Restoring the Public Trust Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 706 To strengthen transparency and accountability within the Federal Government, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 22, 2019 Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, and Mr. CICILLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and House Adminis- tration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To strengthen transparency and accountability within the Federal Government, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Restoring the Public Trust Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H706.IH H706 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 706 IH TITLE I—NO PERSONAL ENRICHMENT FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES Subtitle A—Stop Waste And Misuse by the President Sec. 101. Short title. Sec. 102. Findings. Sec. 103. Reimbursal for costs of protection. Subtitle B—Stop Waste And Misuse by Presidential Flyers Landing Yet Evading Rules and Standards Sec. 111. Short title. Sec. 112. Prohibition on use of funds for travel on private aircraft. Subtitle C—E. Scott Pruitt Accountability for Government Officials Sec. 121. Short title. Sec. 122. Findings. Sec. 123. Use of public office for private gain. Subtitle D—Curb Objectionable Redirection of Resources and Unconstitutional Payments to Trump Sec. 131. Short title. Sec. 132. Findings. Sec. 133. Sense of the Congress. Sec. 134. Reports. Sec. 135. Definitions. Subtitle E—Relatives In Government Getting Employment Dishonorably Sec. 141. Short title. Sec. 142. Employment of relatives; restrictions. Subtitle F—Determining if Regulatory Actions are in the Interest of the Nation or the Swamp Sec. 151. Short title. Sec. 152. Requiring greater transparency for regulatory conflicts of interest. Sec. 153. ACUS study and report on regulatory conflicts of interest. Sec. 154. Judicial review. Sec. 155. Effective date. TITLE II—ROOTING OUT CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Subtitle A—Commonsense Legislation Ensuring Accountability by Reporting Access of Non-Cleared Employees to Secrets Sec. 201. Short title. Sec. 202. Report on security clearances for individuals working in the White House and Executive Office of the President. Subtitle B—Divestiture of Certain Financial Interests of Federal Officers and Employees and Spouses Sec. 211. Divestiture of certain financial interests of Federal officers and em- ployees and spouses. VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H706.IH H706 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 706 IH Subtitle C—Presidential Tax Transparency Sec. 221. Short title. Sec. 222. Presidential and Vice Presidential tax transparency. Subtitle D—White House Open Data Sec. 231. Short title. Sec. 232. White House visitor log and employee information. Subtitle E—Prohibitions on Making Certain Contracts with Federal Government or Receiving Federal Funds Sec. 241. Prohibitions on making certain contracts with Federal Government or receiving Federal funds. TITLE III—INCREASED OVERSIGHT AND STRENGTHENING AGENCIES RESPONSIBLE FOR ROOTING OUT CORRUPTION Sec. 301. Congressional notification of change in status of Inspector General. Sec. 302. Presidential explanation of failure to nominate an Inspector General. TITLE I—NO PERSONAL ENRICH- 1 MENT FOR FEDERAL EM- 2 PLOYEES 3 Subtitle A—Stop Waste And Misuse 4 by the President 5 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 6 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Waste And 7 Misuse by the President Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘SWAMP 8 Act of 2019’’. 9 SEC. 102. FINDINGS. 10 The Congress finds as follows: 11 (1) Presidential travel to commercial entities 12 owned in whole or in part by the President or First 13 Family results in the American taxpayer effectively 14 subsidizing the President’s businesses. 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H706.IH H706 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 706 IH (2) Given current expenditures, President 1 Trump is on track to spend more during his first 2 year of office than all eight years of the Obama ad- 3 ministration combined. 4 (3) It is unacceptable for the President to 5 maintain an interest in traveling to properties in 6 which he has a direct financial interest, as the U.S. 7 Government is responsible for renting space for per- 8 sonnel in said private commercial entities. 9 (4) Every time the President travels to Mar-a- 10 Lago, he necessarily promotes his private business 11 interests via free press at the Government’s expense. 12 (5) The State Department’s recent promotion 13 of Mar-a-Lago on its official website raises serious 14 ethics concerns. 15 (6) As of April 14, 2017, President Trump has 16 cost the U.S. taxpayer unprecedented amounts of 17 money, including the following estimated costs: 18 (A) For trips to Mar-a-Lago: 19 (i) Total cost for security in Palm 20 Beach: $3,700,000 (each trip). 21 (ii) Roundtrip flights from Joint Base 22 Andrews, Maryland, to West Palm, Flor- 23 ida: $700,000. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H706.IH H706 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 706 IH (iii) Overtime for local law enforce- 1 ment during Trump’s trips: $60,000/day. 2 (iv) Total golf cart rentals ordered by 3 the Secret Service ‘‘for POTUS visit’’: 4 $35,185. 5 (v) Estimated loss of business due to 6 airport closure: $30,000/weekend. 7 (B) For Trump Tower: 8 (i) Request for additional Secret Serv- 9 ice funding to secure Trump Towers: 10 $60,000,000. 11 (ii) New York Police Department se- 12 curity costs: $127,000–$146,000/day. 13 (iii) ‘‘Elevator services’’ ordered by 14 the Secret Service: $64,000. 15 (iv) Air Force One flights to New 16 York City: $180,000/hour. 17 (7) The proposed 2017 Federal spending bill in- 18 cludes reimbursements for millions of dollars spent 19 by Florida and New York to protect the President 20 and First Family, and facilitate their travel. While 21 localities should be reimbursed, the taxpayer should 22 not be responsible for said reimbursement. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H706.IH H706 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 706 IH SEC. 103. REIMBURSAL FOR COSTS OF PROTECTION. 1 In the case of a person whom the United States Se- 2 cret Service is authorized to protect under paragraph (1) 3 or (2) of section 3056(a) of title 18, United States Code, 4 if that person, while traveling for official business or for 5 personal purposes, stays in a hotel or other establishment 6 providing daily-rate accommodation in which that person 7 has an ownership or financial interest, that person shall 8 reimburse to the Treasury— 9 (1) any amount expended by the United States 10 Secret Service for the provision of such protection; 11 and 12 (2) any amount expended for other costs in- 13 curred by the Government pertaining to that stay. 14 Subtitle B—Stop Waste And Misuse 15 by Presidential Flyers Landing 16 Yet Evading Rules and Stand- 17 ards 18 SEC. 111. SHORT TITLE. 19 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Waste And 20 Misuse by Presidential Flyers Landing Yet Evading Rules 21 and Standards Act’’ or the ‘‘SWAMP FLYERS Act’’. 22 SEC. 112. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR TRAVEL ON 23 PRIVATE AIRCRAFT. 24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of the en- 25 actment of this Act, no Federal funds appropriated or oth- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H706.IH H706 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 706 IH erwise made available in any fiscal year may be used to 1 pay the travel expenses of any senior political appointee 2 for travel on official business on a non-commercial, pri- 3 vate, or chartered flight. 4 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The limitation in subsection (a) 5 shall not apply— 6 (1) if no commercial flight was available for the 7 travel in question, consistent with subsection (c); or 8 (2) to any travel on aircraft owned or leased by 9 the Government. 10 (c) CERTIFICATION.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any senior political ap- 12 pointee who travels on a non-commercial, private, or 13 chartered flight under the exception provided in sub- 14 section (b)(1) shall, not later than 30 days after the 15 date of such travel, submit a written statement to 16 Congress certifying that no commercial flight was 17 available. 18 (2) PENALTY.—Any statement submitted under 19 paragraph (1) shall be considered a statement for 20 purposes of applying section 1001 of title 18, United 21 States Code. 22 (d) DEFINITION OF SENIOR POLITICAL AP- 23 POINTEE.—In this subtitle, the term ‘‘senior political ap- 24 pointee’’ means any individual occupying— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H706.IH H706 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 706 IH (1) a position listed under the Executive Sched- 1 ule (subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 5, United 2 States Code); 3 (2) a Senior Executive Service position that is 4 not a career appointee as defined under section 5 3132(a)(4) of such title; or 6 (3) a position of a confidential or policy-deter- 7 mining character under schedule C of subpart C of 8 part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations. 9 Subtitle C—E. Scott Pruitt Ac- 10 countability for Government Of- 11 ficials 12 SEC. 121. SHORT TITLE. 13 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘E. Scott Pruitt 14 Accountability for Government Officials Act of 2019’’. 15 SEC. 122. FINDINGS. 16 Congress finds the following: 17 (1) During his time as Administrator of the 18 Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt faced 19 more than 12 separate ethics investigations includ- 20 ing by the Environmental Protection Agency Inspec- 21 tor General, the Committee on Oversight and Re- 22 form of the House of Representatives, the Executive 23 Office of the President, the Government Account- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H706.IH H706 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 706 IH ability Office, and the U.S. Office of Special Coun- 1 sel. 2 (2) On October 2, 2017, the Department of the 3 Interior’s Inspector General confirmed they were in- 4 vestigating Secretary Ryan Zinke’s taxpayer-funded 5 flights, including $12,375 on a chartered flight from 6 Las Vegas to Montana where he spoke to a hockey 7 team that is owned by one of Secretary Zinke’s larg- 8 est political donors. 9 (3) On March 14, 2018, CNN reported that 10 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben 11 Carson knew about a dining set worth $31,000 that 12 was ordered for Carson’s office, knowledge of which 13 he had previously denied. 14 (4) On March 20, 2018, it was publicly re- 15 ported that Scott Pruitt secured a sub-market lease 16 for a Washington, DC, condominium owned by the 17 wife of a lobbyist who represented clients with mat- 18 ters pending before the Environmental Protection 19 Agency, and told the Washington Examiner that he 20 was ‘‘dumbfounded that that’s controversial’’. 21 (5) On April 4, 2018, the New York Times re- 22 ported that Scott Pruitt used a loophole in the Safe 23 Water Drinking Act to give raises to his aides that 24 had been explicitly denied by the White House. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H706.IH H706 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 706 IH (6) On April 16, 2018, the Washington Post re- 1 ported that Scott Pruitt had spent nearly 2 $3,000,000 of taxpayer funds on security and travel 3 since taking office in February 2017. 4 (7) On April 26, 2018, Politico reported that 5 Scott Pruitt spent over $105,000 of taxpayer funds 6 on first-class flights, citing since-debunked threats to 7 his personal security. 8 (8) On June 5, 2018, the Washington Post re- 9 ported that Scott Pruitt used official channels to 10 pressure Chick-fil-A Chief Executive Officer Dan 11 Cathy into securing a restaurant franchise for his 12 wife. 13 (9) On June 6, 2018, the Washington Post re- 14 ported that Scott Pruitt forced aides to help him se- 15 cure a used ‘‘Trump Home Luxury Plush Euro Pil- 16 low Top’’. 17 (10) On June 8, 2018, the Washington Post re- 18 ported that Scott Pruitt forced his security detail to 19 help him acquire high-end hand lotion and to pick 20 up his dry cleaning. 21 (11) On July 2, 2018, the Washington Post re- 22 ported that Scott Pruitt recruited a staff member to 23 help his wife find a job, the salary for which he stip- 24 ulated should be no less than $200,000. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H706.IH H706 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 706 IH (12) On July 5, 2018, Scott Pruitt resigned 1 amid myriad scandals and massive public pressure. 2 (13) On July 13, 2018, Forbes reported on Wil- 3 bur Ross’ massive conflicts of interest, including 4 having taken meetings with a trade association 5 whose members included a car manufacturer whose 6 investors included Ross himself. The same report 7 noted that Wilbur Ross took meetings with compa- 8 nies whose investors included his wife. 9 (14) On July 13, 2018, The New York Times 10 reported that Tom Price repeatedly violated Govern- 11 ment travel rules, wasting at least $314,000 of tax- 12 payer funds by using chartered jets and military air 13 travel instead of commercially available flights. 14 SEC. 123. USE OF PUBLIC OFFICE FOR PRIVATE GAIN. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 93 of title 18, United 16 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘§ 1925. Use of public office for private gain 19 ‘‘(a) USE FOR PRIVATE GAIN.—Whoever, being a 20 covered Federal officer or employee, uses his public office 21 for— 22 ‘‘(1) his own private gain; 23 ‘‘(2) the endorsement of any product, service or 24 enterprise; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:29 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H706.IH H706 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 706 IH ‘‘(3) the private gain [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]