I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5902 

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

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2018 

Mr. RASKIN (for himself, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. 

EVANS, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, 

Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. NADLER, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. 

PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SPEIER, 

Mr. WALZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. 

WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 

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

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide 

for reform in the operations of the Office of Government 

Ethics, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Executive Branch 

5 Comprehensive Ethics Enforcement Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TENURE OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF 

2 GOVERNMENT ETHICS. 

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

4 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking the period 

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

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

7 Director may continue to serve beyond the expiration of 

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

9 except that the Director may not continue to serve for 

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

11 otherwise expire under this subsection.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERN13 MENT ETHICS. 

14 (a) Section 402(b) of the Ethics in Government Act 

15 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘developing, in consulta18 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘consulting’’; 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘Management,’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘Management for advice on the develop21 ment of’’; and 

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

23 ‘‘title I’’; 

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

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) providing mandatory education and train2 ing programs for agency ethics counselors and other 

3 responsible officials, which may be delegated to each 

4 agency or the White House Counsel as deemed ap5 propriate by the Director;’’; 

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

7 inserting ‘‘title I’’; 

8 (4) in paragraph (4)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘violations of applicable 

10 conflict of interest laws or regulations’’ and in11 serting ‘‘conflicts of interest’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘recommending’’ and in13 serting ‘‘directing’’; and 

14 (C) by striking ‘‘problems’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘issues’’; 

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

17 and inserting ‘‘issues’’; 

18 (6) in paragraph (7)— 

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

20 (B) by striking ‘‘conflict of interest prob21 lems’’ and inserting ‘‘conflicts of interest, as 

22 well as other ethics issues under the purview of 

23 this Act,’’; 

24 (7) in paragraph (11), by inserting after ‘‘con25 flict of interest laws’’ the following: ‘‘, rules, and 


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1 regulations as they relate to conflicts of interest and 

2 other ethical issues,’’; 

3 (8) in paragraph (12)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘evaluating’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘promulgating’’; 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘the need for’’; 

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

8 ethical problems’’ and inserting ‘‘conflict of in9 terest and ethical issues’’; 

10 (9) in paragraph (13)— 

11 (A) by inserting ‘‘serious’’ after ‘‘allega12 tions of’’; 

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

14 of interest laws’’ and inserting ‘‘conflict of in15 terest issues and allegations of violations of eth16 ics laws and regulations and this Act’’; and 

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

18 535 of title 28, United States Code’’; 

19 (10) in paragraph (14) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

20 end; 

21 (11) in paragraph (15)— 

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

23 ‘‘title I’’; and 

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

25 inserting a semicolon; and 


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

2 ‘‘(16) determining any violations of this Act by 

3 employees of an agency and issuing appropriate ad4 ministrative penalties; 

5 ‘‘(17) directing and providing final approval, 

6 when determined appropriate by the Director, for 

7 agency ethics counselors and other responsible offi8 cials regarding the resolution of conflicts of interest 

9 as well as any other ethics issues under the purview 

10 of this Act in individual cases; and 

11 ‘‘(18) reviewing and, when determined appro12 priate by the Director, approving any recusals, ex13 emptions, or waivers to the conflicts of interest and 

14 ethics laws, rules, and regulations and making ap15 proved recusals, exemptions, and waivers public 

16 record.’’. 

17 (b) Section 402(d) of the Ethics in Government Act 

18 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘, by the exercise of any 

21 authority otherwise available to the Director 

22 under this title,’’; and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘the agency is’’. 

24 (c) Section 402(f) of the Ethics in Government Act 

25 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (A) in clause (i) of subparagraph (A) by 

3 striking ‘‘of such agency’’; and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘no5 tify the President and the Congress of the 

6 agency’s noncompliance in writing (including, 

7 with the notification, any written comments 

8 which the agency may provide)’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘determine that a violation of this Act has oc10 curred and issue appropriate administrative or 

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

12 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

14 (i) in clause (ii)— 

15 (I) in subclause (I)— 

16 (aa) by inserting ‘‘to the 

17 President or the President’s des18 ignee if the matter involves em19 ployees of the Executive Office of 

20 the President or’’ after ‘‘may rec21 ommend’’; 

22 (bb) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

23 the end; 

24 (II) in subclause (II)— 


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1 (aa) by striking ‘‘shall notify 

2 the President in writing’’; 

3 (bb) by inserting ‘‘President 

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

5 and 

6 (cc) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; and 

8 (III) by adding at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(III) may conduct a formal investigation 

11 and hearing in accordance to the procedures de12 scribed in subparagraph (B).’’; 

13 (ii) in clause (iii)— 

14 (I) in the matter preceding sub15 clause (I) by inserting ‘‘or has vio16 lated’’ after ‘‘is violating’’; 

17 (II) in subclause (I) by striking 

18 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

19 (III) in subclause (II)— 

20 (aa) by striking ‘‘notify in 

21 writing,’’ and inserting ‘‘advise 

22 the President in writing or 

23 order’’; 

24 (bb) by inserting ‘‘that the 

25 President or’’ after ‘‘in writing,’’; 


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1 (cc) by inserting ‘‘take ap2 propriate disciplinary action in3 cluding reprimand, suspension, 

4 demotion, or dismissal against 

5 the officer or employee’’ after 

6 ‘‘employee’s agency’’; and 

7 (dd) by striking ‘‘of the offi8 cer’s or employee’s noncompli9 ance, except that, if the officer or 

10 employee involved is the agency 

11 head, the notification shall in12 stead be submitted to the Presi13 dent’’; and 

14 (iii) by striking clause (iv); 

15 (B) in subparagraph (B)(i)— 

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

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

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

19 order to’’; and 

20 (iii) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(II)(aa) In conducting an investigation, 

23 the Director may, if necessary, apply to a judge 

24 or clerk of a court of the United States to issue 

25 a subpoena for a witness or witnesses to appear 


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1 at a time or place stated in the subpoena before 

2 an individual authorized to take depositions to 

3 be used in the courts of the United States, to 

4 give full and true answers to written interrog5 atories and cross-interrogatories as may be sub6 mitted with the application, or to be orally ex7 amined or cross-examined on the subject of the 

8 claim. 

9 ‘‘(bb) The Director may secure directly 

10 from any agency information necessary to en11 able it to carry out this Act. Upon request of 

12 the Director, the head of such agency shall fur13 nish that information to the Director.’’; 

14 (C) in subparagraph (B)(ii)(I)— 

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

16 of this subparagraph, before’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘Before’’; and 

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

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

20 (A)(iii)’’; 

21 (D) in subparagraph (B)(iii) by striking 

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

23 before’’ and inserting ‘‘Before’’; and 

24 (E) in subparagraph (B)(iv)— 


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

2 ‘‘title I’’; and 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘section 206’’ and in4 serting ‘‘section 104’’; 

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

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

7 following: 

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

9 be the central repository, by maintaining data or ref10 erencing data by internet link that is maintained by 

11 agencies or otherwise made publicly available, of all 

12 conflicts of interest and ethics laws, rules and regu13 lations, recusals, waivers and exemptions, ethics ad14 visory opinions, ethics agreements of senior executive 

15 branch personnel and employee certificates of dives16 titure, financial disclosure reports as required under 

17 title I of this Act, compliance reviews, enforcement 

18 actions, and any other public records concerning 

19 conflicts of interest and ethics records for the execu20 tive branch required by law. 

21 ‘‘(B) All financial disclosure reports, conflicts of 

22 interest and ethics records deemed public informa23 tion by the Director or by law shall be made avail24 able to the public either by internet link to such in25 formation if publicly available, or at no charge on 


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1 the web page of the Office of Government Ethics in 

2 a searchable, sortable, and downloadable format, and 

3 at reasonable fees for reproduction of paper docu4 ments at the Office of Government Ethics.’’. 

5 (d) Section 402 of the Ethics in Government Act of 

6 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(g) For purposes of this title— 

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ shall include the Execu10 tive Office of the President; and 

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

12 any individual occupying a position, providing any 

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

14 the White House or the Executive Office of the 

15 President, regardless of whether the individual re16 ceives pay. 

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

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

19 ‘‘(i) In carrying out the duties under this section, the 

20 Director, or any employee of the Office of Government 

21 Ethics designated by the Director, shall transmit to Con22 gress on the request of any committee or subcommittee 

23 thereof, by report, testimony, or otherwise, information 

24 and the views on functions, responsibilities, or other mat25 ters relating to the Office of Government Ethics. Such inVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:56 Jun 01, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5902.IH H5902

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1 formation shall be transmitted concurrently to the Presi2 dent and any other appropriate Executive agency.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. AGENCY ETHICS OFFICIALS TRAINING AND DUTIES. 

4 Section 403 of such Act (5 U.S.C. App) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(c)(1) All designated agency ethics officials and al7 ternate designated agency ethics officials shall register 

8 with, and report to, the Director as well as with the ap9 pointing authority of the official. 

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

11 training to all designated and alternate designated agency 

12 ethics officials in a time and manner deemed appropriate 

13 by the Director. 

14 ‘‘(3) The Director shall have final authority over the 

15 President’s designee and all designated and alternate des16 ignated agency ethics officials and other ethics counselors 

17 in the executive branch in the interpretation and imple18 mentation of all conflict of interest and ethics rules and 

19 regulations promulgated by the President or the Direc20 tor.’’. 

Æ 


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