I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 978 
To require the head of each executive agency to relocate such agency outside 
of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 10, 2023 
Mr. DAVIDSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Accountability 
A BILL 
To require the head of each executive agency to relocate 
such agency outside of the Washington, D.C., metropoli-
tan area, 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 ‘‘Drain the Swamp Act 
of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. RELOCATION OF AGENCY HEADQUARTERS. 
(a) REPEAL
OF HEADQUARTERS LOCATION RE-
QUIREMENT.—Section 72 of title 4, United States Code, 
is repealed. 
(b) HEADQUARTERS RELOCATION PLAN.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 
30, 2024, the head of each executive agency shall 
develop and submit to Congress a plan for the relo-
cation of the headquarters of that agency outside of 
the Washington metropolitan area. 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The plan described in 
paragraph (1) shall— 
(A) identify a location for a new head-
quarters outside of the Washington metropoli-
tan area; 
(B) maximize any potential cost savings 
associated with the relocation; 
(C) provide that, upon implementation of 
the plan, no more than 10 percent of the em-
ployees of the agency are based in the Wash-
ington metropolitan area; and 
(D) consider any potential national secu-
rity implications of the relocation. 
(3) CERTIFICATION.—Prior to the submission 
of a plan under paragraph (1), the Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget and the Adminis-
trator of General Services shall certify the compli-
ance of the plan with the provisions of this section 
if the plan meets the requirements described in 
paragraph (2). 
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(4) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than Sep-
tember 30, 2028, the head of each executive agency 
shall implement the plan for such agency submitted 
under paragraph (1). 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 
agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Executive 
agency’’ in section 105 of title 5, United States 
Code, except that the term does not include the Ex-
ecutive Office of the President. 
(2) WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA.—The 
term ‘‘Washington metropolitan area’’ means the ge-
ographic area located within the boundaries of— 
(A) the District of Columbia; 
(B) Montgomery and Prince George’s 
Counties in the State of Maryland; and 
(C) 
Arlington, 
Fairfax, 
Loudon, 
and 
Prince William Counties and the City of Alex-
andria in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 
Æ 
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