Title: Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019
This bill makes changes intended to smooth the transfer of executive power during presidential transitions.
The bill provides for the detailing of legislative branch employees on a reimbursable basis to office staffs designated by the President-elect or Vice President-elect with the consent of the supervising Member of Congress.
The bill extends support provided by the General Services Administration (GSA) to the President- and Vice President-elect for up to 60 days after the inauguration.
By September 1 of a year during which a presidential election occurs, the GSA shall enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with each eligible candidate, which shall include the conditions for administrative support services and facilities. To the maximum extent practicable, an MOU shall be based on MOUs relating to previous presidential transitions. Each MOU shall include an agreement that the eligible candidate will implement and enforce an ethics plan to guide the conduct of the transition beginning on the date on which such candidate becomes President-elect. The plan shall be published on the GSA website.
By September 15 of a year during which a presidential election occurs, each agency shall ensure that a succession plan is in place for each senior noncareer position in the agency.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 394 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 394

To amend the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to improve the orderly 
    transfer of the executive power during Presidential transitions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 7, 2019

 Mr. Johnson (for himself, Mr. Carper, and Ms. Hassan) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to improve the orderly 
    transfer of the executive power during Presidential transitions.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Presidential Transition Enhancement 
Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 3 of the Presidential Transition Act of 
1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
                striking ``upon request,'' and all that follows through 
                ``including'' and inserting ``upon request, to each 
                President-elect, each Vice-President-elect, and, for up 
                to 60 days after the date of the inauguration of the 
                President-elect and Vice-President-elect, each 
                President and Vice President, for use in connection 
                with the preparations for the assumption of official 
                duties as President or Vice President necessary 
                services and facilities, including''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by inserting ``, or an employee of a 
                        committee of either House of Congress, a joint 
                        committee of the Congress, or an individual 
                        Member of Congress,'' after ``any branch of the 
                        Government''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``, or in the case of an 
                        employee in a position in the legislative 
                        branch, with the consent of the supervising 
                        Member of Congress'' after ``with the consent 
                        of the head of the agency'';
            (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
    ``(b) The Administrator shall expend funds for the provision of 
services and facilities under this section--
            ``(1) in connection with any obligation incurred by the 
        President-elect or Vice-President-elect, or after the 
        inauguration of the President-elect as President and the 
        inauguration of the Vice-President-elect as Vice President 
        incurred by the President or Vice President, during the 
        period--
                    ``(A) beginning on the day after the date of the 
                general elections held to determine the electors of the 
                President and Vice President under section 1 or 2 of 
                title 3, United States Code; and
                    ``(B) ending on the date that is 60 days after the 
                date of such inauguration; and
            ``(2) without regard to whether the President-elect, Vice-
        President-elect, President, or Vice President submits to the 
        Administrator a request for payment regarding services or 
        facilities before the end of such period.'';
            (3) in subsection (h)(2)(B)(ii), by striking ``computers'' 
        and inserting ``information technology''; and
            (4) By adding at the end the following:
    ``(i) Memorandums of Understanding.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than September 1 of a year 
        during which a Presidential election occurs, the Administrator 
        shall, to the maximum extent practicable, enter into a 
        memorandum of understanding with each eligible candidate, which 
        shall include, at a minimum, the conditions for the 
        administrative support services and facilities described in 
        subsection (a).
            ``(2) Existing resources.--To the maximum extent 
        practicable, a memorandum of understanding entered into under 
        paragraph (1) shall be based on memorandums of understanding 
        relating to previous Presidential transitions.
            ``(3) Transition representative.--
                    ``(A) Designation of representative for 
                inquiries.--Each memorandum of understanding entered 
                into under this subsection shall designate a 
                representative of the eligible candidate to whom the 
                Administrator shall direct any inquiries or legal 
                instruments regarding the records of the eligible 
                candidate that are in the custody of the Administrator.
                    ``(B) Change in transition representative.--The 
                designation of a new individual as the transition 
                representative of an eligible candidate shall not 
                require the execution of a new memorandum of 
                understanding under this subsection.
                    ``(C) Termination of designation.--The designation 
                of a transition representative under a memorandum of 
                understanding shall terminate--
                            ``(i) not later than September 30 of the 
                        year during which the inauguration of the 
                        President-elect as President and the 
                        inauguration of the Vice-President-elect as 
                        Vice President occurs; or
                            ``(ii) before the date described in clause 
                        (i), upon request of the President-elect or the 
                        Vice-President-elect or, after such 
                        inauguration, upon request of the President or 
                        the Vice President.
            ``(4) Amendments.--Any amendment to a memorandum of 
        understanding entered into under this subsection shall be 
        agreed to in writing.
            ``(5) Prior notification of deviation.--Each party to a 
        memorandum of understanding entered into under this subsection 
        shall provide written notice, except to the extent prohibited 
        under another provision of law, not later than 3 days before 
        taking any action that deviates from the terms and conditions 
        agreed to in the memorandum of understanding.
            ``(6) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `eligible 
        candidate' has the meaning given that term in subsection 
        (h)(4).''.
    (b) Agency Transitions.--Section 4 of the Presidential Transition 
Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph 
                (5); and
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) the term `nonpublic information'--
                    ``(A) means information from the Federal Government 
                that a member of a transition team obtains as part of 
                the employment of the member that such member knows or 
                reasonably should know has not been made available to 
                the general public; and
                    ``(B) includes information that a member of the 
                transition team knows or reasonably should know--
                            ``(i) is exempt from disclosure under 
                        section 552 of title 5, United States Code, or 
                        otherwise protected from disclosure by law; and
                            ``(ii) is not authorized by the appropriate 
                        government agency or officials to be released 
                        to the public; and'';
            (2) in subparagraphs (C) and (D) of subsection (e)(3), by 
        inserting ``serving in a career position'' after ``senior 
        representative'';
            (3) by striking subsection (f)(2) and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(2) Acting officers.--Not later than September 15 of a 
        year during which a Presidential election occurs, and in 
        accordance with subchapter III of chapter 33 of title 5, United 
        States Code, the head of each agency shall ensure that a 
        succession plan is in place for each senior noncareer position 
        in the agency.''; and
            (4) in subsection (g)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``November 1'' 
                and inserting ``October 1''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Ethics plan.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Each memorandum of understanding 
                under paragraph (1) shall include an agreement that the 
                eligible candidate will implement and enforce an ethics 
                plan to guide the conduct of the transition beginning 
                on the date on which the eligible candidate becomes the 
                President-elect.
                    ``(B) Contents.--The ethics plan shall include, at 
                a minimum--
                            ``(i) a description of the ethics 
                        requirements that will apply to all members of 
                        the transition team, including any specific 
                        requirement for transition team members who 
                        will have access to nonpublic or classified 
                        information;
                            ``(ii) a description of how the transition 
                        team will--
                                    ``(I) address the role on the 
                                transition team of--
                                            ``(aa) lobbyists registered 
                                        under the Lobbying Disclosure 
                                        Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 
                                        seq.) and individuals who were 
                                        former lobbyists registered 
                                        under that Act; and
                                            ``(bb) persons registered 
                                        under the Foreign Agents 
                                        Registration Act (22 U.S.C. 611 
                                        et seq.), foreign nationals, 
                                        and other foreign agents;
                                    ``(II) prohibit a transition team 
                                member with conflicts of interest 
                                similar to those applicable to Federal 
                                employees under section 2635.402(a) and 
                                section 2635.502(a) of title 5, Code of 
                                Federal Regulations, related to current 
                                or former employment, affiliations, 
                                clients, or investments, from working 
                                on particular matters involving 
                                specific parties that affect the 
                                interests of such member; and
                                    ``(III) address how the covered 
                                eligible candidate will address his or 
                                her own conflicts of interest during a 
                                Presidential term if the covered 
                                eligible candidate becomes the 
                                President-elect;
                            ``(iii) a Code of Ethical Conduct, which 
                        each member of the transition team will sign 
                        and be subject to, that reflects the content of 
                        the ethics plans under this paragraph and at a 
                        minimum requires transition team members to--
                                    ``(I) seek authorization from 
                                transition team leaders or their 
                                designees before seeking, on behalf of 
                                the transition, access to any nonpublic 
                                information;
                                    ``(II) keep confidential any 
                                nonpublic information provided in the 
                                course of the duties of the member with 
                                the transition and exclusively use such 
                                information for the purposes of the 
                                transition; and
                                    ``(III) not use any nonpublic 
                                information provided in the course of 
                                transition duties, in any manner, for 
                                personal or private gain for the member 
                                or any other party at any time during 
                                or after the transition; and
                            ``(iv) a description of how the transition 
                        team will enforce the Code of Ethical Conduct, 
                        including the names of the members of the 
                        transition team responsible for enforcement, 
                        oversight, and compliance.
                    ``(C) Publicly available.--The transition team 
                shall make the ethics plan described in this paragraph 
                publicly available on the Internet website of the 
                General Services Administration the earlier of--
                            ``(i) the day on which the memorandum of 
                        understanding is completed; or
                            ``(ii) October 1.''.
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