Sec. 5. Comptroller General review and reports. 
Sec. 6. Definition. 
Sec. 7. Effective date. 
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 (d) and (e), 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 activity, unless required by 
Federal statute.’’. 
(b) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE.—Section 
9 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 
is further amended by inserting after subsection (b) (as 
added by subsection (a)) the following: 
‘‘(c) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE.— 
‘‘(1) The head of each agency shall ensure that 
no individual appointed to serve on an advisory com-
mittee that reports to the agency has a conflict of 
interest that is relevant to the functions to be per-
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formed by the advisory committee, unless the head 
of the agency determines that the conflict is un-
avoidable and that the need for the individual’s serv-
ices outweighs the potential impacts of the conflict 
of interest. The head of each agency shall require 
that each individual the agency appoints or intends 
to appoint to serve on an advisory committee inform 
the agency official responsible for appointing the in-
dividual of any actual or potential conflict of interest 
the individual has that is relevant to the functions 
to be performed and that, for an individual ap-
pointed to serve on an advisory committee, the con-
flict is publicly disclosed as described in section 11. 
‘‘(2) The head of each agency shall ensure that 
each report of an advisory committee that reports to 
the agency is the result of the advisory committee’s 
independent judgment. Each advisory committee 
shall include in each report of the committee a state-
ment describing the process used by the advisory 
committee in formulating the recommendations or 
conclusions contained in the report.’’. 
(c) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator of General Services, in consultation with 
the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, shall— 
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(1) promulgate regulations defining conflict of 
interest and such other regulations as the Adminis-
trator finds necessary to carry out and ensure the 
enforcement of this section; and 
(2) issue guidance for agencies and advisory 
committees on procedures and best practices for en-
suring that advisory committees provide independent 
advice and expertise. 
SEC. 3. PREVENTING EFFORTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE FED-
ERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT AND PUB-
LIC DISCLOSURE. 
(a) DE FACTO MEMBERS.—Section 4 of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUAL AS MEMBER.—An 
individual who is not a full-time or permanent part-time 
officer or employee of the Federal Government shall be 
regarded as a member of a committee if the individual 
regularly attends and participates in committee meetings 
as if the individual were a member, even if the individual 
does not have the right to vote or veto the advice or rec-
ommendations of the advisory committee.’’. 
(b) WHITE HOUSE INTERAGENCY ADVISORY COM-
MITTEES.—Section 11 of the Federal Advisory Committee 
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Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(f) WHITE HOUSE INTERAGENCY ADVISORY COM-
MITTEES.—Any communication between— 
‘‘(1) an interagency committee or task force es-
tablished by the President or the Vice President or 
any member or staff acting on behalf of such an 
interagency committee or task force, and 
‘‘(2) any person who is not an officer or em-
ployee of the Federal Government, 
shall be made available for public inspection and copying. 
Any portion of a communication that involves a matter 
described in section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code, 
or that is subject to a valid constitutionally based privilege 
against such disclosure, may be withheld from public dis-
closure.’’. 
(c) SUBCOMMITTEES.—Section 4 of the Federal Ad-
visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 
striking subsection (a) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—The provisions of this Act or of 
any rule, order, or regulation promulgated under this Act 
shall apply to each advisory committee, including any sub-
committee or subgroup thereof, except to the extent that 
any Act of Congress establishing any such advisory com-
mittee specifically provides otherwise. Any subcommittee 
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or subgroup that reports to a parent committee estab-
lished under section 9(a) is not required to comply with 
section 9(e). In this subsection, the term ‘subgroup’ in-
cludes any working group, task force, or other entity 
formed for the purpose of assisting the committee or any 
subcommittee of the committee in its work.’’. 
(d) COMMITTEES CREATED UNDER CONTRACT.— 
Section 3(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.) is amended in the matter following subpara-
graph (C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An advi-
sory committee is considered to be established by an agen-
cy, agencies, or the President, if it is formed, created, or 
organized under contract, other transactional authority, 
cooperative agreement, grant, or otherwise at the request 
or direction of, an agency, agencies, or the President.’’. 
(e) ADVISORY COMMITTEES CONTAINING SPECIAL 
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Section 4 of the Federal Ad-
visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) SPECIAL
GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES.—Com-
mittee members appointed as special government employ-
ees shall not be considered full-time or part-time officers 
or employees of the Federal Government for purposes of 
determining the applicability of this Act under section 
3(2).’’. 
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SEC. 4. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY OF ADVISORY COM-
MITTEES. 
(a) INFORMATION REQUIREMENT.—Section 11 of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is 
amended— 
(1) by amending the section heading to read as 
follows: 
‘‘SEC. 11. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsection (a) as sub-
section (d) and in that subsection— 
(A) by inserting the following subsection 
heading: ‘‘AVAILABILITY OF PAPER COPIES OF 
TRANSCRIPTS.—’’; and 
(B) by inserting after ‘‘duplication,’’ the 
following: ‘‘paper’’; 
(3) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (e); and 
(4) by inserting before subsection (d), as redes-
ignated by paragraph (2), the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each advisory 
committee, the head of the agency to which the advisory 
committee reports shall make publicly available in accord-
ance with subsection (b) the following information: 
‘‘(1) The charter of the advisory committee. 
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cations were made under section 208(b) of title 18, 
United States Code, a summary description of the 
conflict necessitating the certification, and the rea-
son for granting the certification. 
‘‘(5) A summary of the process used by the ad-
visory committee for making decisions. 
‘‘(6) Transcripts or audio or video recordings of 
all meetings of the committee. 
‘‘(7) Any written determination by the Presi-
dent or the head of the agency to which the advisory 
committee reports, pursuant to section 10(d), to 
close a meeting or any portion of a meeting and the 
reasons for such determination. 
‘‘(8) Notices of future meetings of the com-
mittee. 
‘‘(9) Any additional information considered rel-
evant by the head of the agency to which the advi-
sory committee reports. 
‘‘(b) MANNER OF DISCLOSURE.— 
‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
head of an agency shall make the information re-
quired to be disclosed under this section available 
electronically on the official public internet site of 
the agency at least 15 calendar days before each 
meeting of an advisory committee. If the head of the 
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agency determines that such timing is not prac-
ticable for any required information, he shall make 
the information available as soon as practicable but 
no later than 48 hours before the next meeting of 
the committee. 
‘‘(2) The head of an agency shall make avail-
able electronically, on the official public internet site 
of the agency, a transcript or audio or video record-
ing of each advisory committee meeting not later 
than 7 calendar days after the meeting. 
‘‘(c) PROVISION
OF INFORMATION
BY ADMINIS-
TRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES.—The Administrator of 
General Services shall provide, on the official public inter-
net site of the General Services Administration, electronic 
access to the information made available by each agency 
under this section.’’. 
(b) CHARTER FILING.—Section 9(e) of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as redesignated 
by section 2, is amended by striking ‘‘with (1) the Admin-
istrator,’’ and all that follows through ‘‘, or’’ and inserting 
‘‘(1) with the Administrator and’’. 
SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW AND REPORTS. 
(a) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall review compliance by agencies with the Fed-
eral Advisory Committee Act, as amended by this Act, in-
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cluding whether agencies are appropriately appointing ad-
visory committee members as either special government 
employees or representatives. 
(b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall submit 
to the committees described in subsection (c) two reports 
on the results of the review, as follows: 
(1) The first report shall be submitted not later 
than one year after the date of promulgation of reg-
ulations under section 2. 
(2) The second report shall be submitted not 
later than five years after such date of promulgation 
of regulations. 
(c) COMMITTEES.—The committees described in this 
subsection are the Committee on Oversight and Govern-
ment Reform of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af-
fairs of the Senate. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITION. 
Section 3 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) The term ‘special Government employee’ 
has the same meaning as in section 202(a) of title 
18, United States Code.’’. 
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SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall take effect 30 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, except as otherwise provided 
in section 2(c). 
Æ 
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