I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5495 
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require employees 
of the Executive Office of the President or the White House to notify 
the Office of Government Ethics and Congress in each instance the 
individual is recused from a particular matter pursuant to section 208 
of title 18, United States Code, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 12, 2018 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself and Mr. TED LIEU of California) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Over-
sight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require 
employees of the Executive Office of the President or 
the White House to notify the Office of Government 
Ethics and Congress in each instance the individual is 
recused from a particular matter pursuant to section 
208 of title 18, United States Code, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Over-
sight Needed For Likely Illicit and Corrupt Transactions 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. NOTIFICATION OF RECUSAL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Ethics in Govern-
ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 101 et seq.) is amended 
by adding after section 111 the following: 
‘‘§ 112. Recusal for conflicts of interest 
‘‘(a) An officer or employee of the Executive Office 
of the President or the White House who is recused from 
a particular matter by operation of section 208 of title 
18, United States Code, shall, not later than 10 business 
days after such recusal, provide notification (in writing) 
of such recusal and the specific reasons for the recusal 
to— 
‘‘(1) the Director of the Office of Government 
Ethics; 
‘‘(2) the Committee on Oversight and Govern-
ment Reform of the House of Representatives; and 
‘‘(3) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 
‘‘(b) With respect to any instance in which an officer 
or employee of the Executive Office of the President or 
the White House notifies the designated agency ethics offi-
cial of a future particular matter that may require recusal 
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under section 208 of title 18, United States Code, the offi-
cer or employee shall provide a report to the entities listed 
in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) that de-
scribes— 
‘‘(1) the particular matter; 
‘‘(2) whether the designated agency ethics offi-
cial advised the officer or employee that the officer 
or employee should not participate in the particular 
matter; and 
‘‘(3) whether the particular matter occurred.’’. 
(b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall apply to any recusal pursuant to section 
208 of title 18, United States Code, occurring on or after 
the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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