I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 209 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require political 

appointees to sign an ethics pledge, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. SCHNEIDER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require 

political appointees to sign an ethics pledge, 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 subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Ethics in Public 

5 Service Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ETHICS PLEDGE REQUIREMENT FOR SENIOR EXEC7 UTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES. 

8 The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 

9 App. 101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after title I the 

10 following new title: 


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1 ‘‘TITLE II—ETHICS PLEDGE 

2 ‘‘SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

3 ‘‘For the purposes of this title, the following defini4 tions apply: 

5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘executive agency’ has the mean6 ing given that term in section 105 of title 5, United 

7 States Code, and includes the Executive Office of 

8 the President, the United States Postal Service, and 

9 Postal Regulatory Commission, but does not include 

10 the Government Accountability Office. 

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘appointee’ means any full-time, 

12 noncareer Presidential or Vice-Presidential ap13 pointee, noncareer appointee in the Senior Executive 

14 Service (or other SES-type system), or appointee to 

15 a position that has been excepted from the competi16 tive service by reason of being of a confidential or 

17 policymaking character (Schedule C and other posi18 tions excepted under comparable criteria) in an exec19 utive agency, but does not include any individual ap20 pointed as a member of the Senior Foreign Service 

21 or solely as a uniformed service commissioned offi22 cer. 

23 ‘‘(3) The term ‘gift’ means anything having 

24 monetary value. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The term ‘covered executive branch offi2 cial’ and ‘lobbyist’ have the meanings given those 

3 terms in section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

4 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602). 

5 ‘‘(5) The term ‘registered lobbyist or lobbying 

6 organization’ means a lobbyist or an organization fil7 ing a registration pursuant to section 4(a) of the 

8 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

9 1603(a)), and in the case of an organization filing 

10 such a registration, ‘registered lobbyist’ includes 

11 each of the lobbyists identified therein. 

12 ‘‘(6) The term ‘lobby’ and ‘lobbied’ mean to act 

13 or have acted as a registered lobbyist. 

14 ‘‘(7) The term ‘former employer’ is any person 

15 for whom the appointee has within the 2 years prior 

16 to the date of his or her appointment served as an 

17 employee, officer, director, trustee, or general part18 ner, except that ‘former employer’ does not include 

19 any executive agency or other entity of the Federal 

20 Government, State or local government, the District 

21 of Columbia, Native American tribe, or any United 

22 States territory or possession. 

23 ‘‘(8) The term ‘former client’ is any person for 

24 whom the appointee served personally as agent, at25 torney, or consultant within the 2 years prior to the 


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1 date of his or her appointment, but excluding in2 stances where the service provided was limited to a 

3 speech or similar appearance. It does not include cli4 ents of the appointee’s former employer to whom the 

5 appointee did not personally provide services. 

6 ‘‘(9) The term ‘directly and substantially re7 lated to my former employer or former clients’ 

8 means matters in which the appointee’s former em9 ployer or a former client is a party or represents a 

10 party. 

11 ‘‘(10) The term ‘participate’ means to partici12 pate personally and substantially. 

13 ‘‘(11) The term ‘post-employment restrictions’ 

14 includes the provisions and exceptions in section 

15 207(c) of title 18, United States Code, and the im16 plementing regulations. 

17 ‘‘(12) The term ‘Government official’ means 

18 any employee of the executive branch. 

19 ‘‘(13) The term ‘Administration’ means all 

20 terms of office of the incumbent President serving at 

21 the time of the appointment of an appointee covered 

22 by this title. 

23 ‘‘(14) The term ‘pledge’ means the ethics 

24 pledge set forth in section 202 of this title. 


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1 ‘‘(15) All references to provisions of law and 

2 regulations shall refer to such provisions as in effect 

3 on the date of enactment of this title. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 202. ETHICS PLEDGE. 

5 ‘‘Each appointee in every executive agency appointed 

6 on or after the date of enactment of this section shall be 

7 required to sign an ethics pledge upon appointment. The 

8 pledge shall be signed and dated within 30 days of taking 

9 office and shall include at least the following elements, in 

10 addition to other requirements: 

11 ‘‘ ‘As a condition, and in consideration, of my employ12 ment in the United States Government in a position in13 vested with the public trust, I commit myself to the fol14 lowing obligations, which I understand are binding on me 

15 and are enforceable under law: 

16 ‘‘ ‘(1) Lobbyist Gift Ban.—I will not accept 

17 gifts from registered lobbyists or lobbying organiza18 tions for the duration of my service as an appointee. 

19 ‘‘ ‘(2) Revolving Door Ban; Entering Govern20 ment.— 

21 ‘‘ ‘(A) All Appointees Entering Govern22 ment.—I will not, for a period of 2 years from 

23 the date of my appointment, participate in any 

24 particular matter involving specific party or 

25 parties that is directly and substantially related 


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1 to my former employer or former clients, in2 cluding regulations and contracts. 

3 ‘‘ ‘(B) Lobbyists Entering Government.—If 

4 I was a registered lobbyist within the 2 years 

5 before the date of my appointment, in addition 

6 to abiding by the limitations of subparagraph 

7 (A), I will not for a period of 2 years after the 

8 date of my appointment: 

9 ‘‘ ‘(i) participate in any particular 

10 matter on which I lobbied within the 2 

11 years before the date of my appointment; 

12 ‘‘ ‘(ii) participate in the specific issue 

13 area in which that particular matter falls; 

14 or 

15 ‘‘ ‘(iii) seek or accept employment with 

16 any executive agency that I lobbied within 

17 the 2 years before the date of my appoint18 ment. 

19 ‘‘ ‘(3) Revolving Door Ban; Appointees Leaving 

20 Government.— 

21 ‘‘ ‘(A) All Appointees Leaving Govern22 ment.—If, upon my departure from the Govern23 ment, I am covered by the post-employment re24 strictions on communicating with employees of 

25 my former executive agency set forth in section 


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1 207(c) of title 18, United States Code, I agree 

2 that I will abide by those restrictions for a pe3 riod of 2 years following the end of my appoint4 ment. 

5 ‘‘ ‘(B) Appointees Leaving Government to 

6 Lobby.—In addition to abiding by the limita7 tions of subparagraph (A), I also agree, upon 

8 leaving Government service, not to lobby any 

9 covered executive branch official or noncareer 

10 Senior Executive Service appointee for the re11 mainder of the Administration. 

12 ‘‘ ‘(4) Employment Qualification Commit13 ment.—I agree that any hiring or other employment 

14 decisions I make will be based on the candidate’s 

15 qualifications, competence, and experience. 

16 ‘‘ ‘(5) Assent to Enforcement.—I acknowledge 

17 that title II of the Ethics in Government Act of 

18 1978, which I have read before signing this docu19 ment, defines certain of the terms applicable to the 

20 foregoing obligations and sets forth the methods for 

21 enforcing them. I expressly accept the provisions of 

22 that title as a part of this agreement and as binding 

23 on me. I understand that the terms of this pledge 

24 are in addition to any statutory or other legal reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H209.IH H209

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1 strictions applicable to me by virtue of Federal Gov2 ernment service.’ ’’. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 203. WAIVER. 

4 ‘‘(a) The President or the President’s designee may 

5 grant to any current or former appointee a written waiver 

6 of any restrictions contained in the pledge signed by such 

7 appointee if, and to the extent that, the President or the 

8 President’s designee certifies (in writing) that— 

9 ‘‘(1) the literal application of the restriction is 

10 inconsistent with the purposes of the restriction; or 

11 ‘‘(2) it is in the public interest to grant the 

12 waiver. 

13 ‘‘(b) Any waiver under this section shall take effect 

14 when the certification is signed by the President or the 

15 President’s designee. 

16 ‘‘(c) For purposes of subsection (a)(2), the public in17 terest shall include exigent circumstances relating to na18 tional security or to the economy. De minimis contact with 

19 an executive agency shall be cause for a waiver of the re20 strictions contained in paragraph (2)(B) of the pledge. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 204. ADMINISTRATION. 

22 ‘‘(a) The head of each executive agency shall, in con23 sultation with the Director of the Office of Government 

24 Ethics, establish such rules or procedures (conforming as 

25 nearly as practicable to the agency’s general ethics rules 


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1 and procedures, including those relating to designated 

2 agency ethics officers) as are necessary or appropriate to 

3 ensure— 

4 ‘‘(1) that every appointee in the agency signs 

5 the pledge upon assuming the appointed office or 

6 otherwise becoming an appointee; 

7 ‘‘(2) that compliance with paragraph (2)(B) of 

8 the pledge is addressed in a written ethics agree9 ment with each appointee to whom it applies; 

10 ‘‘(3) that spousal employment issues and other 

11 conflicts not expressly addressed by the pledge are 

12 addressed in ethics agreements with appointees or, 

13 where no such agreements are required, through eth14 ics counseling; and 

15 ‘‘(4) compliance with this title within the agen16 cy. 

17 ‘‘(b) With respect to the Executive Office of the 

18 President, the duties set forth in subsection (a) shall be 

19 the responsibility of the Counsel to the President. 

20 ‘‘(c) The Director of the Office of Government Ethics 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) ensure that the pledge and a copy of this 

23 title are made available for use by agencies in ful24 filling their duties under subsection (a); 


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1 ‘‘(2) in consultation with the Attorney General 

2 or the Counsel to the President, when appropriate, 

3 assist designated agency ethics officers in providing 

4 advice to current or former appointees regarding the 

5 application of the pledge; 

6 ‘‘(3) adopt such rules or procedures as are nec7 essary or appropriate— 

8 ‘‘(A) to carry out the responsibilities as9 signed by this subsection; 

10 ‘‘(B) to apply the lobbyist gift ban set 

11 forth in paragraph 1 of the pledge to all execu12 tive branch employees; 

13 ‘‘(C) to authorize limited exceptions to the 

14 lobbyist gift ban for circumstances that do not 

15 implicate the purposes of the ban; 

16 ‘‘(D) to make clear that no person shall 

17 have violated the lobbyist gift ban if the person 

18 properly disposes of a gift; 

19 ‘‘(E) to ensure that existing rules and pro20 cedures for Government employees engaged in 

21 negotiations for future employment with private 

22 businesses that are affected by their official ac23 tions do not affect the integrity of the Govern24 ment’s programs and operations; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) to ensure, in consultation with the 

2 Director of the Office of Personnel Manage3 ment, that the requirement set forth in para4 graph (4) of the pledge is honored by every em5 ployee of the executive branch; 

6 ‘‘(4) in consultation with the Director of the 

7 Office of Management and Budget, report to the 

8 President on whether full compliance is being 

9 achieved with existing laws and regulations gov10 erning executive branch procurement lobbying disclo11 sure and on steps the executive branch can take to 

12 expand to the fullest extent practicable disclosure of 

13 such executive branch procurement lobbying and of 

14 lobbying for presidential pardons, and to include in 

15 the report both immediate action the executive 

16 branch can take and, if necessary, recommendations 

17 for legislation; and 

18 ‘‘(5) provide an annual public report on the ad19 ministration of the pledge and this title. 

20 ‘‘(d) All pledges signed by appointees, and all waiver 

21 certifications with respect thereto, shall be filed with the 

22 head of the appointee’s agency for permanent retention 

23 in the appointee’s official personnel folder or equivalent 

24 folder.’’. 

Æ 


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