I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 745 
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide for reform 
in the operations of the Office of Government Ethics, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 24, 2019 
Mr. RASKIN (for himself, Mr. CUMMINGS, and Mr. NADLER) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Re-
form, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to provide 
for reform in the operations of the Office of Government 
Ethics, 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 ‘‘Executive Branch 
Comprehensive Ethics Enforcement Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERN-
MENT ETHICS. 
Section 405 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 
(5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2007’’ 
and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2019 through 2023.’’. 
SEC. 3. TENURE OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF 
GOVERNMENT ETHICS. 
Section 401(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of 
1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘, subject to removal only for 
inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The 
Director may continue to serve beyond the expiration of 
the term until a successor is appointed and has qualified, 
except that the Director may not continue to serve for 
more than one year after the date on which the term would 
otherwise expire under this subsection.’’. 
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERN-
MENT ETHICS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(b) of the Ethics in 
Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘developing, in consulta-
tion’’ and inserting ‘‘consulting’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘Management, rules, and 
regulations to be promulgated by the President 
or the Director,’’ and inserting ‘‘Management 
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for input on the promulgation of rules and reg-
ulations to be promulgated by the Director’’; 
and 
(C) by striking ‘‘title II’’ and inserting 
‘‘title I’’; 
(2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(2) providing mandatory education and train-
ing programs for designated agency ethics officials, 
which may be delegated to each agency or the White 
House Counsel as deemed appropriate by the Direc-
tor;’’; 
(3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘title II’’ and 
inserting ‘‘title I’’; 
(4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘problems’’ 
and inserting ‘‘issues’’; 
(5) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘problems’’ 
and inserting ‘‘issues’’; 
(6) in paragraph (7)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘, when requested,’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘conflict of interest prob-
lems’’ and inserting ‘‘conflicts of interest, as 
well as other ethics issues’’; 
(7) in paragraph (9)— 
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(C) by striking ‘‘, as required by section 
535 of title 28, United States Code’’; 
(10) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(11) in paragraph (15)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘title II’’ and inserting 
‘‘title I’’; and 
(B) by striking the period at the end and 
inserting a semicolon; and 
(12) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(16) directing and providing final approval, 
when determined appropriate by the Director, for 
designated agency ethics officials regarding the reso-
lution of conflicts of interest as well as any other 
ethics issues under the purview of this Act in indi-
vidual cases; and 
‘‘(17) reviewing and approving, when deter-
mined appropriate by the Director, any recusals, ex-
emptions, or waivers from the conflicts of interest 
and ethics laws, rules, and regulations and making 
approved recusals, exemptions, and waivers made 
publicly available by the relevant agency available in 
a central location on the official website of the Office 
of Government Ethics.’’. 
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(b) WRITTEN PROCEDURES.—Section 402(d) of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 
amended in paragraph (1)— 
(1) by striking ‘‘, by the exercise of any author-
ity otherwise available to the Director under this 
title,’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘the agency is’’. 
(c) CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.—Section 402(f) of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) in clause (i) of subparagraph (A), by 
striking ‘‘of such agency’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting at 
the end before the period the following: ‘‘and 
determine that a violation of this Act has oc-
curred and issue appropriate administrative or 
legal remedies as prescribed in paragraph (2)’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) in clause (ii)— 
(I) in subclause (I), by inserting 
‘‘to the President or the President’s 
designee if the matter involves em-
ployees of the Executive Office of the 
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President 
or’’ 
after 
‘‘may 
rec-
ommend’’; and 
(II) in subclause (II)— 
(aa) by inserting ‘‘President 
or’’ after ‘‘determines that the’’; 
and 
(bb) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(ii) in subclause (II) of clause (iii)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘notify in writ-
ing,’’ and inserting ‘‘advise the Presi-
dent in writing or order’’; 
(II) by inserting ‘‘take appro-
priate disciplinary action including 
reprimand, suspension, demotion, or 
dismissal against the officer or em-
ployee’’ after ‘‘employee’s agency’’; 
(III) by striking ‘‘of the officer’s 
or employee’s noncompliance, except 
that, if the officer or employee in-
volved is the agency head, the notifi-
cation shall instead be submitted to 
the President and Congress and’’; and 
(IV) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the 
end and inserting a period; and 
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(iii) by striking clause (iv); 
(B) in subparagraph (B)(i)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)(iii) 
or (iv)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ before ‘‘In 
order to’’; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(II)(aa) The Director may secure directly 
from any agency information necessary to en-
able the Director to carry out this Act. Upon 
request of the Director, the head of such agency 
shall furnish that information to the Director. 
‘‘(bb) The Director may require by sub-
poena the production of all information, docu-
ments, reports, answers, records, accounts, pa-
pers, and other data in any medium and docu-
mentary evidence necessary in the performance 
of the functions assigned by this Act, which 
subpoena, in the case of refusal to obey, shall 
be enforceable by order of any appropriate 
United States district court.’’; 
(C) in subparagraph (B)(ii)(I)— 
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(i) by striking ‘‘Subject to clause (iv) 
of this subparagraph, before’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘Before’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A) 
(iii) or (iv)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 
(A)(iii)’’; 
(D) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking 
‘‘Subject to clause (iv) of this subparagraph, 
before’’ and inserting ‘‘Before’’; and 
(E) in subparagraph (B)(iv)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘title 2’’ and inserting 
‘‘title I’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘section 206’’ and in-
serting ‘‘section 104’’; 
(3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(iv),’’; and 
(4) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(5)(A) The Office of Government Ethics shall 
provide, on the official website of the Office, public 
access to records made available by agencies of all 
conflicts of interest and ethics laws, rules and regu-
lations, recusals, waivers and exemptions, ethics ad-
visory opinions, ethics agreements of senior executive 
branch personnel and employee certificates of dives-
titure, financial disclosure reports, compliance re-
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views, enforcement actions, and any other public 
records concerning conflicts of interest and ethics 
records for the executive branch required by law. 
‘‘(B) All financial disclosure reports and 
records related to conflict of interest waivers and 
other records of ethics determinations deemed public 
information by the Director or by law shall be made 
available to the public either by internet link to such 
information if publicly available, or at no charge on 
the website of the Office of Government Ethics in a 
searchable, sortable, and downloadable format, and 
at reasonable fees for reproduction of paper docu-
ments at the Office of Government Ethics.’’. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—Section 402 of the Ethics in Gov-
ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) For purposes of this title— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ shall include the Execu-
tive Office of the President; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘officer or employee’ shall include 
any individual occupying a position, providing any 
official services, or acting in an advisory capacity, in 
the White House or the Executive Office of the 
President. 
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