SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2019’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Ensuring independent advice and expertise. 
Sec. 3. Preventing efforts to circumvent the Federal Advisory Committee Act 
and public disclosure. 
Sec. 4. Increasing transparency of advisory committees. 
Sec. 5. Managing Federal advisory committees. 
Sec. 6. Comptroller General review and reports. 
Sec. 7. Application of Federal Advisory Committee Act to trade advisory com-
mittees. 
Sec. 8. Definitions. 
Sec. 9. Technical and conforming amendments. 
Sec. 10. Effective date. 
Sec. 11. No additional funds authorized. 
SEC. 2. ENSURING INDEPENDENT ADVICE AND EXPERTISE. 
(a) BAR ON POLITICAL LITMUS TESTS.—Section 9 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 
is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘MEM-
BERSHIP;’’ after ‘‘ADVISORY COMMITTEES;’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 
subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(b) APPOINTMENTS MADE WITHOUT REGARD TO 
POLITICAL AFFILIATION OR ACTIVITY.—All appointments 
to advisory committees shall be made without regard to
political affiliation or political campaign activity, unless re-
quired by Federal statute.’’. 
(b) MINIMIZING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—Section 
9 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), 
as amended by subsection (a) of this section, is further 
amended by inserting after subsection (b) (as added by 
such subsection (a)) the following: 
‘‘(c) PUBLIC NOMINATIONS OF COMMITTEE MEM-
BERS.— 
‘‘(1) Before making an appointment to an advi-
sory committee, the head of an agency shall— 
‘‘(A) solicit nominations for potential com-
mittee members; 
‘‘(B) if the head of the agency is required 
to publish a notice under subsection (a)(2), in-
clude in the notice a solicitation for nomina-
tions of potential committee members; and 
‘‘(C) provide in the notice under subpara-
graph (B) a mechanism for interested persons 
to comment through a publicly available website 
of the agency. 
‘‘(2) The head of an agency shall consider any 
comments submitted in accordance with paragraph 
(1)(C) in appointing the members of an advisory 
committee.
‘‘(3) The head of an agency shall solicit nomi-
nations under paragraph (1) not less frequently than 
once every 2 years. 
‘‘(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if a va-
cancy in an advisory committee occurs before the 
next scheduled solicitation for nominations under 
this subsection, an agency may appoint a member 
from among individuals that were previously nomi-
nated to be a member of the advisory committee. 
‘‘(d) DESIGNATION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS.— 
‘‘(1) An individual appointed to an advisory 
committee who is not a full-time or permanent part- 
time officer or employee of the Federal Government 
shall be designated as— 
‘‘(A) a special Government employee, if the 
individual is providing advice based on the indi-
vidual’s expertise or experience; or 
‘‘(B) a representative, if the individual is 
representing the views of an entity or entities 
outside of the Federal Government. 
‘‘(2) An agency may not designate committee 
members as representatives to avoid subjecting them 
to Federal ethics rules and requirements. 
‘‘(3) The designated agency ethics official for 
each agency shall review the members of each advi-
sory committee that reports to the agency to deter-
mine whether each member’s designation is appro-
priate, and to redesignate members if appropriate. 
The designated agency ethics official shall certify to 
the head of the agency that such review has been 
made— 
‘‘(A) following the initial appointment of 
members; and 
‘‘(B) at the time a committee’s charter is 
renewed, or, in the case of a committee with an 
indefinite charter, every 2 years. 
‘‘(4) The head of each agency shall inform each 
individual who is not a full-time or permanent part- 
time officer or employee of the Federal Government 
appointed to an advisory committee that reports to 
the agency whether the individual is appointed as a 
special Government employee or as a representative. 
The agency head shall provide each committee mem-
ber with an explanation of the differences between 
special Government employees and representatives 
and a summary of applicable ethics requirements. 
The agency head, acting through the designated 
agency ethics official, shall obtain signed and dated 
written confirmation from each committee member
that the member received and reviewed the informa-
tion required by this paragraph. 
‘‘(5) The Director of the Office of Government 
Ethics shall provide guidance to agencies on what to 
include in the summary of ethics requirements re-
quired by paragraph (4). 
‘‘(6) The head of each agency shall, to the ex-
tent practicable, develop and implement strategies to 
minimize the need for written determinations under 
section 208(b)(3) of title 18, United States Code. 
Strategies may include such efforts as improving 
outreach efforts to potential committee members and 
seeking public input on potential committee mem-
bers. 
‘‘(7) Nothing in this subsection shall be con-
strued to supersede the inapplicability of this Act 
with respect to peer review groups appointed under 
paragraph (16) of section 402(b) of the Public 
Health Service Act, as described in the flush text 
following paragraph (25)(B) of such section.’’. 
(c) REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING FACA.—Section 
7(c) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 
App.) is amended by inserting ‘‘promulgate regulations 
and’’ after ‘‘The Administrator shall’’.
(d) ENSURING INDEPENDENT ADVICE
AND REC-
OMMENDATIONS.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act 
(5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(1) in section 8— 
(A) in the section heading, by inserting 
‘‘INDEPENDENT
ADVICE
AND
REC-
OMMENDATIONS;’’ 
after 
‘‘RESPONSIBIL-
ITIES OF AGENCY HEADS;’’; 
(B) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (c); and 
(C) by inserting after subsection (a) the 
following: 
‘‘(b) The head of each agency shall ensure that the 
agency does not interfere with the free and independent 
participation, expression of views, and deliberation by 
committee members. Each advisory committee shall in-
clude a statement describing the process used by the advi-
sory committee in formulating the advice and rec-
ommendations when they are transmitted to the agency.’’; 
and 
(2) in section 10— 
(A) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘; 
CHAIR’’ after ‘‘ATTENDANCE’’; and 
(B) by inserting after subsection (f) the 
following new subsection: