Presidential Accountability Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1481 To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require the President and Vice President to divest themselves of certain financial conflicts of interest, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 4, 2019 Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts (for herself and Ms. JAYAPAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require the President and Vice President to divest themselves of certain financial conflicts of interest, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Account- 4 ability Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1481.IH H1481 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1481 IH SEC. 2. DIVESTITURE OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL INTERESTS 1 OF THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT 2 THAT POSE A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF IN- 3 TEREST. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Ethics in Government Act of 5 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding after title 6 VI (as added by section 8003) the following: 7 ‘‘TITLE VII—DIVESTITURE OF FI- 8 NANCIAL CONFLICTS OF IN- 9 TERESTS OF THE PRESIDENT 10 AND VICE PRESIDENT 11 ‘‘§ 701. Divestiture of financial interests posing a con- 12 flict of interest 13 ‘‘(a) APPLICABILITY TO THE PRESIDENT AND VICE 14 PRESIDENT.—The President and Vice President shall, 15 within 30 days of assuming office, divest of all financial 16 interests that pose a conflict of interest because the Presi- 17 dent or Vice President, the spouse, dependent child, or 18 general partner of the President or Vice President, or any 19 person or organization with whom the President or Vice 20 President is negotiating or has any arrangement con- 21 cerning prospective employment, has a financial interest, 22 by— 23 ‘‘(1) converting each such interest to cash or 24 other investment that meets the criteria established 25 by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1481.IH H1481 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1481 IH through regulation as being an interest so remote or 1 inconsequential as not to pose a conflict; or 2 ‘‘(2) placing each such interest in a qualified 3 blind trust as defined in section 102(f)(3) or a diver- 4 sified trust under section 102(f)(4)(B). 5 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE EXEMPTION.—Subsection (a) shall 6 not apply if the President or Vice President complies with 7 section 102.’’. 8 (b) ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES.—Section 102(a) of 9 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 10 is amended by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(9) With respect to any such report filed by 12 the President or Vice President, for any corporation, 13 company, firm, partnership, or other business enter- 14 prise in which the President, Vice President, or the 15 spouse or dependent child of the President or Vice 16 President, has a significant financial interest— 17 ‘‘(A) the name of each other person who 18 holds a significant financial interest in the firm, 19 partnership, association, corporation, or other 20 entity; 21 ‘‘(B) the value, identity, and category of 22 each liability in excess of $10,000; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1481.IH H1481 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1481 IH ‘‘(C) a description of the nature and value 1 of any assets with a value of $10,000 or 2 more.’’. 3 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 120 days after 4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of- 5 fice of Government Ethics shall promulgate regulations to 6 define the criteria required by section 701(a)(1) of the 7 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (as added subsection 8 (a)) and the term ‘‘significant financial interest’’ for pur- 9 poses of section 102(a)(9) of the Ethics in Government 10 Act (as added by subsection (b)). 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1481.IH H1481 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS