I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2500 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit high-level Federal employ-
ees from participating in any matter substantially related to the ap-
pointee’s former employment, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2017 
Mr. HUFFMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit high- 
level Federal employees from participating in any matter 
substantially related to the appointee’s former employ-
ment, 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 Appointee 
Ethics Improvement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 207 OF TITLE 18. 
(a) EXTENSION
OF POST-EMPLOYMENT BAN
ON 
LOBBYING
FOR CERTAIN FORMER GOVERNMENT EM-
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PLOYEES.—Section 207 of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking 
‘‘ONE-YEAR’’ and inserting ‘‘TWO-YEAR’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘within 1 year after’’ 
and inserting ‘‘within 2 years after’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘within 1 year before 
such termination’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(D) Not later than 30 days after a waiver is 
granted under subparagraph (C), the waiver shall be 
published in the Federal Register and accompanied 
by a signed statement by the Director of the Office 
of Government Ethics describing in detail the rea-
sons for providing such waiver unless such a descrip-
tion would compromise national security.’’; 
(2) in subsection (d)(1), in the matter following 
subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘within 2 years’’ and 
inserting ‘‘within 5 years’’; and 
(3) in subsection (d)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘in such 
position’’ and all that follows through ‘‘terminated’’. 
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(b) LIFETIME BAN ON REPRESENTATION OF FOR-
EIGN ENTITIES FOR CERTAIN HIGH-LEVEL FORMER EM-
PLOYEES.—Section 207(f) of such title is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(or, in the 
case of an individual described in paragraph (2), at 
any time)’’ after ‘‘within 1 year’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘paragraph 
(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (2)’’; 
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 
paragraphs (3) and (4); and 
(4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(2) DESCRIPTION
OF
INDIVIDUALS
SUBJECT 
TO LIFETIME BAN.—An individual described in this 
paragraph is any individual who was— 
‘‘(A) employed in a position described 
under sections 5312 through 5316 of title 5, 
United States Code (relating to the Executive 
Schedule); 
‘‘(B) a limited term appointee, limited 
emergency appointee, or noncareer appointee in 
the Senior Executive Service, as defined under 
paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respectively, of 
section 3132(a) of title 5, United States Code; 
or 
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‘‘(C) employed in a position of a confiden-
tial or policy-determining character under 
schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5 
of the Code of Federal Regulations.’’. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPATION IN MATTER RE-
LATING TO PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 219 the 
following new section: 
‘‘§ 220. Prohibition on participation in matter relat-
ing to previous employment 
‘‘(a) During the 2-year period beginning on the date 
an individual is appointed to a covered position at an agen-
cy, any such individual who has not received a waiver 
under subsection (b)— 
‘‘(1) who participates in any particular matter 
involving specific parties that is directly and sub-
stantially related to the individual’s former employer 
or former clients, or 
‘‘(2) with respect to any such individual who 
was a registered lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclo-
sure Act of 1995, or who was not a registered lob-
byist under such Act but who engaged in lobbying 
activity as defined in subsection (c), during the 2- 
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year period preceding the date of such appointment, 
who— 
‘‘(A) participates in any particular matter 
on which the individual made a lobbying contact 
(in the case of a registered lobbyist under such 
Act), or engaged in such activity, during such 
2-year period, 
‘‘(B) participates in the specific issue area 
in which such particular matter falls, or 
‘‘(C) seeks or accepts employment with any 
agency with respect to which the individual 
made a lobbying contact (in the case of a reg-
istered lobbyist under such Act), or engaged in 
such activity, during such 2-year period, 
shall be punished as provided in section 216 of this title. 
‘‘(b)(1) The Director of the Office of Management 
and Budget, in consultation with the Counsel to the Presi-
dent, may waive the requirements of subsection (a) with 
respect to any individual covered by such subsection if the 
Director certifies, in writing, to the Committee on Over-
sight and Government Reform of the House of Represent-
atives, the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern-
mental Affairs of the Senate, and the appropriate congres-
sional committees of jurisdiction, that it is in the public 
interest to grant the waiver. 
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‘‘(2) For purposes of carrying out paragraph (1)— 
‘‘(A) the public interest includes exigent cir-
cumstances relating to public health, public safety, 
or national security; 
‘‘(B) de minimis contact with an agency shall 
be cause for a waiver of subsection (a)(2); and 
‘‘(C) any waiver shall take effect when the cer-
tification is published in the Federal Register, ac-
companied by a signed statement by the Director de-
scribing in detail the reasons for providing the waiv-
er unless such a description would compromise na-
tional security. 
‘‘(c)(1) In this section, the term ‘lobbying activity’ 
means, with respect to an individual, knowingly making, 
with the intent to influence, any communication to or ap-
pearance before any officer or employee of the Federal 
Government on behalf of another person as an employee 
of a lobbying firm or lobbying organization, in connection 
with any matter on which such person seeks official action 
by such officer or employee of the Federal Government. 
The previous sentence applies only with respect to an indi-
vidual who spends greater than 20% of the individual’s 
time as an employee of a lobbying firm or lobbying organi-
zation engaged in such lobbying activity. 
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‘‘(2) In paragraph (1), the term ‘lobbying firm’ 
means any firm, corporation, or limited liability company 
in which— 
‘‘(A) employees of the firm in the aggregate 
make 2 or more lobbying contacts at any time on be-
half of a particular client; and 
‘‘(B) the firm receives or expects to receive 
from a particular client for matters related to lob-
bying activities at least the amount specified in sec-
tion 4(a)(3)(A) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 
1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)(3)(A)) in the quarterly pe-
riod during which registration would be made under 
such Act. 
‘‘(3) In paragraph (1), the term ‘lobbying organiza-
tion’ includes any organization in which— 
‘‘(A) employees of the firm in the aggregate 
make 2 or more lobbying contacts at any time on its 
behalf; and 
‘‘(B) the organization expends in connection 
with lobbying activities at least the amount specified 
in section 4(a)(3)(B) of the Lobbying Disclosure Act 
of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)(3)(A)) in the quarterly 
period during which registration would be made 
under such Act. 
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‘‘(4) In this subsection, the term ‘employee’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 3(5) of the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(5)). 
‘‘(d) In this section, the following definitions apply: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘agency’ means an ‘Executive 
agency’ (as that term is defined in section 105 of 
title 5), the Executive Office of the President, the 
United States Postal Service, and the Postal Regu-
latory Commission, but does not include the Govern-
ment Accountability Office. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘covered position’— 
‘‘(A) means any— 
‘‘(i) 
full-time, 
non-career 
position 
which requires appointment by the Presi-
dent or Vice-President; 
‘‘(ii) non-career position within the 
Senior Executive Service or other SES- 
type system; or 
‘‘(iii) position that has been excepted 
from the competitive service by reason of 
being of a confidential or policymaking 
character, including positions under sched-
ule C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5 
of the Code of Federal Regulations; and 
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‘‘(B) does not include any individual ap-
pointed as a member of the Senior Foreign 
Service or solely as a uniformed service commis-
sioned officer. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘directly and substantially re-
lated to former employer or former clients’ means 
matters in which the individual’s former employer or 
a former client is a party or represents a party. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘former client’ means any person 
for whom the individual served personally as agent, 
attorney, or consultant, but does include instances 
where the service provided was limited to a speech 
or similar appearance or clients of the individual’s 
former employer to whom the individual did not per-
sonally provide services. 
‘‘(5) The term ‘former employer’ means any 
person for whom the individual has within the 2 
years prior to the date of appointment served as an 
employee, officer, director, trustee, or general part-
ner, but does not include any agency or other entity 
of the Federal Government, Native American tribe, 
or any United States territory or possession. 
‘‘(6) The term ‘lobbying contact’ has the mean-
ing given such term in section 3(8) of the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(8)). 
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‘‘(7) The term ‘particular matter’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 207 and section 
2635.402(b)(3) of title 5, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, or any successor regulation. 
‘‘(8) The term ‘participate’ means to participate 
personally and substantially. 
‘‘(9) The term ‘particular matter involving spe-
cific parties’ has the meaning as set forth in section 
2641.201(h) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, 
or any successor regulation, except that it shall also 
include any meeting or other communication relating 
to the performance of an individual’s official duties 
with a former employer or former client, unless the 
communication applies to a particular matter of gen-
eral applicability and participation in the meeting or 
other event is open to all interested parties.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
of chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 219 the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘220. Prohibition on participation in matter relating to previous employment.’’. 
(c) APPLICATION.—The amendments made after sub-
section (a) shall apply to any individual appointed to a 
covered position (as that term is defined in section 
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220(d)(2) of title 18, United States Code, as added by 
such subsection) after the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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