Prohibition of Financial Trading on Government Property Act

Subjects: Government Operations and Politics


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2383 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2383

    To prohibit Federal officers and employees from engaging in any 
 financial trading activity while on Federal Government property, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 29, 2023

  Ms. Mace (for herself and Ms. Craig) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, 
and in addition to the Committee on 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 prohibit Federal officers and employees from engaging in any 
 financial trading activity while on Federal Government property, and 
                          for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Prohibition of Financial Trading on 
Government Property Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FINANCIAL TRADING ACTIVITY WHILE ON GOVERNMENT 
              PROPERTY OR USING GOVERNMENT RESOURCES.

    (a) Prohibition.--A Federal employee may not--
            (1) conduct, participate in, or otherwise carry out any 
        financial trading activity while on Federal property; or
            (2) use any Government-issued devices or resources, 
        including computers, internet access, telephones, or other 
        electronic devices, for the purpose of conducting, 
        participating in, or otherwise carrying out any financial 
        trading activity.
    (b) Exceptions.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to--
                    (A) any Federal employee if such employee's 
                official duties involve financial trading activity, as 
                determined by the head of the employing agency; and
                    (B) a Federal employee's engagement in financial 
                trading activity is directly related to their account 
                under the Thrift Savings Plan.
            (2) President; vice president.--Subsection (a)(2) shall not 
        apply to the President or the Vice President.
    (c) Penalties.--
            (1) Penalty.--
                    (A) An individual who violates this section shall 
                be fined not more than the value of the financial 
                trading activity, or $1,000, whichever is greater.
                    (B) An individual who knowingly violates this 
                section shall be fined not more than $5,000, imprisoned 
                not more than 3 years, or both.
            (2) Personnel action.--Any individual found to be in 
        violation of this Act shall be subject to disciplinary action 
        up to and including removal, as determined by the head of the 
        employing agency.
    (d) Reporting.--
            (1) In general.--Each employing agency shall report any 
        violation of this Act to the supervising ethics office within 
        30 days after determining that the violation has occurred.
            (2) Compliance.--The supervising ethics office shall have 
        the authority to conduct investigations and audits to ensure 
        compliance with this Act.
    (e) Regulations.--Each supervising ethics office shall issue 
regulations to implement this Act, including guidelines for determining 
what constitutes a violation of the Act, procedures for reporting 
violations, and penalties under subsection (c)(1).
    (f) Definitions.--In this Act--
            (1) the term ``Federal employee''--
                    (A) means--
                            (i) the President;
                            (ii) a Member of Congress (as that term is 
                        defined in section 2106 of title 5, United 
                        States Code);
                            (iii) an employee (as that term is defined 
                        under section 2105 of such title);
                            (iv) an employee of the United States 
                        Postal Service or Postal Regulatory Commission; 
                        and
                            (v) notwithstanding section 7425(b) of 
                        title 38, United States Code, an employee 
                        appointed under chapter 73 or 74 of such title 
                        38; and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) any member of the uniformed services 
                        (as that term is defined in section 2101 of 
                        title 5, United States Code); or
                            (ii) the Chief Justice of the United States 
                        or any associate justice of the Supreme Court 
                        of the United States;
            (2) the term ``Federal property'' means any building, land, 
        or other real property owned, leased, or occupied by any 
        department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States 
        Government, but does not include any--
                    (A) national park (but not including the White 
                House and President's Park);
                    (B) facility of the United States Postal Service;
                    (C) Indian Reservation (as that term is defined in 
                section 3 of the Indian Financing Act of 1974);
                    (D) real property or facility owned by the United 
                States Government located outside the United States and 
                its territories; or
                    (E) Border Inspection Facilities;
            (3) the term ``financial trading activity'' means the 
        buying or selling of any stock, bond, commodity, future, 
        cryptocurrency or other digital asset, or other form of 
        security, including an interest in a hedge fund, a derivative, 
        option, or other complex investment vehicle; and
            (4) the term ``supervising ethics office'' has the meaning 
        given that term in section 13101 of title 5, United States 
        Code.
    (g) Effective Date.--This Act shall begin to take effect 90 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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