I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6177 
To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax liabilities and 
wage garnishments, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 10, 2020 
Mr. MCCARTHY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax 
liabilities and wage garnishments, 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 ‘‘Members of Congress 
Tax Liability and Garnishment Accountability Act of 
2020’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIRING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO DISCLOSE 
TAX LIABILITY AND WAGE GARNISHMENT IN 
ANNUAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(a) of the Ethics in 
Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(9)(A) 
For 
individuals 
described 
in 
section 
101(f)(9)— 
‘‘(i) the amount of any delinquent tax liability 
owed to the United States or any State or unit of 
local government; and 
‘‘(ii) the amount of any garnishment against 
the individual’s salary. 
‘‘(B) In this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) the term ‘delinquent tax liability’ means 
any unpaid tax liability which has been assessed and 
with respect to which all judicial and administrative 
remedies have been exhausted, or have lapsed; and 
‘‘(ii) any delinquent tax liability of an entity 
more than 50 percent of the stock of which in the 
case of a corporation (by vote or value), or 50 per-
cent of the capital and profits interest of which in 
the case of an entity other than a corporation, is 
owned directly or indirectly by an individual shall be 
treated as a delinquent tax liability of such indi-
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vidual in proportion to such individual’s ownership 
interest in such entity.’’. 
(b) INCLUSION IN REPORT.—Section 102(b)(1)(A) of 
the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 
is amended by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting 
‘‘paragraphs (1) and (9)’’. 
(c) FEDERAL TAX LIABILITY.— 
(1) REQUIRING GARNISHMENT OF COMPENSA-
TION.—A Member of Congress who discloses a delin-
quent tax liability under section 102(a)(9) of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (as added by sub-
section (a)) shall, not later than 30 calendar days 
after filing the form, make an arrangement with the 
Secretary of the Senate or the Chief Administrative 
Officer of the House of Representatives, as the case 
may be, and the Internal Revenue Service or the 
State or unit of local government involved, as the 
case may be, to have an appropriate amount of the 
Member’s salary designated to pay the taxes owed to 
the United States or the State or unit of local gov-
ernment involved within a reasonable time period. 
(2) MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means 
a Senator or a Representative in, or Delegate or 
Resident Commissioner to, the Congress. 
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SEC. 3. HOLDING SALARIES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN 
ESCROW UNTIL REPAYMENT OF DELINQUENT 
TAX LIABILITY. 
(a) HOLDING SALARIES IN ESCROW.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—If a Member of Congress 
who has disclosed a delinquent tax liability under 
section 102(a)(9) of the Ethics in Government Act 
of 1978 (as added by section 2(a)) has not met the 
deadline under section 2(c)(1) to make the arrange-
ment required under such section to pay the taxes 
owed, during the period described in paragraph (2) 
the payroll administrator of that House of Congress 
shall— 
(A) withhold from the Member’s compensa-
tion such amount as may be directed by the 
Secretary of the Treasury (in the case of a de-
linquent tax liability owed to the United States) 
or the State or unit of local government in-
volved (in the case of a delinquent tax liability 
owed to a State or unit of local government) to 
pay the taxes owed within a reasonable period 
of time; and 
(B) deposit in an escrow account the re-
maining portion of the payments otherwise re-
quired to be made during such period for the 
compensation of the Member and release such 
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(A) a statement that the Member has not 
met the deadline under section 2(c)(1) to make 
the arrangement required under such section to 
pay the taxes owed; and 
(B) a statement of the amount to be with-
held from the Member’s compensation under 
paragraph (1)(A). 
(4) 
WITHHOLDING
AND
REMITTANCE
OF 
AMOUNTS FROM PAYMENTS HELD IN ESCROW.—The 
payroll administrator shall provide for the same 
withholding and remittance with respect to a pay-
ment deposited in an escrow account under para-
graph (1) that would apply to the payment if the 
payment were not subject to paragraph (1). 
(5) RELEASE OF AMOUNTS AT END OF THE 
CONGRESS.—In order to ensure that this section is 
carried out in a manner that shall not vary the com-
pensation of Senators or Representatives in violation 
of the twenty-seventh article of amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States, the payroll ad-
ministrator of a House of Congress shall release for 
payment to a Member of that House of Congress 
any amounts remaining in an escrow account for the 
Member under this section on the last day of the 
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Congress during which amounts are withheld under 
this section. 
(6) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.— 
The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the pay-
roll administrators of the Houses of Congress with 
such assistance as may be necessary to enable the 
payroll administrators to carry out this section. 
(b) PAYROLL ADMINISTRATOR DEFINED.—In this 
section, the ‘‘payroll administrator’’ of a House of Con-
gress means— 
(1) in the case of the House of Representatives, 
the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of 
Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the 
Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by 
the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this 
section; and 
(2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of 
the Senate, or an employee of the Office of the Sec-
retary of the Senate who is designated by the Sec-
retary to carry out this section. 
SEC. 4. REPORTING OF INFORMATION ON GARNISHMENT 
OF COMPENSATION. 
(a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE.— 
Section 106(b) of the House of Representatives Adminis-
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trative Reform Technical Corrections Act (2 U.S.C. 
5535(b)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(5); 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para-
graph (7); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) if during the period covered by the report, 
the Chief Administrative Officer withheld amounts 
from a Member’s compensation under section 3(a) of 
the Members of Congress Tax Liability and Garnish-
ment Accountability Act of 2020 or under an order 
of garnishment which required the Chief Administra-
tive Officer to withhold a certain amount from the 
Member’s compensation to satisfy a debt owed by 
the Member to another person (other than amounts 
withheld under an agreement entered into by the 
Secretary of the Treasury under section 6159 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or amounts withheld 
pursuant to a compromise of a case under section 
7122 of such Code), the identification of the Mem-
ber and the amount withheld; and’’. 
(b) COMPENSATION OF SENATORS.—Section 105(a) 
of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1965 (2 
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U.S.C. 4108) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) If during the period covered by a report under 
paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Senate withheld 
amounts from a Senator’s compensation under section 
3(a) of the Members of Congress Tax Liability and Gar-
nishment Accountability Act of 2020 or under an order 
of garnishment which required the Secretary to withhold 
a certain amount from the Senator’s compensation to sat-
isfy a debt owed by the Senator to another person, the 
Secretary shall include in the report the identification of 
the Senator and the amount withheld. The previous sen-
tence does not apply in the case of amounts withheld 
under an agreement entered into by the Secretary of the 
Treasury under section 6159 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 or amounts withheld pursuant to a com-
promise of a case under section 7122 of such Code.’’. 
Æ 
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