I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 706 
To strengthen transparency and accountability within the Federal 
Government, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 22, 2019 
Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. 
SA´NCHEZ, and Mr. CICILLINE) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to 
the Committees on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and House Adminis-
tration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To strengthen transparency and accountability within the 
Federal Government, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Restoring the Public Trust Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
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TITLE I—NO PERSONAL ENRICHMENT FOR FEDERAL 
EMPLOYEES 
Subtitle A—Stop Waste And Misuse by the President 
Sec. 101. Short title. 
Sec. 102. Findings. 
Sec. 103. Reimbursal for costs of protection. 
Subtitle B—Stop Waste And Misuse by Presidential Flyers Landing Yet 
Evading Rules and Standards 
Sec. 111. Short title. 
Sec. 112. Prohibition on use of funds for travel on private aircraft. 
Subtitle C—E. Scott Pruitt Accountability for Government Officials 
Sec. 121. Short title. 
Sec. 122. Findings. 
Sec. 123. Use of public office for private gain. 
Subtitle D—Curb Objectionable Redirection of Resources and Unconstitutional 
Payments to Trump 
Sec. 131. Short title. 
Sec. 132. Findings. 
Sec. 133. Sense of the Congress. 
Sec. 134. Reports. 
Sec. 135. Definitions. 
Subtitle E—Relatives In Government Getting Employment Dishonorably 
Sec. 141. Short title. 
Sec. 142. Employment of relatives; restrictions. 
Subtitle F—Determining if Regulatory Actions are in the Interest of the 
Nation or the Swamp 
Sec. 151. Short title. 
Sec. 152. Requiring greater transparency for regulatory conflicts of interest. 
Sec. 153. ACUS study and report on regulatory conflicts of interest. 
Sec. 154. Judicial review. 
Sec. 155. Effective date. 
TITLE II—ROOTING OUT CONFLICTS OF INTEREST 
Subtitle A—Commonsense Legislation Ensuring Accountability by Reporting 
Access of Non-Cleared Employees to Secrets 
Sec. 201. Short title. 
Sec. 202. Report on security clearances for individuals working in the White 
House and Executive Office of the President. 
Subtitle B—Divestiture of Certain Financial Interests of Federal Officers and 
Employees and Spouses 
Sec. 211. Divestiture of certain financial interests of Federal officers and em-
ployees and spouses. 
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Subtitle C—Presidential Tax Transparency 
Sec. 221. Short title. 
Sec. 222. Presidential and Vice Presidential tax transparency. 
Subtitle D—White House Open Data 
Sec. 231. Short title. 
Sec. 232. White House visitor log and employee information. 
Subtitle E—Prohibitions on Making Certain Contracts with Federal 
Government or Receiving Federal Funds 
Sec. 241. Prohibitions on making certain contracts with Federal Government or 
receiving Federal funds. 
TITLE III—INCREASED OVERSIGHT AND STRENGTHENING 
AGENCIES RESPONSIBLE FOR ROOTING OUT CORRUPTION 
Sec. 301. Congressional notification of change in status of Inspector General. 
Sec. 302. Presidential explanation of failure to nominate an Inspector General. 
TITLE I—NO PERSONAL ENRICH-
MENT 
FOR 
FEDERAL 
EM-
PLOYEES 
Subtitle A—Stop Waste And Misuse 
by the President 
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Waste And 
Misuse by the President Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘SWAMP 
Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 102. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Presidential travel to commercial entities 
owned in whole or in part by the President or First 
Family results in the American taxpayer effectively 
subsidizing the President’s businesses. 
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(2) Given current expenditures, President 
Trump is on track to spend more during his first 
year of office than all eight years of the Obama ad-
ministration combined. 
(3) It is unacceptable for the President to 
maintain an interest in traveling to properties in 
which he has a direct financial interest, as the U.S. 
Government is responsible for renting space for per-
sonnel in said private commercial entities. 
(4) Every time the President travels to Mar-a- 
Lago, he necessarily promotes his private business 
interests via free press at the Government’s expense. 
(5) The State Department’s recent promotion 
of Mar-a-Lago on its official website raises serious 
ethics concerns. 
(6) As of April 14, 2017, President Trump has 
cost the U.S. taxpayer unprecedented amounts of 
money, including the following estimated costs: 
(A) For trips to Mar-a-Lago: 
(i) Total cost for security in Palm 
Beach: $3,700,000 (each trip). 
(ii) Roundtrip flights from Joint Base 
Andrews, Maryland, to West Palm, Flor-
ida: $700,000. 
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(iii) Overtime for local law enforce-
ment during Trump’s trips: $60,000/day. 
(iv) Total golf cart rentals ordered by 
the Secret Service ‘‘for POTUS visit’’: 
$35,185. 
(v) Estimated loss of business due to 
airport closure: $30,000/weekend. 
(B) For Trump Tower: 
(i) Request for additional Secret Serv-
ice funding to secure Trump Towers: 
$60,000,000. 
(ii) New York Police Department se-
curity costs: $127,000–$146,000/day. 
(iii) ‘‘Elevator services’’ ordered by 
the Secret Service: $64,000. 
(iv) Air Force One flights to New 
York City: $180,000/hour. 
(7) The proposed 2017 Federal spending bill in-
cludes reimbursements for millions of dollars spent 
by Florida and New York to protect the President 
and First Family, and facilitate their travel. While 
localities should be reimbursed, the taxpayer should 
not be responsible for said reimbursement. 
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SEC. 103. REIMBURSAL FOR COSTS OF PROTECTION. 
In the case of a person whom the United States Se-
cret Service is authorized to protect under paragraph (1) 
or (2) of section 3056(a) of title 18, United States Code, 
if that person, while traveling for official business or for 
personal purposes, stays in a hotel or other establishment 
providing daily-rate accommodation in which that person 
has an ownership or financial interest, that person shall 
reimburse to the Treasury— 
(1) any amount expended by the United States 
Secret Service for the provision of such protection; 
and 
(2) any amount expended for other costs in-
curred by the Government pertaining to that stay. 
Subtitle B—Stop Waste And Misuse 
by Presidential Flyers Landing 
Yet Evading Rules and Stand-
ards 
SEC. 111. SHORT TITLE. 
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Waste And 
Misuse by Presidential Flyers Landing Yet Evading Rules 
and Standards Act’’ or the ‘‘SWAMP FLYERS Act’’. 
SEC. 112. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR TRAVEL ON 
PRIVATE AIRCRAFT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of the en-
actment of this Act, no Federal funds appropriated or oth-
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erwise made available in any fiscal year may be used to 
pay the travel expenses of any senior political appointee 
for travel on official business on a non-commercial, pri-
vate, or chartered flight. 
(b) EXCEPTIONS.—The limitation in subsection (a) 
shall not apply— 
(1) if no commercial flight was available for the 
travel in question, consistent with subsection (c); or 
(2) to any travel on aircraft owned or leased by 
the Government. 
(c) CERTIFICATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Any senior political ap-
pointee who travels on a non-commercial, private, or 
chartered flight under the exception provided in sub-
section (b)(1) shall, not later than 30 days after the 
date of such travel, submit a written statement to 
Congress certifying that no commercial flight was 
available. 
(2) PENALTY.—Any statement submitted under 
paragraph (1) shall be considered a statement for 
purposes of applying section 1001 of title 18, United 
States Code. 
(d) 
DEFINITION
OF
SENIOR
POLITICAL
AP-
POINTEE.—In this subtitle, the term ‘‘senior political ap-
pointee’’ means any individual occupying— 
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(1) a position listed under the Executive Sched-
ule (subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 5, United 
States Code); 
(2) a Senior Executive Service position that is 
not a career appointee as defined under section 
3132(a)(4) of such title; or 
(3) a position of a confidential or policy-deter-
mining character under schedule C of subpart C of 
part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations. 
Subtitle C—E. Scott Pruitt Ac-
countability for Government Of-
ficials 
SEC. 121. SHORT TITLE. 
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘E. Scott Pruitt 
Accountability for Government Officials Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 122. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) During his time as Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt faced 
more than 12 separate ethics investigations includ-
ing by the Environmental Protection Agency Inspec-
tor General, the Committee on Oversight and Re-
form of the House of Representatives, the Executive 
Office of the President, the Government Account-
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ability Office, and the U.S. Office of Special Coun-
sel. 
(2) On October 2, 2017, the Department of the 
Interior’s Inspector General confirmed they were in-
vestigating Secretary Ryan Zinke’s taxpayer-funded 
flights, including $12,375 on a chartered flight from 
Las Vegas to Montana where he spoke to a hockey 
team that is owned by one of Secretary Zinke’s larg-
est political donors. 
(3) On March 14, 2018, CNN reported that 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben 
Carson knew about a dining set worth $31,000 that 
was ordered for Carson’s office, knowledge of which 
he had previously denied. 
(4) On March 20, 2018, it was publicly re-
ported that Scott Pruitt secured a sub-market lease 
for a Washington, DC, condominium owned by the 
wife of a lobbyist who represented clients with mat-
ters pending before the Environmental Protection 
Agency, and told the Washington Examiner that he 
was ‘‘dumbfounded that that’s controversial’’. 
(5) On April 4, 2018, the New York Times re-
ported that Scott Pruitt used a loophole in the Safe 
Water Drinking Act to give raises to his aides that 
had been explicitly denied by the White House. 
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(6) On April 16, 2018, the Washington Post re-
ported 
that 
Scott 
Pruitt 
had 
spent 
nearly 
$3,000,000 of taxpayer funds on security and travel 
since taking office in February 2017. 
(7) On April 26, 2018, Politico reported that 
Scott Pruitt spent over $105,000 of taxpayer funds 
on first-class flights, citing since-debunked threats to 
his personal security. 
(8) On June 5, 2018, the Washington Post re-
ported that Scott Pruitt used official channels to 
pressure Chick-fil-A Chief Executive Officer Dan 
Cathy into securing a restaurant franchise for his 
wife. 
(9) On June 6, 2018, the Washington Post re-
ported that Scott Pruitt forced aides to help him se-
cure a used ‘‘Trump Home Luxury Plush Euro Pil-
low Top’’. 
(10) On June 8, 2018, the Washington Post re-
ported that Scott Pruitt forced his security detail to 
help him acquire high-end hand lotion and to pick 
up his dry cleaning. 
(11) On July 2, 2018, the Washington Post re-
ported that Scott Pruitt recruited a staff member to 
help his wife find a job, the salary for which he stip-
ulated should be no less than $200,000. 
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(12) On July 5, 2018, Scott Pruitt resigned 
amid myriad scandals and massive public pressure. 
(13) On July 13, 2018, Forbes reported on Wil-
bur Ross’ massive conflicts of interest, including 
having taken meetings with a trade association 
whose members included a car manufacturer whose 
investors included Ross himself. The same report 
noted that Wilbur Ross took meetings with compa-
nies whose investors included his wife. 
(14) On July 13, 2018, The New York Times 
reported that Tom Price repeatedly violated Govern-
ment travel rules, wasting at least $314,000 of tax-
payer funds by using chartered jets and military air 
travel instead of commercially available flights. 
SEC. 123. USE OF PUBLIC OFFICE FOR PRIVATE GAIN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 93 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 1925. Use of public office for private gain 
‘‘(a) USE FOR PRIVATE GAIN.—Whoever, being a 
covered Federal officer or employee, uses his public office 
for— 
‘‘(1) his own private gain; 
‘‘(2) the endorsement of any product, service or 
enterprise; or 
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‘‘(3) the private gain of a friend, relative, or a 
person with whom the covered Federal officer or em-
ployee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity, 
including a nonprofit organization of which the cov-
ered Federal officer or employee is an officer or 
member, and a person with whom the employee has 
or seeks employment or business relations, 
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 
one year, or in the case of a willful violation, not more 
than 5 years, or both. 
‘‘(b) COERCION.—Whoever, being a covered Federal 
officer or employee, uses or permits the use of his Govern-
ment position or title or any authority associated with his 
public office in a manner that is intended to coerce or in-
duce another person, including a subordinate, to provide 
any benefit, financial or otherwise, to himself or to a 
friend, relative, or person with whom the covered Federal 
officer or employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental ca-
pacity, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 
than one year, or in the case of a willful violation, not 
more than 5 years, or both. 
‘‘(c) COVERED FEDERAL OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE.— 
For purposes of this section, the term ‘covered Federal 
officer or employee’ means any of the following officers 
or employees of the Federal Government: 
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