I 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 253 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to restrict trading and ownership 

of certain financial instruments by Members of Congress and their 

spouses and dependents, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2025 

Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. MILLS, and Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to restrict trading 

and ownership of certain financial instruments by Members of Congress and their spouses and dependents, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bipartisan Restoring 

5 Faith in Government Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF CONGRESSIONAL OWNERSHIP OF 

2 FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 131 of title 5, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—PROHIBITION ON CONGRES7 SIONAL OWNERSHIP OF FINANCIAL IN8 VESTMENTS 

9 ‘‘§ 13151. Definitions 

10 ‘‘In this subchapter: 

11 ‘‘(1) COVERED FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT.—The 

12 term ‘covered financial instrument’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) any investment in— 

14 ‘‘(i) a security (as defined in section 

15 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 

16 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))); 

17 ‘‘(ii) a security future (as defined in 

18 section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act 

19 of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))); or 

20 ‘‘(iii) a commodity (as defined in sec21 tion 1a of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 

22 U.S.C. 1a)); and 

23 ‘‘(B) any economic interest comparable to 

24 an interest described in subclause (I) that is ac25 quired through synthetic means, such as the 


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1 use of a derivative, including an option, war2 rant, or other similar means. 

3 ‘‘(2) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘cov4 ered individual’ means any of the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) A Member of Congress. 

6 ‘‘(B) The spouse of a Member of Congress. 

7 ‘‘(C) The dependent of a Member of Con8 gress. 

9 ‘‘(3) DEPENDENT.—The term ‘dependent’ has 

10 the meaning given that term in section 13101. 

11 ‘‘(4) MEMBER OF CONGRESS.—The term ‘Mem12 ber of Congress’ has the meaning given that term in 

13 section 13101. 

14 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED BLIND TRUST.—The term 

15 ‘qualified blind trust’ has the meaning given that 

16 term in section 13104(f)(3). 

17 ‘‘(6) SUPERVISING ETHICS OFFICE.—The term 

18 ‘supervising ethics office’ has the meaning given that 

19 term in section 13101. 

20 ‘‘§ 13152. Limitation on owning or trading certain as21 sets 

22 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this 

24 section, no covered individual may own or trade a 

25 covered financial instrument. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Nothing in this subchapter 

2 shall be construed to prevent a covered individual 

3 from owning or trading— 

4 ‘‘(A) a widely held investment fund (as 

5 that term is described in section 13104(f)(8)) 

6 that is registered as a management company 

7 under the Investment Company Act, as amend8 ed (15 U.S.C. 80a–1 et seq.); 

9 ‘‘(B) a United States Treasury bill, note, 

10 or bond; 

11 ‘‘(C) any bond issued by a State or local 

12 government; or 

13 ‘‘(D) any investment under the Thrift Sav14 ings Plan. 

15 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To comply with the re17 quirement under subsection (a), a covered individual 

18 shall divest of a covered financial instrument 

19 through sale or placement in a qualified blind trust 

20 in accordance with subsection (c). 

21 ‘‘(2) ASSETS ACQUIRED THROUGH SPECIAL CIR22 CUMSTANCES.—In the event that a covered indi23 vidual acquires a covered financial instrument after 

24 the date of enactment of the Bipartisan Restoring 

25 Faith in Government Act other than by purchase, 


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1 the covered individual shall have 90 days from the 

2 date on which such individual received such instru3 ment to divest of such instrument through any 

4 means provided under paragraph (1). 

5 ‘‘(c) TIME PERIOD FOR COMPLIANCE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) COVERED INDIVIDUALS AS OF DATE OF

7 ENACTMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is a 

9 covered individual as of the date of enactment 

10 of Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government 

11 Act shall have 90 days following the date of en12 actment of such Act to divest of such instru13 ment through any means provided under sub14 section (b)(1). 

15 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR SPOUSES.—A 

16 covered individual who is a spouse of a Member 

17 of Congress and who receives any financial in18 strument as compensation for their primary em19 ployment shall divest of such financial instru20 ment not later than 90 days after the date that 

21 the spouse is contractually permitted to sell the 

22 covered investment. 

23 ‘‘(2) COVERED INDIVIDUALS AFTER DATE OF

24 ENACTMENT.—An individual who becomes a covered 

25 individual after the date of enactment of the BiparVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:25 Jan 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H253.IH H253

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1 tisan Restoring Faith in Government Act shall have 

2 90 days from the date on which such individual be3 comes a covered individual to divest of such instru4 ment through any means provided under subsection 

5 (b)(1). 

6 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED BLIND TRUST REQUIRE7 MENTS.—Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), a 

8 qualified blind trust may not be established for pur9 poses of complying with this subchapter without the 

10 prior approval of the supervising ethics office. With 

11 respect to any such trust so approved, the applicable 

12 trustee— 

13 ‘‘(A) shall divest of any such instrument 

14 placed in the trust not later than 6 months 

15 after the trust is established; 

16 ‘‘(B) shall certify to the applicable super17 vising ethics office on an annual basis that the 

18 trustee has not provided any information on the 

19 trust’s assets or transactions to the applicable 

20 covered individual; and 

21 ‘‘(C) may not have a close personal or 

22 business relationship with the applicable cov23 ered individual. 

24 ‘‘(d) INCOME TAX.—A loss from a transaction or 

25 holding involving a covered financial instrument that is 


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1 conducted in violation of this section may not be deducted 

2 from the amount of income tax owed by the covered indi3 vidual. 

4 ‘‘(e) ASSETS UPON SEPARATION.—In the case of a 

5 spouse or dependent who ceases to be a covered individual, 

6 such spouse or dependent may regain control over any cov7 ered financial instrument that was placed into a qualified 

8 blind trust pursuant to subsection (a). 

9 ‘‘(f) PROOF OF COMPLIANCE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION.—A Member of Congress 

11 shall submit to the supervising ethics office a pledge 

12 of compliance with the requirements of this sub13 chapter, and shall produce, upon request of the su14 pervising ethics office, material or information deter15 mined by the supervising ethics committee to be nec16 essary to indicate compliance with the provisions of 

17 this subchapter. 

18 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATE.—The supervising ethics of19 fice shall provide each Member of Congress in com20 pliance with the provisions of this Act with a certifi21 cate of compliance. 

22 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION.—The supervising ethics of23 fice shall make available, on a publicly accessible 

24 website, all certificates issued under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘§ 13153. Enforcement 

2 ‘‘(a) REFERRAL.—The supervising ethics office shall 

3 refer to the Attorney General the name of any covered 

4 individual who such office has reasonable cause to believe 

5 has willfully failed to comply with the requirements of sec6 tion 13152. 

7 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.— 

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

9 bring a civil action in any appropriate United States 

10 district court against any covered individual who 

11 knowingly and willfully fails to comply with section 

12 13152. The court in which such action is brought 

13 may assess against such individual a civil penalty in 

14 any amount, not to exceed $50,000. 

15 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—A covered individual may 

16 not pay any penalty resulting from a civil action 

17 under paragraph (1) using— 

18 ‘‘(A) funds from a Members’ Representa19 tional Allowance or Senators’ Official Personnel 

20 and Office Expense Account (as the case may 

21 be); or 

22 ‘‘(B) funds of any political committee 

23 under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

24 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.).’’. 

25 (b) APPLICATION OF TAX RULES FOR SALES OF

26 PROPERTY TO COMPLY WITH CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST


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1 REQUIREMENTS.—Section 1043 of the Internal Revenue 

2 Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the fol3 lowing new subsection: 

4 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION TO PROHIBITION ON CONGRES5 SIONAL OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN ASSETS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) TREATMENT AS CONFLICT OF INTEREST

7 STATUTE.—For purposes of subsection (b)(2)(A), 

8 subchapter IV of chapter 131 of title 5, United 

9 States Code, shall be treated as a Federal conflict 

10 of interest statute. 

11 ‘‘(2) COVERED INDIVIDUALS TREATED AS ELI12 GIBLE PERSONS.—For purposes of this section— 

13 ‘‘(A) the term ‘eligible person’ shall include 

14 covered individuals (as defined in section 13151 

15 of title 5, United States Code), and 

16 ‘‘(B) such covered individuals shall be 

17 treated as referred to in subsection (b)(1)(A) 

18 for purposes of applying subsection (b)(5)(A). 

19 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATES OF DIVESTITURE ISSUED

20 BY ETHICS COMMITTEE.—In the case of any covered 

21 individual referred to in paragraph (2)(A), a certifi22 cate of divestiture meets the requirement of sub23 section (b)(2)(B) if such certificate is issued by the 

24 applicable Congressional ethics committee.’’. 


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

2 for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item 

3 relating to section 13146 the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—PROHIBITION ON CONGRESSIONAL OWNERSHIP OF

FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS

‘‘13151. Definitions. 

‘‘13152. Limitation on owning or trading certain assets. 

‘‘13153. Enforcement.’’. 

Æ 


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