IB 
Union Calendar No. 2 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 140 
[Report No. 118–5] 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit Federal employees from 
advocating for censorship of viewpoints in their official capacity, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 9, 2023 
Mr. COMER (for himself, Mr. JORDAN, and Mrs. RODGERS of Washington) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Over-
sight and Accountability 
MARCH 2, 2023 
Additional sponsors: Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. LANGWORTHY, Ms. 
MACE, Mrs. LUNA, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. SES-
SIONS, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. LATURNER, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. FRY, Mrs. 
MCCLAIN, and Ms. GREENE of Georgia 
MARCH 2, 2023 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 9, 2023] 
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A BILL 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit Federal 
employees from advocating for censorship of viewpoints 
in their official capacity, and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Protecting Speech from 
Government Interference Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL EMPLOYEE CENSOR-
SHIP. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 73 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL 
EMPLOYEE CENSORSHIP 
‘‘§ 7381. Policy regarding Federal employee censorship 
‘‘It is the policy of the Congress that employees acting 
in their official capacity should neither take action within 
their authority or influence to promote the censorship of 
any lawful speech, nor advocate that a third party, includ-
ing a private entity, censor such speech. 
‘‘§ 7382. Prohibition on Federal employee censorship 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An employee may not— 
‘‘(1) use the employee’s official authority to cen-
sor any private entity, including outside of normal 
duty hours and while such employee is away from the 
employee’s normal duty post; or 
‘‘(2) engage in censorship of a private entity— 
‘‘(A) while the employee is on duty; 
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‘‘(B) in any room or building occupied in 
the discharge of official duties by an individual 
employed or holding office in the Government of 
the United States or any agency or instrumen-
tality thereof; 
‘‘(C) while wearing a uniform or official in-
signia identifying the office or position of the 
employee; 
‘‘(D) while using any vehicle owned or 
leased by the Government of the United States or 
any agency or instrumentality thereof; or 
‘‘(E) while using any information system or 
information technology (as defined under section 
11101 of title 40). 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS
FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNC-
TIONS AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section shall 
be construed to prohibit an employee from engaging 
in lawful actions within the official authority of such 
employee for the purpose of exercising legitimate law 
enforcement functions, including activities to— 
‘‘(A) combat child pornography and exploi-
tation, human trafficking, or the illegal trans-
porting of or transacting in controlled sub-
stances; and 
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‘‘(B) safeguarding, or preventing, the un-
lawful dissemination of properly classified na-
tional security information. 
‘‘(2) REPORTING.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 72 hours 
before an employee exercises a legitimate law en-
forcement function to take any action to censor 
any lawful speech (in this paragraph referred to 
as a ‘censorship action’), but not including any 
such action relating to activities described under 
subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1), the 
head of the agency that employs the employee 
shall submit, to the Office of Special Counsel and 
the chair and ranking member of the committees 
of Congress described under subparagraph (B), a 
report that includes— 
‘‘(i) an overview of the action, or ac-
tions, to be taken, including a summary of 
the action being taken and the rationale for 
why a censorship action is necessary; 
‘‘(ii) the name of the entity which the 
action is being requested of; 
‘‘(iii) the person and entity targeted by 
the censorship action, including the associ-
ated name or number of any account used 
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or maintained by the entity and a descrip-
tion of the specific speech content targeted; 
‘‘(iv) the agency’s legal authority for 
exercising the law enforcement function; 
‘‘(v) the agency employee or employees 
involved in the censorship action, including 
their position and any direct supervisor; 
‘‘(vi) a list of other agencies that have 
been involved, consulted, or communicated 
with in coordination with the censorship ac-
tion; and 
‘‘(vii) a classified annex, if the agency 
head deems it appropriate. 
‘‘(B) COMMITTEES.—The committees of 
Congress described under this subparagraph are 
the following: 
‘‘(i) The Committee on Oversight and 
Accountability, the Committee on the Judi-
ciary, and the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce of the House of Representatives; 
and 
‘‘(ii) The Committee on Homeland Se-
curity and Governmental Affairs, the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, and the Committee 
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on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
of the Senate. 
‘‘(C) CLARIFICATION OF OFFICE OF SPECIAL 
COUNSEL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The re-
porting requirements in this paragraph do not 
apply to the Office of Special Counsel’s advisory 
and enforcement functions under subchapter II 
of chapter 12. 
‘‘(c) PENALTIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—An employee who violates 
this section shall be subject to— 
‘‘(A) disciplinary action consisting of re-
moval, reduction in grade, debarment from Fed-
eral employment for a period not to exceed 5 
years, suspension, or reprimand; 
‘‘(B) an assessment of a civil penalty not to 
exceed $1,000; or 
‘‘(C) any combination of the penalties de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B). 
‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO SENIOR GOVERNMENT OF-
FICIALS.—Paragraph (1)(B) shall be applied by sub-
stituting ‘$10,000’ for ‘$1,000’ for any employee who 
is— 
‘‘(A) paid from an appropriation for the 
White House Office; or 
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‘‘(B) appointed by the President, by and 
with the advice and consent of the Senate; 
‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.—This section shall be enforced in 
the same manner as subchapter III of this chapter. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this subchapter— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘censor’ or ‘censorship’ means in-
fluencing or coercing, or directing another to influ-
ence or coerce, for— 
‘‘(A) the removal or suppression of lawful 
speech, in whole or in part, from or on any 
interactive computer service; 
‘‘(B) the addition of any disclaimer, infor-
mation, or other alert to lawful speech being ex-
pressed on an interactive computer service; or 
‘‘(C) the removal or restriction of access of 
any person or entity on an interactive computer 
service generally available to the public, unless 
such person or entity is engaged in unlawful 
speech or criminal activities on such service; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘employee’ has the meaning given 
that term in section 7322; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘interactive computer service’ has 
the meaning given that term in section 230(f) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)); and 
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‘‘(4) the term ‘lawful speech’ means speech pro-
tected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for 
chapter 73 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL EMPLOYEE CENSORSHIP 
‘‘7381. Policy regarding Federal employee censorship. 
‘‘7382. Prohibition on Federal employee censorship.’’. 
(c) INCLUDING CENSORSHIP ACTIVITIES UNDER JU-
RISDICTION
OF OFFICE
OF SPECIAL COUNSEL.—Strike 
paragraph (1) of section 1216(a) of title 5, United States 
Code, and insert the following: 
‘‘(1) political activity and censorship prohibited 
under subchapter III and subchapter VIII of chapter 
73, relating to political and censorship activities, re-
spectively, by Federal employees;’’. 
(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act or 
any amendment made by this Act should be interpreted as 
prohibiting a lawful action by a Federal agency to enforce 
a Federal law or regulation, to establish or enforce the terms 
and conditions of Federal financial assistance, or to pro-
hibit a Federal employee from using an official Federal ac-
count on an interactive computer service to communicate 
an official policy position, and relevant information, to the 
public, or provide information through normal press and 
public affairs relations. 
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(e) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or 
any amendment made by this Act, or the application of 
a provision of this Act or an amendment made by this Act 
to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu-
tional, the remainder of this Act, and the application of 
the provisions to any person or circumstance, shall not be 
affected by the holding. 
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Union Calendar No. 2 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 140 
[Report No. 118–5] 
A BILL 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit 
Federal employees from advocating for censor-
ship of viewpoints in their official capacity, and 
for other purposes. 
MARCH 2, 2023 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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