I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7622 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to require any member of the Presi-
dent’s cabinet who is temporarily unable to perform the functions and 
duties of office to provide notice to the President, the Congress, and 
the public of their absence, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 12, 2024 
Mr. CLYDE (for himself, Mr. MCCORMICK, Mr. MOONEY, Mrs. MILLER of Illi-
nois, Mr. HUNT, Ms. BOEBERT, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. BRECHEEN, Mr. 
GOSAR, Mr. BURLISON, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. PALMER, and Mr. CRANE) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Over-
sight and Accountability 
A BILL 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to require any member 
of the President’s cabinet who is temporarily unable to 
perform the functions and duties of office to provide 
notice to the President, the Congress, and the public 
of their absence, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Announcement of Un-
availability by Secretaries Through Informational Notifi-
cations Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘AUSTIN Act of 2024’’. 
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SEC. 2. NOTIFICATION OF INABILITY TO PERFORM FUNC-
TIONS AND DUTIES OF CABINET-LEVEL POSI-
TIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 33 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
section 3349e the following: 
‘‘§ 3349f. Notification of inability to perform functions 
and duties of cabinet-level position 
‘‘(a) NOTIFICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If any cabinet-level official 
is unable to perform the functions and duties of 
their office, including during any absence due to ill-
ness, the cabinet-level official shall— 
‘‘(A) submit a notification (in writing) to 
the President and congressional leaders; and 
‘‘(B) publish, on the public website of the 
cabinet-level official’s employing agency, the no-
tification not later than 24 hours after submit-
ting such notification. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Any notification submitted 
under paragraph (1) shall include— 
‘‘(A) a description of the reasons the cabi-
net-level official is unable to perform the func-
tions and duties of their office; and 
‘‘(B) a timeline setting forth the first day 
the cabinet-level official will be unable to per-
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form the functions and duties of their office 
and the date the cabinet-level official expects to 
be able to resume performance of such func-
tions and duties. 
‘‘(3) DATE
OF
SUBMISSION.—Except as pro-
vided in subsection (c), the cabinet-level official shall 
submit notice under this subsection before such cabi-
net-level official is unable to perform the functions 
and duties of their office. 
‘‘(4) NATIONAL SECURITY WAIVER.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The President may 
waive the publication requirement under para-
graph (1)(B) if the President determines such 
publication would severely jeopardize United 
States national security. The President shall 
submit a notice of such waiver (in writing) to 
the congressional leaders with a detailed expla-
nation of the reasons for the waiver. 
‘‘(B) 
PUBLICATION.—Notwithstanding 
subclause (A), any of the congressional leaders 
may publish the applicable notification waived 
under such subclause if that congressional lead-
er determines the President’s reasons under 
such subclause do not merit the waiver. 
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‘‘(b) END OF PERIOD OF ABSENCE.—Any cabinet- 
level official who, after a period of inability to perform 
the functions and duties of the office, shall— 
‘‘(1) on the date such official is able to resume 
the performance of such functions and duties, sub-
mit a notification (in writing) to the President and 
the congressional leaders; and 
‘‘(2) publish, on the public website of the cabi-
net-level official’s employing agency, the notification 
not later than 24 hours after submitting such notifi-
cation. 
‘‘(c) DESIGNEE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the cabinet-level official 
is incapacitated or otherwise unable to carry out 
subsection (a) or (b), the individuals designated 
under this subsection shall make the notifications 
and publications required under such subsections (a) 
and (b). 
‘‘(2) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 60 days 
after the date a cabinet-level official assumes the du-
ties of their office, the cabinet-level official— 
‘‘(A) shall designate at least one employee 
of the employing agency of the cabinet-level of-
ficial to carry out this subsection; and 
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‘‘(B) submit, to the congressional commit-
tees of jurisdiction, a report identifying each 
employee designated under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(3) NEW DESIGNEE.—The cabinet-level official 
may designate any other employees if the individuals 
designated under paragraph (2) are unable or no 
longer eligible to carry out the duties of a designee 
under this subsection. On the date of such a subse-
quent designation, the cabinet-level official shall sub-
mit, to the congressional committees of jurisdiction, 
a notification of the change in designees. 
‘‘(4) PRIVACY
ACT.—Section 552a (popularly 
known as the Privacy Act of 1974) shall not apply 
to any individual designated under this subsection 
for purposes of making the notice and publication 
required by this section. 
‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.— 
‘‘(1) OFFENSE.—It shall be unlawful for any 
cabinet-level official or any designee under sub-
section (c) to knowingly— 
‘‘(A) withhold information that prevents 
the implementation of this section; or 
‘‘(B) fail to carry out this section. 
‘‘(2) PENALTY.—No Federal funds may be used 
for the salary or expenses of any person who violates 
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paragraph (1). It is the sense of Congress that such 
person’s employment with the United States should 
be immediately terminated and such person should 
be subject to debarment. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘cabinet-level official’ means— 
‘‘(A) the head of any Executive department 
(as that term is defined in section 101); and 
‘‘(B) any other officer or employee who is 
a member of the President’s cabinet; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘congressional leaders’ means the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, the minor-
ity leader of the House of Representatives, the ma-
jority leader of the Senate, the minority leader of 
the Senate, the chair and ranking member of any 
committee of jurisdiction of the House of Represent-
atives or the Senate, the chair and ranking member 
of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of 
the House of Representatives, and the chair and 
ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Se-
curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for subchapter III of chapter 33 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 3349e the following: 
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‘‘3349f. Notification of inability to perform functions and duties of cabinet-level 
position.’’. 
Æ 
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