I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 371 
To address financial conflicts of interest of the President and Vice President. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 9, 2017 
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts (for herself, Mr. NEAL, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. 
WELCH, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. QUIGLEY, 
Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. LAN-
GEVIN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. SCHIFF, 
Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. KIND, 
Mr. EVANS, Mr. NADLER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. SARBANES, 
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. HANABUSA, 
Ms. MENG, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. CON-
NOLLY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. BEYER, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. BRENDAN F. 
BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. SOTO, 
Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Ms. MOORE, Mr. JOHN-
SON of Georgia, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. TITUS, Ms. MATSUI, 
Ms. SPEIER, Mr. KEATING, Mr. POLIS, Ms. LEE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. 
JACKSON LEE, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BER-
NICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. 
THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. BASS, Mr. COOPER, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. 
CLAY, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. HIMES, 
Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. POCAN, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. GRI-
JALVA, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Ms. JUDY CHU 
of California, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New 
Mexico, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. PAL-
LONE, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. KILMER, Ms. 
SHEA-PORTER, Mr. YARMUTH, and Mr. SHERMAN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Gov-
ernment Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, 
and 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 
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A BILL 
To address financial conflicts of interest of the President 
and Vice President. 
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 ‘‘Presidential Conflicts 
of Interest Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. DIVESTITURE OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL INTERESTS 
OF THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT 
THAT POSE A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF IN-
TEREST. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section— 
(A) the term ‘‘conflict-free holding’’ means 
a 
financial 
interest 
described 
in 
section 
102(f)(8) of the Ethics in Government Act of 
1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); 
(B) the term ‘‘financial interest posing a 
potential conflict of interest’’ means a financial 
interest of the President, the Vice President, 
the spouse of the President or Vice President, 
or a minor child of the President or Vice Presi-
dent, as applicable, that— 
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(i) would constitute a financial inter-
est described in subsection (a) of section 
208 of title 18, United States Code— 
(I) if— 
(aa) for purposes of such 
section 208, the terms ‘‘officer’’ 
and ‘‘employee’’ included the 
President and the Vice President; 
and 
(bb) the President or Vice 
President, as applicable, partici-
pated as described in subsection 
(a) of such section 208 in rela-
tion to such financial interest; 
and 
(II) determined without regard to 
any exception under subsection (b) of 
such section 208; or 
(ii) may constitute a present, emolu-
ment, office, or title, of any kind whatever, 
from any king, prince, or foreign state (in-
cluding from an entity owned or controlled 
by a foreign government), within the 
meaning of article I, section 9 of the Con-
stitution of the United States; 
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(C) the term ‘‘qualified blind trust’’ has 
the meaning given that term in section 
102(f)(3) of the Ethics in Government Act of 
1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), unless otherwise speci-
fied in this Act; and 
(D) the term ‘‘tax return’’— 
(i) means any Federal income tax re-
turn and any amendment or supplement 
thereto, including supporting schedules, at-
tachments, or lists which are supplemental 
to, or part of, the return for the taxable 
year; and 
(ii) includes any information return 
that reports information that does or may 
affect the liability for tax for the taxable 
year. 
(2) APPLICABILITY OF ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT 
ACT
OF
1978.—For purposes of the definition of 
‘‘qualified blind trust’’ in this section, the term ‘‘su-
pervising ethics officer’’ in section 102(f)(3) of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 
means the Director of the Office of Government 
Ethics. 
(b) INITIAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.— 
(1) SUBMISSION OF DISCLOSURE.— 
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(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 
after assuming the office of President or Vice 
President, respectively, the President and Vice 
President shall submit to Congress and the Di-
rector of the Office of Government Ethics a dis-
closure of financial interests. 
(B) APPLICATION TO SITTING PRESIDENT 
AND VICE PRESIDENT.—For any individual who 
is serving as the President or Vice President on 
the date of enactment of this Act, the disclosure 
of financial interests shall be submitted to Con-
gress and the Director of the Office of Govern-
ment Ethics not later than 30 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act. 
(2) CONTENTS.— 
(A) PRESIDENT.—The disclosure of finan-
cial interests submitted under paragraph (1) by 
the President shall— 
(i) describe in detail each financial in-
terest of the President, the spouse of the 
President, or a minor child of the Presi-
dent; 
(ii) at a minimum, include the infor-
mation relating to each such financial in-
terest that is required for reports under 
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section 102 of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); and 
(iii) include the tax returns filed by or 
on behalf of the President for— 
(I) the 3 most recent taxable 
years; and 
(II) each taxable year for which 
an audit of the return by the Internal 
Revenue Service is pending on the 
date the report is filed. 
(B) VICE PRESIDENT.—The disclosure of 
financial interests submitted under paragraph 
(1) by the Vice President shall— 
(i) describe in detail each financial in-
terest of the Vice President, the spouse of 
the Vice President, or a minor child of the 
Vice President; 
(ii) at a minimum, include the infor-
mation relating to each such financial in-
terest that is required for reports under 
section 102 of the Ethics in Government 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); and 
(iii) include the tax returns filed by or 
on behalf of the Vice President for— 
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(I) the 3 most recent taxable 
years; and 
(II) each taxable year for which 
an audit of the return by the Internal 
Revenue Service is pending on the 
date the report is filed. 
(c) DIVESTITURE OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS POSING 
A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The President, the Vice 
President, the spouse of the President or Vice Presi-
dent, and any minor child of the President or Vice 
President shall divest of any financial interest posing 
a potential conflict of interest by transferring such 
interest to a qualified blind trust. 
(2) TRUSTEE DUTIES.—Within a reasonable pe-
riod of time after the date a financial interest is 
transferred to a qualified blind trust under para-
graph (1), the trustee of the qualified blind trust 
shall— 
(A) sell the financial interest; and 
(B) use the proceeds of the sale of the fi-
nancial interest to purchase conflict-free hold-
ings. 
(d) REVIEW BY OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 
Government Ethics shall submit to Congress, the 
President, and the Vice President an annual report 
regarding the financial interests of the President, 
the Vice President, the spouse of the President or 
Vice President, and any minor child of the President 
or Vice President. 
(2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 
paragraph (1) shall— 
(A) indicate whether any financial interest 
of the President, the Vice President, the spouse 
of the President or Vice President, or a minor 
child of the President or Vice President is a fi-
nancial interest posing a potential conflict of in-
terest; 
(B) evaluate whether any previously held 
financial interest of the President, the Vice 
President, the spouse of the President or Vice 
President, or a minor child of the President or 
Vice President that was a financial interest pos-
ing a potential conflict of interest was divested 
in accordance with subsection (c); and 
(C) redact such information as the Direc-
tor of the Office of Government Ethics deter-
mines necessary for preventing identity theft, 
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such as social security numbers or taxpayer 
identification numbers. 
(e) ENFORCEMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, the 
attorney general of any State, or any person ag-
grieved by any violation of subsection (c) may seek 
declaratory or injunctive relief in a court of com-
petent jurisdiction if— 
(A) the Director of the Office of Govern-
ment Ethics is unable to issue a report indi-
cating whether the President or the Vice Presi-
dent is in substantial compliance with sub-
section (c); or 
(B) there is probable cause to believe that 
the President or the Vice President has not 
complied with subsection (c). 
(2) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—In granting injunc-
tive relief to the plaintiff, the court shall ensure that 
any divestment procedure shall ensure the fair mar-
ket return for any asset that is liquidated. 
SEC. 3. RECUSAL OF APPOINTEES. 
Section 208 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e)(1) Any officer or employee appointed by the 
President shall recuse himself or herself from any par-
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ticular matter involving specific parties in which a party 
to that matter is— 
‘‘(A) the President who appointed the officer or 
employee, which shall include any entity in which the 
President has a substantial interest; or 
‘‘(B) the spouse of the President who appointed 
the officer or employee, which shall include any enti-
ty in which the spouse of the President has a sub-
stantial interest. 
‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), if an officer or 
employee is recused under paragraph (1), a career ap-
pointee in the agency of the officer or employee shall per-
form the functions and duties of the officer or employee 
with respect to the matter. 
‘‘(B)(i) In this subparagraph, the term ‘Commission’ 
means a board, commission, or other agency for which the 
authority of the agency is vested in more than 1 member. 
‘‘(ii) If the recusal of a member of a Commission 
from a matter under paragraph (1) would result in there 
not being a statutorily required quorum of members of the 
Commission available to participate in the matter, not-
withstanding such statute or any other provision of law, 
the members of the Commission not recused under para-
graph (1) may— 
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‘‘(I) consider the matter without regard to the 
quorum requirement under such statute; 
‘‘(II) delegate the authorities and responsibil-
ities of the Commission with respect to the matter 
to a subcommittee of the Commission; or 
‘‘(III) designate an officer or employee of the 
Commission who was not appointed by the President 
who appointed the member of the Commission 
recused from the matter to exercise the authorities 
and duties of the recused member with respect to 
the matter. 
‘‘(3) Any officer or employee who negligently violates 
paragraph (1) shall be subject to the penalties set forth 
in section 216. 
‘‘(4) For purposes of this section, the term ‘particular 
matter’ shall have the meaning given the term in section 
207(i).’’. 
SEC. 4. CONTRACTS BY THE PRESIDENT OR VICE PRESI-
DENT. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 431 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘the 
President, Vice President, or a’’ after 
‘‘Contracts by’’; and 
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(2) in the first undesignated paragraph, by in-
serting ‘‘the President or Vice President,’’ after 
‘‘Whoever, being’’. 
(b) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The table of 
sections for chapter 23 of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended by striking the item relating to section 431 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘431. Contracts by the President, Vice President, or a Member of Congress.’’. 
SEC. 5. PRESIDENTIAL TAX TRANSPARENCY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Ethics in Govern-
ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(1) by inserting after section 102 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 102A. DISCLOSURE OF TAX RETURNS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘covered candidate’ means an in-
dividual— 
‘‘(A) required to file a report under section 
101(c); and 
‘‘(B) who is nominated by a major party 
as a candidate for the office of President; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘covered individual’ means— 
‘‘(A) a President required to file a report 
under subsection (a) or (d) of section 101; and 
‘‘(B) an individual who occupies the office 
of the President required to file a report under 
section 101(e); 
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‘‘(3) the term ‘major party’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 9002 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986; and 
‘‘(4) the term ‘income tax return’ means, with 
respect to any covered candidate or covered indi-
vidual, any return (within the meaning of section 
6103(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) re-
lated to Federal income taxes, but does not in-
clude— 
‘‘(A) information returns issued to persons 
other than such covered candidate or covered 
individual, and 
‘‘(B) declarations of estimated tax. 
‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE.— 
‘‘(1) COVERED INDIVIDUALS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the in-
formation described in subsections (a) and (b) 
of section 102, a covered individual shall in-
clude in each report required to be filed under 
this title a copy of the income tax returns of the 
covered individual for the 3 most recent taxable 
years for which a return have been filed with 
the Internal Revenue Service as of the date on 
which the report is filed. 
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‘‘(B) FAILURE
TO
DISCLOSE.—If an in-
come tax return is not disclosed under subpara-
graph (A), the Director of the Office of Govern-
ment Ethics shall submit to the Secretary of 
the Treasury a request that the Secretary of 
the Treasury provide the Director of the Office 
of Government Ethics with a copy of the in-
come tax return. 
‘‘(C) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—Each income 
tax return submitted under this paragraph shall 
be filed with the Director of the Office of Gov-
ernment Ethics and made publicly available in 
the same manner as the information described 
in subsections (a) and (b) of section 102. 
‘‘(D) REDACTION OF CERTAIN INFORMA-
TION.—Before making any income tax return 
submitted under this paragraph available to the 
public, the Director of the Office of Government 
Ethics shall redact such information as the Di-
rector of the Office of Government Ethics, in 
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury 
(or a delegate of the Secretary), determines ap-
propriate. 
‘‘(2) CANDIDATES.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 15 
days after the date on which a covered can-
didate is nominated, the covered candidate shall 
amend the report filed by the covered candidate 
under section 101(c) with the Federal Election 
Commission to include a copy of the income tax 
returns of the covered candidate for the 3 most 
recent taxable years for which a return has 
been filed with the Internal Revenue Service. 
‘‘(B) FAILURE
TO
DISCLOSE.—If an in-
come tax return is not disclosed under subpara-
graph (A) the Federal Election Commission 
shall submit to the Secretary of the Treasury a 
request that the Secretary of the Treasury pro-
vide the Federal Election Commission with the 
income tax return. 
‘‘(C) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—Each income 
tax return submitted under this paragraph shall 
be filed with the Federal Election Commission 
and made publicly available in the same manner 
as the information described in section 102(b). 
‘‘(D) REDACTION OF CERTAIN INFORMA-
TION.—Before making any income tax return 
submitted under this paragraph available to the 
public, the Federal Election Commission shall 
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redact such information as the Federal Election 
Commission, in consultation with the Secretary 
of the Treasury (or a delegate of the Secretary) 
and the Director of the Office of Government 
Ethics, determines appropriate. 
‘‘(3) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
SITTING
PRESI-
DENTS.—Not later than 30 days after the date of 
enactment of this section, the President shall submit 
to the Director of the Office of Government Ethics 
a copy of the income tax returns described in para-
graph (1)(A).’’; and 
(2) in section 104— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) in paragraph (1), in the first sen-
tence, by inserting ‘‘or any individual who 
knowingly and willfully falsifies or who 
knowingly and willfully fails to file an in-
come tax return that such individual is re-
quired to disclose pursuant to section 
102A’’ before the period; and 
(ii) in paragraph (2)(A)— 
(I) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘or 
falsify any income tax return that 
such person is required to disclose 
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under section 102A’’ before the semi-
colon; and 
(II) in clause (ii), by inserting 
‘‘or fail to file any income tax return 
that such person is required to dis-
closed under section 102A’’ before the 
period; 
(B) in subsection (b), in the first sentence 
by inserting ‘‘or willfully failed to file or has 
willfully falsified an income tax return required 
to be disclosed under section 102A’’ before the 
period; 
(C) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘or fail-
ing to file or falsifying an income tax return re-
quired to be disclosed under section 102A’’ be-
fore the period; and 
(D) in subsection (d)(1)— 
(i) in the matter preceding subpara-
graph (A), by inserting ‘‘or files an income 
tax return required to be disclosed under 
section 102A’’ after ‘‘title’’; and 
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 
‘‘or such income tax return, as applicable,’’ 
after ‘‘report’’. 
(b) AUTHORITY TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6103(l) of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 
the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(23) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION 
OF PRESIDENTS AND CERTAIN PRESIDENTIAL CAN-
DIDATES.— 
‘‘(A) DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS OF PRESI-
DENTS.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall, upon written request from the Direc-
tor of the Office of Government Ethics 
pursuant to section 102A(b)(1)(B) of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978, provide 
to officers and employees of the Office of 
Government Ethics a copy of any income 
tax return of the President which is re-
quired to be filed under section 102A of 
such Act. 
‘‘(ii) DISCLOSURE
TO
PUBLIC.—The 
Director of the Office of Government Eth-
ics may disclose to the public the income 
tax return of any President which is re-
quired to be filed with the Director pursu-
ant to section 102A of the Ethics in Gov-
ernment Act of 1978. 
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‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS OF CER-
TAIN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall, upon written request from the Chair-
man of the Federal Election Commission 
pursuant to section 102A(b)(2)(B) of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978, provide 
to officers and employees of the Federal 
Election Commission copies of the applica-
ble returns of any person who has been 
nominated as a candidate of a major party 
(as defined in section 9002(a)) for the of-
fice of President. 
‘‘(ii) DISCLOSURE
TO
PUBLIC.—The 
Federal Election Commission may disclose 
to the public applicable returns of any per-
son who has been nominated as a can-
didate of a major party (as defined in sec-
tion 9002(6)) for the office of President 
and which is required to be filed with the 
Commission pursuant to section 102A of 
the Ethics in Government Act. 
‘‘(C) APPLICABLE
RETURNS.—For pur-
poses of this paragraph, the term ‘applicable re-
turns’ means, with respect to any candidate for 
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the office of President, income tax returns for 
the 3 most recent taxable years for which a re-
turn has been filed as of the date of the nomi-
nation.’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Section 
6103(p)(4) of such Code, in the matter preceding 
subparagraph (A) and in subparagraph (F)(ii), is 
amended by striking ‘‘or (22)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22), 
or (23)’’ each place it appears. 
SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING VIOLATIONS. 
It is the sense of Congress that a violation of section 
2 of this Act or the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 
(5 U.S.C. App.) by the President or the Vice President 
would constitute a high crime or misdemeanor under arti-
cle II, section 4 of the Constitution of the United States. 
SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this 
Act shall be construed to violate the Constitution of the 
United States. 
SEC. 8. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 
by this Act, or any application of such provision or amend-
ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be uncon-
stitutional, the remainder of the provisions of this Act and 
the amendments made by this Act, and the application of 
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the provision or amendment to any other person or cir-
cumstance, shall not be affected. 
Æ 
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