(b) of the Central Intelligence Agency Act 

3 of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 3517(b)) is amended to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(6) The provisions of title XII of the National Secu6 rity Act of 1947 shall apply to the Inspector General with 

7 respect to the removal of the Inspector General and any 

8 other matter relating to the Inspector General as specifi9 cally provided for in such title.’’. 

10 (c) OTHER ELEMENTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title XII of the National Se12 curity Act of 1947, as added by section 711, is fur13 ther amended by inserting after section 1203, as 

14 added by section 712(a), the following new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 1205. COORDINATION WITH OTHER PROVISIONS OF 

16 LAW. 

17 ‘‘No provision of law that is inconsistent with any 

18 provision of this title shall be considered to supersede, re19 peal, or otherwise modify a provision of this title unless 

20 such other provision of law specifically cites a provision 

21 of this title in order to supersede, repeal, or otherwise 

22 modify that provision of this title.’’. 

23 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec24 tions at the beginning of the National Security Act 

25 of 1947 is amended by inserting after the item relatVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00097 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8363.IH H8363

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1 ing to section 1203, as added by section 713, the 

2 following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 1205. Coordination with other provisions of law.’’. 

3 Subtitle C—Congressional 

4 Notification 

5 SEC. 721. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Inspector General 

7 Protection Act’’. 

8 SEC. 722. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE IN 

9 STATUS OF INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

10 (a) CHANGE IN STATUS OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF

11 OFFICES.—Section 3(b) of the Inspector General Act of 

12 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

13 (1) by inserting ‘‘, is placed on paid or unpaid 

14 non-duty status,’’ after ‘‘is removed from office’’; 

15 (2) by inserting ‘‘, change in status,’’ after 

16 ‘‘any such removal’’; and 

17 (3) by inserting ‘‘, change in status,’’ after ‘‘be18 fore the removal’’. 

19 (b) CHANGE IN STATUS OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF

20 DESIGNATED FEDERAL ENTITIES.—Section 8G(e)(2) of 

21 the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) by inserting ‘‘, is placed on paid or unpaid 

24 non-duty status,’’ after ‘‘office’’; 


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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘, change in status,’’ after 

2 ‘‘any such removal’’; and 

3 (3) by inserting ‘‘, change in status,’’ after ‘‘be4 fore the removal’’. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall take effect 30 days after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 723. PRESIDENTIAL EXPLANATION OF FAILURE TO 

9 NOMINATE AN INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 33 of 

11 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

12 section 3349d the following new section: 

13 ‘‘§ 3349e. Presidential explanation of failure to nomi14 nate an Inspector General 

15 ‘‘If the President fails to make a formal nomination 

16 for a vacant Inspector General position that requires a for17 mal nomination by the President to be filled within the 

18 period beginning on the date on which the vacancy oc19 curred and ending on the day that is 210 days after that 

20 date, the President shall communicate, within 30 days 

21 after the end of such period, to Congress in writing— 

22 ‘‘(1) the reasons why the President has not yet 

23 made a formal nomination; and 

24 ‘‘(2) a target date for making a formal nomina25 tion.’’. 


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

2 for chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

3 by inserting after the item relating to 3349d the following 

4 new item: 

‘‘3349e. Presidential explanation of failure to nominate an Inspector General.’’. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

6 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact7 ment of this Act and shall apply to any vacancy first oc8 curring on or after that date. 

9 TITLE VIII—PROTECTING 

10 WHISTLEBLOWERS 

11 Subtitle A—Whistleblower 

12 Protection Improvement 

13 SEC. 801. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Whistleblower Pro15 tection Improvement Act of 2020’’. 

16 SEC. 802. ADDITIONAL WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS. 

17 (a) INVESTIGATIONS AS PERSONNEL ACTIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2302(a)(2)(A) of 

19 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

20 (A) in clause (xi), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

21 end; 

22 (B) by redesignating clause (xii) as clause 

23 (xiii); and 

24 (C) by adding after the clause (xi) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(xii) the opening of any investigation 

2 as a result of a disclosure protected by 

3 subsection (b)(8) (but not including any 

4 investigation that is ministerial or nondis5 cretionary or that is conducted by an In6 spector General or Special Inspector Gen7 eral under the authority of the Inspector 

8 General Act of 1978 or any other law 

9 granting authority to an Inspector General 

10 or Special Inspector General); and’’. 

11 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

12 paragraph (1) shall apply to any investigation 

13 opened (as described under section 

14 2302(a)(2)(A)(xii) of title 5, United States Code, as 

15 added by such paragraph) on or after the date of en16 actment of this Act. 

17 (b) RIGHT TO PETITION CONGRESS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2302(b)(9) of title 

19 5, United States Code, is amended— 

20 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

21 at the end; 

22 (B) in subparagraph (D), by adding ‘‘or’’ 

23 at the end after the semicolon; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(E) the exercise of any right protected 

2 under section 7211;’’. 

3 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

4 paragraph (1) shall apply to the exercise of any 

5 right described in section 2302(b)(9)(E) of title 5, 

6 United States Code, as added by paragraph (1), oc7 curring on or after the date of enactment of this 

8 Act. 

9 (c) PROHIBITION ON DISCLOSURE OF WHISTLE10 BLOWER IDENTITY.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2302 of title 5, 

12 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

13 end the following: 

14 ‘‘(g)(1) No employee of an agency may willfully com15 municate or transmit to any individual who is not an offi16 cer or employee of the Government the identity of, or per17 sonally identifiable information about, any other employee 

18 who has made, or is suspected to have made, a disclosure 

19 protected by subsection (b)(8), unless— 

20 ‘‘(A) the other employee provides express writ21 ten consent prior to the communication or trans22 mission; 

23 ‘‘(B) the communication or transmission is 

24 made in accordance with the provisions of section 

25 552a; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the communication or transmission is 

2 made to a lawyer for the sole purpose of providing 

3 legal advice to an employee accused of whistleblower 

4 retaliation; or 

5 ‘‘(D) the communication or transmission is re6 quired or permitted by any other provision of law. 

7 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘officer or employee 

8 of the Government’ means— 

9 ‘‘(A) the President; 

10 ‘‘(B) a Member of Congress; 

11 ‘‘(C) a member of the uniformed services; 

12 ‘‘(D) an employee as that term is defined in 

13 section 2105, including an employee of the United 

14 States Postal Service, the Postal Regulatory Com15 mission, or the Department of Veterans Affairs (in16 cluding any employee appointed pursuant to chapter 

17 73 or 74 of title 38); and 

18 ‘‘(E) any other officer or employee in any 

19 branch of the Government of the United States.’’. 

20 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

21 paragraph (1) shall apply to any transmission or 

22 communication described in subsection (g) of section 

23 2302 of title 5, United States Code, as added by 

24 paragraph (1), made on or after the date of enact25 ment of this Act. 


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1 (d) RIGHT TO PETITION CONGRESS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 7211 of title 5, 

3 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘§ 7211. Employees’ right to petition or furnish infor5 mation or respond to Congress 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each officer or employee of the 

7 Federal Government, individually or collectively, has a 

8 right to— 

9 ‘‘(1) petition Congress or a Member of Con10 gress; 

11 ‘‘(2) furnish information, documents, or testi12 mony to either House of Congress, any Member of 

13 Congress, or any committee or subcommittee of the 

14 Congress; or 

15 ‘‘(3) respond to any request for information, 

16 documents, or testimony from either House of Con17 gress or any Committee or subcommittee of Con18 gress. 

19 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITED ACTIONS.—No officer or employee 

20 of the Federal Government may interfere with or deny the 

21 right set forth in subsection (a), including by— 

22 ‘‘(1) prohibiting or preventing, or attempting or 

23 threatening to prohibit or prevent, any other officer 

24 or employee of the Federal Government from engag25 ing in activity protected in subsection (a); or 


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1 ‘‘(2) removing, suspending from duty without 

2 pay, demoting, reducing in rank, seniority, status, 

3 pay, or performance or efficiency rating, denying 

4 promotion to, relocating, reassigning, transferring, 

5 disciplining, or discriminating in regard to any em6 ployment right, entitlement, or benefit, or any term 

7 or condition of employment of, any other officer or 

8 employee of the Federal Government or attempting 

9 or threatening to commit any of the foregoing ac10 tions protected in subsection (a). 

11 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—This section shall not be con12 strued to authorize disclosure of any information that is— 

13 ‘‘(1) specifically prohibited from disclosure by 

14 any other provision of Federal law; or 

15 ‘‘(2) specifically required by Executive order to 

16 be kept secret in the interest of national defense or 

17 the conduct of foreign affairs, unless disclosure is 

18 otherwise authorized by law. 

19 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION OF OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE OF

20 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—For purposes of this sec21 tion, the term ‘officer or employee of the Federal Govern22 ment’ includes— 

23 ‘‘(1) the President; 

24 ‘‘(2) a Member of Congress; 

25 ‘‘(3) a member of the uniformed services; 


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1 ‘‘(4) an employee (as that term is defined in 

2 section 2105); 

3 ‘‘(5) an employee of the United States Postal 

4 Service or the Postal Regulatory Commission; and 

5 ‘‘(6) an employee appointed under chapter 73 

6 or 74 of title 38.’’. 

7 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec8 tions for subchapter II of chapter 72 of title 5, 

9 United States Code, is amended by striking the item 

10 related to section 7211 and inserting the following: 

‘‘7211. Employees’ right to petition or furnish information or respond to Congress.’’. 

11 SEC. 803. ENHANCEMENT OF WHISTLEBLOWER PROTEC12 TIONS. 

13 (a) DISCLOSURES RELATING TO OFFICERS OR EM14 PLOYEES OF AN OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Sec15 tion 1213(c) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

16 by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(3) If the information transmitted under this 

18 subsection disclosed a violation of law, rule, or regu19 lation, or gross waste, gross mismanagement, abuse 

20 of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to 

21 public health or safety, by any officer or employee 

22 of an Office of Inspector General, the Special Coun23 sel may refer the matter to the Committee of Inspec24 tors General for Integrity and Efficiency, which shall 


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1 comply with the standards and procedures applicable 

2 to investigations and reports under subsection (c).’’. 

3 (b) ENSURING TIMELY RELIEF.— 

4 (1) INDIVIDUAL RIGHT OF ACTION.—Section 

5 1221 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

6 striking ‘‘section 2302(b)(8) or section 

7 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or (D),’’ in each instance 

8 and inserting ‘‘section 2302(b)(8), section 

9 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), or (E), section 

10 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g),’’. 

11 (2) STAYS.—Section 1221(c)(2) of title 5, 

12 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(2) Any stay requested under paragraph (1) 

14 shall be granted within 10 calendar days (excluding 

15 Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) after the 

16 date the request is made, if the Board determines 

17 that such a stay would be appropriate. If the stay 

18 request is denied, the employee, former employee, or 

19 applicant may, within 7 days after receiving notice 

20 of the denial, file an appeal for expedited review by 

21 the Board. The agency shall have 7 days thereafter 

22 to respond. The Board shall provide a decision not 

23 later than 21 days after receiving the appeal. During 

24 the period of appeal, both parties may supplement 


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1 the record with information unavailable to them at 

2 the time the stay was first requested.’’. 

3 (3) ACCESS TO DISTRICT COURT; JURY

4 TRIALS.—Section 1221(i) of title 5, United States 

5 Code, is amended— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘(i) Subsections’’ and in7 serting ‘‘(i)(1) Subsections’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘(2)(A) If, in the case of an employee, former em10 ployee, or applicant for employment who seeks corrective 

11 action from the Merit Systems Protection Board based on 

12 an alleged prohibited personnel practice described in sec13 tion 2302(b)(8), section 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), 

14 or (E), section 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g), no final 

15 order or decision is issued by the Board within 180 days 

16 after the date on which a request for such corrective action 

17 has been duly submitted to the Board, such employee, 

18 former employee, or applicant may, after providing written 

19 notice to the Special Counsel and the Board and only with20 in 20 days after providing such notice, bring an action 

21 for review de novo before the appropriate United States 

22 district court, and such action shall, at the request of ei23 ther party to such action, be tried before a jury. Upon 

24 filing of an action with the appropriate United States dis25 trict court, any proceedings before the Board shall cease 


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1 and the employee, former employee, or applicant for em2 ployment waives any right to refile with the Board. 

3 ‘‘(B) If the Board certifies (in writing) to the parties 

4 of a case that the complexity of such case requires a longer 

5 period of review, subparagraph (A) shall be applied by 

6 substituting ‘240 days’ for ‘180 days’. 

7 ‘‘(C) In any such action brought before a United 

8 States district court under subparagraph (A), the court— 

9 ‘‘(i) shall apply the standards set forth in sub10 section (e); and 

11 ‘‘(ii) may award any relief which the court con12 siders appropriate, including any relief described in 

13 subsection (g).’’. 

14 (c) RECIPIENTS OF WHISTLEBLOWER DISCLO15 SURES.—Section 2302(b)(8)(B) of title 5, United States 

16 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘or to the Inspector General 

17 of an agency or another employee designated by the head 

18 of the agency to receive such disclosures’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘the Inspector General of an agency, a supervisor in the 

20 employee’s direct chain of command up to and including 

21 the head of the employing agency, or to an employee des22 ignated by any of the aforementioned individuals for the 

23 purpose of receiving such disclosures’’. 


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1 (d) ATTORNEY FEES.—Section 7703(a) of title 5, 

2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

3 following: 

4 ‘‘(3) If an employee, former employee, or appli5 cant for employment is the prevailing party under 

6 an appeal under this section, the employee, former 

7 employee, or applicant for employment shall be enti8 tled to attorney fees for all representation carried 

9 out pursuant to this section. In such an action for 

10 attorney fees, the agency responsible for taking the 

11 personnel action shall be the respondent and shall be 

12 responsible for paying the fees.’’. 

13 (e) EXTENDING WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION ACT

14 TO CERTAIN EMPLOYEES.—Section 2302(a)(2)(A) of title 

15 5, United States Code, is amended in the matter following 

16 clause (xiii)— 

17 (1) by inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(9)(A)(i), (B), 

18 (C), (D), or (E), subsection (b)(13), or subsection 

19 (g),’’ after ‘‘subsection (b)(8),’’; and 

20 (2) by inserting after ‘‘title 31’’ the following: 

21 ‘‘, a commissioned officer or applicant for employ22 ment in the Public Health Service, and a noncareer 

23 appointee in the Senior Executive Service’’. 

24 (f) RELIEF.—Section 7701(b)(2)(A) of title 5, 

25 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘upon the 


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1 making of the decision’’ and inserting ‘‘upon making of 

2 the decision, necessary to make the employee whole as if 

3 there had been no prohibited personnel practice, including 

4 training, seniority and promotions consistent with the em5 ployee’s prior record,’’. 

6 SEC. 804. CLASSIFYING CERTAIN FURLOUGHS AS ADVERSE 

7 PERSONNEL ACTIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7512 of title 5, United 

9 States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

11 end; and 

12 (2) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(5) a furlough of more than 14 days but less 

15 than 30 days; and 

16 ‘‘(6) a furlough of 13 days or less that is not 

17 due to a lapse in appropriations;’’. 

18 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub19 section (a) shall apply to any furlough covered by such 

20 section 7512(5) or (6) (as amended by such subsection) 

21 occurring on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 805. CODIFICATION OF PROTECTIONS FOR DISCLO2 SURES OF CENSORSHIP RELATED TO RE3 SEARCH, ANALYSIS, OR TECHNICAL INFOR4 MATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2302 of title 5, United 

6 States Code, as amended by section 802(c)(1), is further 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(h)(1) In this subsection— 

9 ‘‘(A) the term ‘applicant’ means an applicant 

10 for a covered position; 

11 ‘‘(B) the term ‘censorship related to research, 

12 analysis, or technical information’ means any effort 

13 to distort, misrepresent, or suppress research, anal14 ysis, or technical information; and 

15 ‘‘(C) the term ‘employee’ means an employee in 

16 a covered position in an agency. 

17 ‘‘(2)(A) Any disclosure of information by an employee 

18 or applicant for employment that the employee or appli19 cant reasonably believes is evidence of censorship related 

20 to research, analysis, or technical information— 

21 ‘‘(i) shall come within the protections of sub22 section (b)(8)(A) if— 

23 ‘‘(I) the employee or applicant reasonably 

24 believes that the censorship related to research, 

25 analysis, or technical information is or will 

26 cause— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) any violation of law, rule, or 

2 regulation; or 

3 ‘‘(bb) gross mismanagement, a gross 

4 waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or 

5 a substantial and specific danger to public 

6 health or safety; and 

7 ‘‘(II) such disclosure is not specifically pro8 hibited by law or such information is not spe9 cifically required by Executive order to be kept 

10 classified in the interest of national defense or 

11 the conduct of foreign affairs; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) shall come within the protections of sub13 section (b)(8)(B) if— 

14 ‘‘(I) the employee or applicant reasonably 

15 believes that the censorship related to research, 

16 analysis, or technical information is or will 

17 cause— 

18 ‘‘(aa) any violation of law, rule, or 

19 regulation; or 

20 ‘‘(bb) gross mismanagement, a gross 

21 waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or 

22 a substantial and specific danger to public 

23 health or safety; and 

24 ‘‘(II) the disclosure is made to the Special 

25 Counsel, or to the Inspector General of an 


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1 agency or another person designated by the 

2 head of the agency to receive such disclosures, 

3 consistent with the protection of sources and 

4 methods. 

5 ‘‘(3) A disclosure shall not be excluded from para6 graph (2) for any reason described under subsection (f)(1) 

7 or (2). 

8 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 

9 imply any limitation on the protections of employees and 

10 applicants afforded by any other provision of law, includ11 ing protections with respect to any disclosure of informa12 tion believed to be evidence of censorship related to re13 search, analysis, or technical information.’’. 

14 (b) REPEAL.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 110 of the Whistle16 blower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 (Public 

17 Law 112–199) is hereby repealed. 

18 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

19 section shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect 

20 any action under such section 110 commenced be21 fore the date of enactment of this Act or any protec22 tions afforded by such section with respect to such 

23 action. 

24 SEC. 806. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

25 Title 5, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 1212(h), by striking ‘‘or (9)’’ in 

2 each instance and inserting ‘‘, (b)(9), (b)(13), or 

3 (g)’’; 

4 (2) in section 1214(a)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘section 2302(b)(8) or sec6 tion 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or (D)’’ in each 

7 instance and inserting ‘‘section 2302(b)(8), sec8 tion 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), or (E), 

9 section 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g)’’; and 

10 (B) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘section 

11 2302(b)(8) or subparagraph (A)(i), (B), (C), or 

12 (D) of section 2302(b)(9)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec13 tion 2302(b)(8), subparagraph (A)(i), (B), (C), 

14 (D), or (E) of section 2302(b)(9), section 

15 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g)’’; 

16 (3) in section 1215, by striking ‘‘section 

17 2302(b)(8), or 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or (D)’’ in 

18 each instance and inserting ‘‘section 2302(b)(8), sec19 tion 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), or (E), section 

20 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g)’’; 

21 (4) in section 2302— 

22 (A) in subsection (a)— 

23 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or 

24 (g)’’ after ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (2)(C)(i), by striking 

2 ‘‘subsection (b)(8) or section 

3 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or (D)’’ and in4 serting ‘‘section 2302(b)(8), section 

5 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), or (E), 

6 section 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g)’’; 

7 and 

8 (B) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking 

9 ‘‘paragraph (8) or subparagraph (A)(i), (B), 

10 (C), or (D) of paragraph (9) of subsection (b)’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘paragraph (8), subparagraph 

12 (A)(i), (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph (9), or 

13 paragraph (13) of subsection (b) or subsection 

14 (g)’’; 

15 (5) in section 7515(a)(2), by striking ‘‘para16 graph (8), (9), or (14) of section 2302(b)’’ and in17 serting ‘‘paragraph (8), (9), (13), or (14) of section 

18 2302(b) or section 2302(g)’’; 

19 (6) in section 7701(c)(2)(B), by inserting ‘‘or 

20 section 2302(g)’’ after ‘‘section 2302(b)’’; and 

21 (7) in section 7703(b)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘sec22 tion 2302(b)(8), or 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), or 

23 (D)’’ in each instance and inserting ‘‘section 

24 2302(b)(8), section 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C), (D), 

25 or (E), section 2302(b)(13), or section 2302(g)’’. 


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1 Subtitle B—Reauthorization of 

2 Merit Systems Protection Board 

3 SEC. 811. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Merit Systems Pro5 tection Board Empowerment Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 812. REAUTHORIZATION OF MERIT SYSTEMS PROTEC7 TION BOARD. 

8 Section 8(a)(1) of the Whistleblower Protection Act 

9 of 1989 (5 U.S.C. 5509 note) is amended by striking 

10 ‘‘2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025’’. 

12 SEC. 813. AUTHORIZATION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEE SUR13 VEYS FOR MERIT SYSTEMS STUDIES. 

14 Section 1204(e)(3) of title 5, United States Code, is 

15 amended by— 

16 (1) striking ‘‘(3) In carrying’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘(3)(A) In carrying’’; and 

18 (2) adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(B) The Office of Personnel Management and other 

20 agencies shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) provide assistance to the Board to facilitate 

22 the conduct by the Board of surveys of employees; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(ii) upon request, unless otherwise prohibited 

25 by law, provide to the Board records and informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00117 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8363.IH H8363

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1 tion concerning applicants for Federal employ2 ment.’’. 

3 SEC. 814. WHISTLEBLOWER TRAINING FOR MSPB ADMINIS4 TRATIVE JUDGES. 

5 Section 7701(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(1)(A) The Board may hear any case appealed 

8 to it or may refer the case to an administrative law 

9 judge appointed under section 3105 or other em10 ployee of the Board designated by the Board to hear 

11 such cases, except that any case involving— 

12 ‘‘(i) a removal from the service shall be 

13 heard by the Board, an employee experienced in 

14 hearing appeals, or an administrative law judge; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) an alleged prohibited personnel prac17 tice in violation of section 2302(b)(8), section 

18 2302(b)(9)(A)(i), (B), (C) or (D), or section 

19 2302(b)(13) shall be heard by the Board or an 

20 administrative law judge or other employee of 

21 the Board designated by the Board to hear 

22 such cases who has successfully completed 

23 training regarding protections afforded by the 

24 Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The Board, administrative law judge, or 

2 other employee shall make a decision after receipt of 

3 the written representations of the parties to the ap4 peal and after opportunity for a hearing under sub5 section (a)(1) of this section. A copy of the decision 

6 shall be furnished to each party to the appeal and 

7 to the Office of Personnel Management.’’. 

8 Subtitle C—Whistleblowers of the 

9 Intelligence Community 

10 SEC. 821. LIMITATION ON SHARING OF INTELLIGENCE 

11 COMMUNITY WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINTS 

12 WITH PERSONS NAMED IN SUCH COM13 PLAINTS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XII of the National Security 

15 Act of 1947, as added by section 711, is further amended 

16 by inserting after section 1205, as added by section 

17 713(c), the following new subtitle: 

18 ‘‘Subtitle B—Protections for 

19 Whistleblowers 

20 ‘‘SEC. 1223. LIMITATION ON SHARING OF INTELLIGENCE 

21 COMMUNITY WHISTLEBLOWER COMPLAINTS 

22 WITH PERSONS NAMED IN SUCH COM23 PLAINTS. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any em25 ployee or officer of the Federal Government to knowingly 


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1 and willfully share any whistleblower disclosure informa2 tion with any individual named as a subject of the whistle3 blower disclosure and alleged in the disclosure to have en4 gaged in misconduct, unless— 

5 ‘‘(1) the whistleblower consented, in writing, to 

6 such sharing before the sharing occurs; 

7 ‘‘(2) a covered Inspector General to whom such 

8 disclosure is made— 

9 ‘‘(A) determines that such sharing is nec10 essary to advance an investigation, audit, in11 spection, review, or evaluation by the Inspector 

12 General; and 

13 ‘‘(B) notifies the whistleblower of such 

14 sharing before the sharing occurs; or 

15 ‘‘(3) an attorney for the Government— 

16 ‘‘(A) determines that such sharing is nec17 essary to advance an investigation by the attor18 ney; and 

19 ‘‘(B) notifies the whistleblower of such 

20 sharing before the sharing occurs. 

21 ‘‘(b) WHISTLEBLOWER DISCLOSURE INFORMATION

22 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘whistleblower disclo23 sure information’ means, with respect to a whistleblower 

24 disclosure— 

25 ‘‘(1) the disclosure; 


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1 ‘‘(2) confirmation of the fact of the existence of 

2 the disclosure; or 

3 ‘‘(3) the identity, or other identifying informa4 tion, of the whistleblower who made the disclosure.’’. 

5 (b) TECHNICAL AND CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

6 (1) TRANSFER.—The National Security Act of 

7 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) is amended as fol8 lows: 

9 (A) Section 1104 is— 

10 (i) transferred to title XII of such 

11 Act, as added by section 711; 

12 (ii) inserted before section 1223 of 

13 such Act, as added by this section; and 

14 (iii) redesignated as section 1221. 

15 (B) Section 1106 is— 

16 (i) amended by striking ‘‘section 

17 1104’’ each place it appears and inserting 

18 ‘‘section 1221’’; 

19 (ii) transferred to title XII of such 

20 Act, as added by section 711; 

21 (iii) inserted after section 1223 of 

22 such Act, as added by this section; and 

23 (iv) redesignated as section 1225. 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sec2 tions at the beginning of the National Security Act 

3 of 1947 is amended— 

4 (A) by striking the items relating to sec5 tion 1104 and section 1106; and 

6 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

7 section 1205 the following new items: 

‘‘SUBTITLE B—PROTECTIONS FOR WHISTLEBLOWERS 

‘‘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.’’. 

8 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 

9 3003), as amended by section 711, is further amended by 

10 adding at the end the following new paragraphs: 

11 ‘‘(9) The term ‘whistleblower’ means a person 

12 who makes a whistleblower disclosure. 

13 ‘‘(10) The term ‘whistleblower disclosure’ 

14 means a disclosure that is protected under section 

15 1221 of this Act or section 3001(j)(1) of the Intel16 ligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 

17 2004 (50 U.S.C. 3341(j)).’’. 

18 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5331 of the 

19 Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intel20 ligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, 

21 and 2020 (division E of Public Law 116–92; 50 U.S.C. 

22 3033 note) is amended by striking ‘‘section 1104 of the 


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1 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3234)’’ and in2 serting ‘‘section 1221 of the National Security Act of 

3 1947’’. 

4 SEC. 822. DISCLOSURES TO CONGRESS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title XII of the National Security 

6 Act of 1947, as added by section 711, is further amended 

7 by inserting after section 1225, as designated by section 

8 821(b), the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 1227. PROCEDURES REGARDING DISCLOSURES TO 

10 CONGRESS. 

11 ‘‘(a) GUIDANCE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE SECURITY DI13 RECTION UPON REQUEST.—Upon the request of a 

14 whistleblower, the head of the relevant element of 

15 the intelligence community, acting through the cov16 ered Inspector General for that element, shall fur17 nish on a confidential basis to the whistleblower in18 formation regarding how the whistleblower may di19 rectly contact the congressional intelligence commit20 tees, in accordance with appropriate security prac21 tices, regarding a complaint or information of the 

22 whistleblower pursuant to section 103H(k)(5)(D) or 

23 other appropriate provision of law. 

24 ‘‘(2) NONDISCLOSURE.—Unless a whistleblower 

25 who makes a request under paragraph (1) provides 


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1 prior consent, a covered Inspector General may not 

2 disclose to the head of the relevant element of the 

3 intelligence community— 

4 ‘‘(A) the identity of the whistleblower; or 

5 ‘‘(B) the element at which such whistle6 blower is employed, detailed, or assigned as a 

7 contractor employee. 

8 ‘‘(b) OVERSIGHT OF OBLIGATION.—If a covered In9 spector General determines that the head of an element 

10 of the intelligence community denied a request by a whis11 tleblower under subsection (a), directed the whistleblower 

12 not to contact the congressional intelligence committees, 

13 or unreasonably delayed in providing information under 

14 such subsection, the covered Inspector General shall notify 

15 the congressional intelligence committees of such denial, 

16 direction, or unreasonable delay. 

17 ‘‘(c) PERMANENT SECURITY OFFICER.—The head of 

18 each element of the intelligence community may designate 

19 a permanent security officer in the element to provide to 

20 whistleblowers the information under subsection (a).’’. 

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

22 at the beginning of the National Security Act of 1947 is 

23 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

24 1225, as added by section 821(b), the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 1227. Procedures regarding disclosures to Congress.’’. 


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 103H(k)(5)(D)(i) of the National Security Act of 1947 

3 (50 U.S.C. 3033(k)(5)(D)(i)) is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: ‘‘The employee may request information 

5 pursuant to section 1227 with respect to contacting such 

6 committees.’’. 

7 SEC. 823. PROHIBITION AGAINST DISCLOSURE OF WHIS8 TLEBLOWER IDENTITY AS REPRISAL 

9 AGAINST WHISTLEBLOWER DISCLOSURE BY 

10 EMPLOYEES AND CONTRACTORS IN INTEL11 LIGENCE COMMUNITY. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of subsection (a) 

13 of section 1221 of the National Security Act of 1947, as 

14 designated by section 821(b)(1)(A), is amended— 

15 (1) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 

16 inserting a semicolon; 

17 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub18 paragraph (K); and 

19 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(J) a knowing and willful disclosure re22 vealing the identity or other personally identifi23 able information of such employee or such con24 tractor employee without the express written 

25 consent of such employee or such contractor 


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1 employee or if the Inspector General determines 

2 such disclosure is necessary for the exclusive 

3 purpose of investigating a complaint or infor4 mation received under section 8H of the Inspec5 tor General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 8H); 

6 or’’. 

7 (b) APPLICABILITY TO DETAILEES.—Such subsection 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(5) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘employee’, with 

10 respect to an agency or a covered intelligence com11 munity element, includes an individual who has been 

12 detailed to such agency or covered intelligence com13 munity element.’’. 

14 (c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR UNLAWFUL DIS15 CLOSURE OF WHISTLEBLOWER IDENTITY.—Subsection 

16 (d) of such section is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro19 vided in this subsection, the President shall provide 

20 for the enforcement of this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR UNLAW22 FUL, WILLFUL DISCLOSURE OF WHISTLEBLOWER

23 IDENTITY.—In a case in which an employee of an 

24 agency, or other employee or officer of the Federal 

25 Government, takes a personnel action described in 


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1 subsection (a)(3)(J) against an employee of a cov2 ered intelligence community element as a reprisal in 

3 violation of subsection (b) or in a case in which a 

4 contractor employee takes a personnel action de5 scribed in such subsection against another con6 tractor employee as a reprisal in violation of sub7 section (c), the employee or contractor employee 

8 against whom the personnel action was taken may 

9 bring a private action for all appropriate remedies, 

10 including injunctive relief and compensatory and pu11 nitive damages, against the employee or contractor 

12 employee who took the personnel action, in a Fed13 eral district court of competent jurisdiction within 

14 180 days of when the employee or contractor em15 ployee first learned of or should have learned of the 

16 violation.’’. 

17 TITLE IX—ACCOUNTABILITY 

18 FOR ACTING OFFICIALS 

19 SEC. 901. SHORT TITLE. 

20 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Accountability for Act21 ing Officials Act’’. 

22 SEC. 902. CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL VACANCIES RE23 FORM ACT OF 1998. 

24 (a) FIRST ASSISTANT REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

25 3345 of title 5, United States Code, is amended as follows: 


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1 (1) In subsection (a)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 

3 before the semi-colon the following: ‘‘, but, and 

4 except as provided in subsection (e), only if the 

5 individual serving in the position of first assist6 ant has occupied such position for a period of 

7 at least 30 days during the 365-day period pre8 ceding the date of the death, resignation, or be9 ginning of inability to serve’’; and 

10 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) of para11 graph (3) and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) the officer or employee served in a 

13 position in such agency for a period of at least 

14 1 year preceding the date of death, resignation, 

15 or beginning of inability to serve of the applica16 ble officer; and’’. 

17 (2) By adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(d) For purposes of this section, a position shall be 

19 considered to be the first assistant to the office with re20 spect to which a vacancy occurs only if such position has 

21 been designated, at least 30 days before the date of the 

22 vacancy, by law, rule, or regulation as the first assistant 

23 position. The previous sentence shall begin to apply on the 

24 date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of the 

25 Accountability for Acting Officials Act. 


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1 ‘‘(e) The 30-day service requirement in subsection 

2 (a)(1) shall not apply to any individual who is a first as3 sistant if— 

4 ‘‘(1) the office of such first assistant is an of5 fice for which appointment is required to be made by 

6 the President, by and with the advice and consent 

7 of the Senate; and 

8 ‘‘(2) the Senate has approved the appointment 

9 of such individual to such office.’’. 

10 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—Section 3345(b) of title 5, 

11 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(3) Any individual directed to perform the functions 

14 and duties of the vacant office temporarily in an acting 

15 capacity under subsection (a)(2) or (f) shall possess the 

16 qualifications (if any) set forth in law, rule, or regulation 

17 that are otherwise applicable to an individual appointed 

18 by the President, by and with the advice and consent of 

19 the Senate, to occupy such office.’’. 

20 (c) APPLICATION TO INDIVIDUALS REMOVED FROM

21 OFFICE.—Paragraph (2) of section 3345(c) of title 5, 

22 United States Code, is amended by inserting after ‘‘the 

23 expiration of a term of office’’ the following: ‘‘or removal 

24 (voluntarily or involuntarily) from office’’. 

25 (d) VACANCY OF INSPECTOR GENERAL POSITIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3345 of title 5, 

2 United States Code, as amended by subsection 

3 (a)(2), is further amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(f)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if an Inspec6 tor General position that requires appointment by the 

7 President by and with the advice and consent of the Sen8 ate to be filled is vacant, the first assistant of such posi9 tion shall perform the functions and duties of the Inspec10 tor General temporarily in an acting capacity subject to 

11 the time limitations of section 3346. 

12 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if for purposes 

13 of carrying out paragraph (1) of this subsection, by reason 

14 of absence, disability, or vacancy, the first assistant to the 

15 position of Inspector General is not available to perform 

16 the functions and duties of the Inspector General, an act17 ing Inspector General shall be appointed by the President 

18 from among individuals serving in an office of any Inspec19 tor General, provided that— 

20 ‘‘(A) during the 365-day period preceding the 

21 date of death, resignation, or beginning of inability 

22 to serve of the applicable Inspector General, the in23 dividual served in a position in an office of any In24 spector General for not less than 90 days; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the rate of pay for the position of such in2 dividual is equal to or greater than the minimum 

3 rate of pay payable for a position at GS–15 of the 

4 General Schedule.’’. 

5 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

6 paragraph (1) shall apply to any vacancy first occur7 ring with respect to an Inspector General position on 

8 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 (e) TESTIMONY OF ACTING OFFICIALS BEFORE CON10 GRESS.—Section 3345 of title 5, United States Code, as 

11 amended by subsection (d)(1), is further amended by add12 ing at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(g)(1) Any individual serving as an acting officer 

14 due to a vacancy to which this section applies, or any indi15 vidual who has served in such capacity and continues to 

16 perform the same or similar duties beyond the time limits 

17 described in section 3346, shall appear, at least once dur18 ing any 60-day period that the individual is so serving, 

19 before the appropriate committees of jurisdiction of the 

20 House of Representatives and the Senate. 

21 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) may be waived upon mutual 

22 agreement of the chairs and ranking minority members 

23 of such committees.’’. 

24 (f) TIME LIMITATION FOR PRINCIPAL OFFICERS.— 

25 Section 3346 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘or as pro2 vided in subsection (d)’’ after ‘‘sickness’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(d) With respect to the vacancy of the position of 

5 head of any agency listed in subsection (b) of section 901 

6 of title 31, or any other position that is within the Presi7 dent’s cabinet and to which this section applies, sub8 sections (a) through (c) of this section and sections 

9 3348(c), 3349(b), and 3349a(b) shall be applied by sub10 stituting ‘120’ for ‘210’ in each instance.’’. 

11 (g) EXCLUSIVITY.—Section 3347 of title 5, United 

12 States Code, is amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub14 section (c); and 

15 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), any statutory 

18 provision covered under paragraph (1) of such subsection 

19 that contains a non-discretionary order or directive to des20 ignate an officer or employee to perform the functions and 

21 duties of a specified office temporarily in an acting capac22 ity shall be the exclusive means for temporarily author23 izing an acting official to perform the functions and duties 

24 of such office.’’. 

25 (h) REPORTING OF VACANCIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3349 of title 5, 

2 United States Code, is amended— 

3 (A) in subsection (a)— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘immediately upon’’ in 

5 each instance and inserting ‘‘not later than 

6 7 days after’’; 

7 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 

8 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

9 (iii) in paragraph (4), by striking the 

10 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

11 and 

12 (iv) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(5) notification of the end of the term of serv15 ice of any person serving in an acting capacity and 

16 the name of any subsequent person serving in an 

17 acting capacity and the date the service of such sub18 sequent person began not later than 7 days after 

19 such date.’’; and 

20 (B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘imme21 diately’’ and inserting ‘‘not later than 14 days 

22 after the date of such determination’’. 

23 (2) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—Paragraphs 

24 (1) and (2) of subsection (b) of such section 3349 

25 are amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

2 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

3 ‘‘(2) the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

4 of the House of Representatives;’’. 

5 (i) VACANCIES DURING PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURAL

6 TRANSITIONS.—Subsection (b) of section 3349a of title 5, 

7 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding section 3346 (except as pro9 vided in paragraph (2) of this subsection) or 3348(c), with 

10 respect to any vacancy that exists on a transitional inau11 guration day, or that arises during the 60-day period be12 ginning on such day, the person serving as an acting offi13 cer as described under section 3345 may serve in the of14 fice— 

15 ‘‘(1) for no longer than 300 days beginning on 

16 such day; or 

17 ‘‘(2) subject to subsection 3346(b), once a first 

18 or second nomination for the office is submitted to 

19 the Senate, from the date of such nomination for the 

20 period that the nomination is pending in the Sen21 ate.’’. 


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1 TITLE X—STRENGTHENING 

2 HATCH ACT ENFORCEMENT 

3 AND PENALTIES 

4 SEC. 1001. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Hatch Act Account6 ability Act’’. 

7 SEC. 1002. STRENGTHENING HATCH ACT ENFORCEMENT 

8 AND PENALTIES AGAINST POLITICAL AP9 POINTEES. 

10 (a) INVESTIGATIONS BY OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUN11 SEL.—Section 1216 of title 5, United States Code, as 

12 amended by section 307, is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(1),’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(e)(1) In addition to the authority otherwise pro16 vided in this chapter, the Special Counsel— 

17 ‘‘(A) shall conduct an investigation with respect 

18 to any allegation concerning political activity prohib19 ited under subchapter III of chapter 73 (relating to 

20 political activities by Federal employees); and 

21 ‘‘(B) may, regardless of whether the Special 

22 Counsel has received an allegation, conduct any in23 vestigation as the Special Counsel considers nec24 essary concerning political activity prohibited under 

25 such subchapter. 


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1 ‘‘(2) With respect to any investigation under para2 graph (1), the Special Counsel may seek corrective action 

3 under section 1214 and disciplinary action under section 

4 1215 in the same way as if a prohibited personnel practice 

5 were involved. 

6 ‘‘(f)(1) Consistent with paragraph (3), if after an in7 vestigation under subsection (d)(1) the Special Counsel 

8 determines that a political appointee has violated section 

9 7323 or 7324, the Special Counsel may assess an adminis10 trative fine, not to exceed $50,000, against such political 

11 appointee. 

12 ‘‘(2)(A) Any political appointee assessed a fine under 

13 paragraph (1) shall have the opportunity to request a 

14 hearing in a time and manner prescribed for by regula15 tions issued by the Special Counsel. 

16 ‘‘(B) If a political appointee assessed a fine under 

17 paragraph (1) does not request a hearing under subpara18 graph (A), the decision of the Special Counsel finding a 

19 violation and assessing a fine shall be considered a final 

20 decision and shall not be subject to judicial review. 

21 ‘‘(C) If a political appointee requests a hearing under 

22 subparagraph (A), the Special Counsel shall conduct a 

23 hearing in accordance with section 554 and issue a final 

24 decision not more than 30 days after the conclusion of 

25 the hearing. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Not later than 30 days after the issuance of 

2 a final decision by the Special Counsel under subpara3 graph (C), the political appointee who is the subject of 

4 the final decision may file an action seeking judicial review 

5 in accordance with section 702. 

6 ‘‘(E) Consistent with paragraph (3), the Special 

7 Counsel may file a civil action in the district courts of the 

8 United States seeking an order and such other relief as 

9 the court deems appropriate to enforce a final decision by 

10 the Special Counsel under this paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(3) The Special Counsel may not assess an adminis12 trative fine or file a civil action to enforce a final decision 

13 of the Special Counsel under paragraph (2)— 

14 ‘‘(A) unless no disciplinary action or civil pen15 alty has been taken or assessed, respectively, against 

16 the political appointee pursuant to section 7326; and 

17 ‘‘(B) until on or after the date that is 90 days 

18 after the date that the complaint regarding the polit19 ical appointee was presented to the President under 

20 section 1215(b). 

21 ‘‘(4)(A) Not later than 90 days after receiving from 

22 the Special Counsel a complaint recommending discipli23 nary action under section 1215(b) with respect to a polit24 ical appointee for a violation of section 7323 or 7324, the 

25 President shall provide a written statement to the Special 


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1 Counsel on whether the President imposed the rec2 ommended disciplinary action, imposed another form of 

3 disciplinary action, or took no disciplinary action against 

4 the political appointee. 

5 ‘‘(B) Not later than 14 days after receiving a written 

6 statement under subparagraph (A)— 

7 ‘‘(i) the Special Counsel shall submit the writ8 ten statement to the Committee on Oversight and 

9 Reform of the House of Representatives and the 

10 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

11 Affairs of the Senate; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) publish the written statement on the public 

13 website of the Office of Special Counsel. 

14 ‘‘(5) Not later than 14 days after the date that the 

15 Special Counsel determines a political appointee has vio16 lated section 7323 or 7324, the Special Counsel shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) submit a report on the investigation into 

18 such political appointee, and any communications 

19 sent from the Special Counsel to the President rec20 ommending discipline of such political appointee, to 

21 the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 

22 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

23 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

24 Senate; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) publish the report and such communica2 tions on the public website of the Office of Special 

3 Counsel. 

4 ‘‘(6) In this subsection, the term ‘political appointee’ 

5 means any individual, other than the President and the 

6 Vice-President, employed or holding office— 

7 ‘‘(A) in the Executive Office of the President, 

8 the Office of the Vice President, and any other office 

9 of the White House, but not including any career 

10 employee; or 

11 ‘‘(B) in a confidential, policy-making, policy-de12 termining, or policy-advocating position appointed by 

13 the President, by and with the advice and consent 

14 of the Senate (other than an individual in the For15 eign Service of the United States).’’. 

16 (b) CLARIFICATION ON APPLICATION OF HATCH ACT

17 TO EOP AND OVP EMPLOYEES.—Section 7322(1)(A) of 

18 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

19 ‘‘Executive agency’’ the following: ‘‘, including the Execu20 tive Office of the President, the Office of the Vice Presi21 dent, and any other office of the White House,’’. 


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1 DIVISION C—DEFENDING ELEC2 TIONS AGAINST FOREIGN IN3 TERFERENCE 

4 TITLE XI—REPORTING FOREIGN 

5 INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS 

6 SEC. 1101. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN REPORTING OF FOREIGN 

7 CONTACTS. 

8 (a) INITIAL NOTICE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal 

10 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) 

11 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

12 subsection: 

13 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF REPORTABLE FOREIGN CON14 TACTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) COMMITTEE OBLIGATION TO NOTIFY.— 

16 Not later than 1 week after a reportable foreign con17 tact, each political committee shall notify the Fed18 eral Bureau of Investigation and the Commission of 

19 the reportable foreign contact and provide a sum20 mary of the circumstances with respect to such re21 portable foreign contact. The Federal Bureau of In22 vestigation, not later than 1 week after receiving a 

23 notification from a political committee under this 

24 paragraph, shall submit to the political committee, 

25 the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of 


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1 the House of Representatives, and the Select Com2 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate written or elec3 tronic confirmation of receipt of the notification. 

4 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL OBLIGATION TO NOTIFY.— 

5 Not later than 3 days after a reportable foreign con6 tact— 

7 ‘‘(A) each candidate and each immediate 

8 family member of a candidate shall notify the 

9 treasurer or other designated official of the 

10 principal campaign committee of such candidate 

11 of the reportable foreign contact and provide a 

12 summary of the circumstances with respect to 

13 such reportable foreign contact; and 

14 ‘‘(B) each official, employee, or agent of a 

15 political committee shall notify the treasurer or 

16 other designated official of the committee of the 

17 reportable foreign contact and provide a sum18 mary of the circumstances with respect to such 

19 reportable foreign contact. 

20 ‘‘(3) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACT.—In this 

21 subsection: 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘reportable 

23 foreign contact’ means any direct or indirect 

24 contact or communication that— 

25 ‘‘(i) is between— 


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1 ‘‘(I) a candidate, an immediate 

2 family member of the candidate, a po3 litical committee, or any official, em4 ployee, or agent of such committee; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(II) an individual that the per7 son described in subclause (I) knows, 

8 has reason to know, or reasonably be9 lieves is a covered foreign national; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the person described in clause 

12 (i)(I) knows, has reason to know, or rea13 sonably believes involves— 

14 ‘‘(I) an offer or other proposal 

15 for a contribution, donation, expendi16 ture, disbursement, or solicitation de17 scribed in section 319; or 

18 ‘‘(II) coordination or collabora19 tion with, an offer or provision of in20 formation or services to or from, or 

21 persistent and repeated contact with, 

22 a covered foreign national in connec23 tion with an election. 

24 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) CONTACTS IN OFFICIAL CAPACITY

2 AS ELECTED OFFICIAL.—The term ‘report3 able foreign contact’ shall not include any 

4 contact or communication with a covered 

5 foreign national by an elected official or an 

6 employee of an elected official solely in an 

7 official capacity as such an official or em8 ployee. 

9 ‘‘(ii) CONTACTS FOR PURPOSES OF

10 ENABLING OBSERVATION OF ELECTIONS

11 BY INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS.—The 

12 term ‘reportable foreign contact’ shall not 

13 include any contact or communication with 

14 a covered foreign national by any person 

15 which is made for purposes of enabling the 

16 observation of elections in the United 

17 States by a foreign national or the obser18 vation of elections outside of the United 

19 States by a candidate, political committee, 

20 or any official, employee, or agent of such 

21 committee. 

22 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTIONS NOT APPLICABLE

23 IF CONTACTS OR COMMUNICATIONS IN24 VOLVE PROHIBITED DISBURSEMENTS.—A 

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1 ficial or an employee of an elected official 

2 shall not be considered to be made solely 

3 in an official capacity for purposes of 

4 clause (i), and a contact or communication 

5 shall not be considered to be made for pur6 poses of enabling the observation of elec7 tions for purposes of clause (ii), if the con8 tact or communication involves a contribu9 tion, donation, expenditure, disbursement, 

10 or solicitation described in section 319. 

11 ‘‘(C) COVERED FOREIGN NATIONAL DE12 FINED.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In this paragraph, 

14 the term ‘covered foreign national’ 

15 means— 

16 ‘‘(I) a foreign principal (as de17 fined in section 1(b) of the Foreign 

18 Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 

19 U.S.C. 611(b))) that is a government 

20 of a foreign country or a foreign polit21 ical party; 

22 ‘‘(II) any person who acts as an 

23 agent, representative, employee, or 

24 servant, or any person who acts in 

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1 quest, or under the direction or con2 trol, of a foreign principal described in 

3 subclause (I) or of a person any of 

4 whose activities are directly or indi5 rectly supervised, directed, controlled, 

6 financed, or subsidized in whole or in 

7 major part by a foreign principal de8 scribed in subclause (I); or 

9 ‘‘(III) any person included in the 

10 list of specially designated nationals 

11 and blocked persons maintained by 

12 the Office of Foreign Assets Control 

13 of the Department of the Treasury 

14 pursuant to authorities relating to the 

15 imposition of sanctions relating to the 

16 conduct of a foreign principal de17 scribed in subclause (I). 

18 ‘‘(ii) CLARIFICATION REGARDING AP19 PLICATION TO CITIZENS OF THE UNITED

20 STATES.—In the case of a citizen of the 

21 United States, subclause (II) of clause (i) 

22 applies only to the extent that the person 

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1 cipal described in subclause (I) of clause 

2 (i). 

3 ‘‘(4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.—In this 

4 subsection, the term ‘immediate family member’ 

5 means, with respect to a candidate, a parent, parent6 in-law, spouse, adult child, or sibling.’’. 

7 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

8 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to report9 able foreign contacts which occur on or after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 (b) INFORMATION INCLUDED ON REPORT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304(b) of such Act 

13 (52 U.S.C. 30104(b)) is amended— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para15 graph (7); 

16 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

17 paragraph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

19 paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(9) for any reportable foreign contact (as de21 fined in subsection (j)(3))— 

22 ‘‘(A) the date, time, and location of the 

23 contact; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the date and time of when a des2 ignated official of the committee was notified of 

3 the contact; 

4 ‘‘(C) the identity of individuals involved; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(D) a description of the contact, including 

7 the nature of any contribution, donation, ex8 penditure, disbursement, or solicitation involved 

9 and the nature of any activity described in sub10 section (j)(3)(A)(ii)(II) involved.’’. 

11 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

12 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to reports 

13 filed on or after the expiration of the 60-day period 

14 which begins on the date of the enactment of this 

15 Act. 

16 SEC. 1102. FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FOREIGN CONTACT RE17 PORTING COMPLIANCE SYSTEM. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Federal Elec19 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(j) REPORTABLE FOREIGN CONTACTS COMPLIANCE

22 POLICY.— 

23 ‘‘(1) REPORTING.—Each political committee 

24 shall establish a policy that requires all officials, em25 ployees, and agents of such committee to notify the 


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1 treasurer or other appropriate designated official of 

2 the committee of any reportable foreign contact (as 

3 defined in section 304(j)) not later than 3 days after 

4 such contact was made. 

5 ‘‘(2) RETENTION AND PRESERVATION OF

6 RECORDS.—Each political committee shall establish 

7 a policy that provides for the retention and preserva8 tion of records and information related to reportable 

9 foreign contacts (as so defined) for a period of not 

10 less than 3 years. 

11 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon filing its state13 ment of organization under section 303(a), and 

14 with each report filed under section 304(a), the 

15 treasurer of each political committee (other 

16 than an authorized committee) shall certify 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(i) the committee has in place poli19 cies that meet the requirements of para20 graphs (1) and (2); 

21 ‘‘(ii) the committee has designated an 

22 official to monitor compliance with such 

23 policies; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) not later than 1 week after the 

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1 ation with the committee, all officials, em2 ployees, and agents of such committee 

3 will— 

4 ‘‘(I) receive notice of such poli5 cies; 

6 ‘‘(II) be informed of the prohibi7 tions under section 319; and 

8 ‘‘(III) sign a certification affirm9 ing their understanding of such poli10 cies and prohibitions. 

11 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—With 

12 respect to an authorized committee, the can13 didate shall make the certification required 

14 under subparagraph (A).’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 

17 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to political 

18 committees which file a statement of organization 

19 under section 303(a) of the Federal Election Cam20 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103(a)) on or after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 (2) TRANSITION RULE FOR EXISTING COMMIT23 TEES.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 

24 enactment of this Act, each political committee 

25 under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 


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1 shall file a certification with the Federal Election 

2 Commission that the committee is in compliance 

3 with the requirements of section 302(j) of such Act 

4 (as added by subsection (a)). 

5 SEC. 1103. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

6 Section 309(d)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign 

7 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)) is amended by add8 ing at the end the following new subparagraphs: 

9 ‘‘(E) Any person who knowingly and willfully com10 mits a violation of subsection (j) or (b)(9) of section 304 

11 or section 302(j) shall be fined not more than $500,000, 

12 imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

13 ‘‘(F) Any person who knowingly and willfully conceals 

14 or destroys any materials relating to a reportable foreign 

15 contact (as defined in section 304(j)) shall be fined not 

16 more than $1,000,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, 

17 or both.’’. 

18 SEC. 1104. REPORT TO CONGRESSIONAL INTELLIGENCE 

19 COMMITTEES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

21 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

22 the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall 

23 submit to the congressional intelligence committees a re24 port relating to notifications received by the Federal Bu25 reau of Investigation under section 304(j)(1) of the FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00150 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8363.IH H8363

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1 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by section 

2 1101(a) of this Act). 

3 (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report under subsection (a) 

4 shall include, at a minimum, the following with respect 

5 to notifications described in subsection (a): 

6 (1) The number of such notifications received 

7 from political committees during the year covered by 

8 the report. 

9 (2) A description of protocols and procedures 

10 developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation re11 lating to receipt and maintenance of records relating 

12 to such notifications. 

13 (3) With respect to such notifications received 

14 during the year covered by the report, a description 

15 of any subsequent actions taken by the Director re16 sulting from the receipt of such notifications. 

17 (c) CONGRESSIONAL INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEES

18 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘congressional intel19 ligence committees’’ has the meaning given that term in 

20 section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

21 3003). 

22 SEC. 1105. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

23 Nothing in this title or the amendments made by this 

24 title shall be construed— 


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1 (1) to impede legitimate journalistic activities; 

2 or 

3 (2) to impose any additional limitation on the 

4 right to express political views or to participate in 

5 public discourse of any individual who— 

6 (A) resides in the United States; 

7 (B) is not a citizen of the United States or 

8 a national of the United States, as defined in 

9 section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Na10 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)); and 

11 (C) is not lawfully admitted for permanent 

12 residence, as defined by section 101(a)(20) of 

13 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

14 1101(a)(20)). 

15 TITLE XII—ELIMINATING FOR16 EIGN INTERFERENCE IN 

17 ELECTIONS 

18 SEC. 1201. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF FOREIGN 

19 MONEY BAN. 

20 (a) CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF PROVISION

21 OF CERTAIN INFORMATION AS CONTRIBUTION OR DONA22 TION OF A THING OF VALUE.—Section 319 of the Federal 

23 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following new sub25 section: 


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1 ‘‘(c) CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF PROVISION

2 OF CERTAIN INFORMATION AS CONTRIBUTION OR DONA3 TION OF A THING OF VALUE.—For purposes of this sec4 tion, a ‘contribution or donation of money or other thing 

5 of value’ includes the provision of opposition research, 

6 polling, or other non-public information relating to a can7 didate for election for a Federal, State, or local office for 

8 the purpose of influencing the election, regardless of 

9 whether such research, polling, or information has mone10 tary value, except that nothing in this subsection shall be 

11 construed to treat the mere provision of an opinion about 

12 a candidate as a thing of value for purposes of this sec13 tion.’’. 

14 (b) CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF FOREIGN

15 MONEY BAN TO ALL CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONATIONS

16 OF THINGS OF VALUE AND TO ALL SOLICITATIONS OF

17 CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONATIONS OF THINGS OF

18 VALUE.—Section 319(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

19 30121(a)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘promise 

21 to make a contribution or donation’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘promise to make such a contribution or donation’’; 

23 (2) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘donation’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘donation of money or other thing of 


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1 value, or to make an express or implied promise to 

2 make such a contribution or donation,’’; and 

3 (3) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive (di6 rectly or indirectly) a contribution or donation de7 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph 

8 (1), or to solicit, accept, or receive (directly or indi9 rectly) an express or implied promise to make such 

10 a contribution or donation, from a foreign na11 tional.’’. 

12 (c) ENHANCED PENALTY FOR CERTAIN VIOLA13 TIONS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(d)(1) of such 

15 Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)), as amended by section 

16 1103, is further amended by adding at the end the 

17 following new subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(G)(i) Any person who knowingly and willfully com19 mits a violation of section 319 which involves a foreign 

20 national which is a government of a foreign country or 

21 a foreign political party, or which involves a thing of value 

22 consisting of the provision of opposition research, polling, 

23 or other non-public information relating to a candidate for 

24 election for a Federal, State, or local office for the purpose 

25 of influencing the election, shall be fined under title 18, 


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1 United States Code, or imprisoned for not more than 5 

2 years, or both. 

3 ‘‘(ii) In clause (i), each of the terms ‘government of 

4 a foreign country’ and ‘foreign political party’ has the 

5 meaning given such term in section 1 of the Foreign 

6 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as Amended (22 U.S.C. 

7 611).’’. 

8 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

9 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to viola10 tions committed on or after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 1202. REQUIRING ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF FOREIGN 

13 MONEY BAN BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES. 

14 (a) PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY FEDERAL ELEC15 TION COMMISSION.—Section 303 of the Federal Election 

16 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103) is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(e) ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF FOREIGN MONEY

19 BAN.— 

20 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION BY COMMISSION.—Not later 

21 than 30 days after a political committee files its 

22 statement of organization under subsection (a), and 

23 biennially thereafter until the committee terminates, 

24 the Commission shall provide the committee with a 

25 written explanation of section 319. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY COMMITTEE.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 

3 days after receiving the written explanation of 

4 section 319 under paragraph (1), the committee 

5 shall transmit to the Commission a signed cer6 tification that the committee has received such 

7 written explanation and has provided a copy of 

8 the explanation to all members, employees, con9 tractors, and volunteers of the committee. 

10 ‘‘(B) PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR SIGNA11 TURE.—The certification required under sub12 paragraph (A) shall be signed— 

13 ‘‘(i) in the case of an authorized com14 mittee of a candidate, by the candidate; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any other political 

16 committee, by the treasurer of the com17 mittee.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION FOR EXISTING

19 COMMITTEES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 

21 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to political 

22 committees which file statements of organization 

23 under section 303 of the Federal Election Campaign 

24 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103) on or after the date 

25 of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (2) TRANSITION FOR EXISTING COMMITTEES.— 

2 (A) NOTIFICATION BY FEDERAL ELECTION

3 COMMISSION.—Not later than 90 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

5 Election Commission shall provide each political 

6 committee under such Act with the written ex7 planation of section 319 of such Act, as re8 quired under section 303(e)(1) of such Act (as 

9 added by subsection (a)). 

10 (B) ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY COMMITTEE.— 

11 Not later than 30 days after receiving the writ12 ten explanation under subparagraph (A), each 

13 political committee under such Act shall trans14 mit to the Federal Election Commission the 

15 signed certification, as required under section 

16 303(e)(2) of such Act (as added by subsection 

17 (a)). 

18 DIVISION D—SEVERABILITY 

19 TITLE XIII—SEVERABILITY 

20 SEC. 1301. SEVERABILITY. 

21 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

22 by this Act, or the application of a provision of this Act 

23 or an amendment made by this Act to any person or cir24 cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 

25 of this Act, and the application of the provisions to any 


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1 person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the hold2 ing. 

Æ 


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