Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 882 To address financial conflicts of interest of the President and Vice President. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 26, 2019 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEIN- STEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. UDALL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To address financial conflicts of interest of the President and Vice President. 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 Conflicts 4 of Interest Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 882 IS 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) DEFINITIONS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this section— 6 (A) the term ‘‘conflict-free holding’’ means 7 a financial interest described in section 8 102(f)(8) of the Ethics in Government Act of 9 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); 10 (B) the term ‘‘financial interest posing a 11 potential conflict of interest’’ means a financial 12 interest of the President, the Vice President, 13 the spouse of the President or Vice President, 14 or a minor child of the President or Vice Presi- 15 dent, as applicable, that— 16 (i) would constitute a financial inter- 17 est described in subsection (a) of section 18 208 of title 18, United States Code— 19 (I) if— 20 (aa) for purposes of such 21 section 208, the terms ‘‘officer’’ 22 and ‘‘employee’’ included the 23 President and the Vice President; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 882 IS (bb) the President or Vice 1 President, as applicable, partici- 2 pated as described in subsection 3 (a) of such section 208 in rela- 4 tion to such financial interest; 5 and 6 (II) determined without regard to 7 any exception under subsection (b) of 8 such section 208; or 9 (ii) may constitute a present, emolu- 10 ment, office, or title, of any kind whatever, 11 from any king, prince, or foreign state (in- 12 cluding from an entity owned or controlled 13 by a foreign government), within the 14 meaning of article I, section 9 of the Con- 15 stitution of the United States; 16 (C) the term ‘‘qualified blind trust’’ has 17 the meaning given that term in section 18 102(f)(3) of the Ethics in Government Act of 19 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), unless otherwise speci- 20 fied in this Act; and 21 (D) the term ‘‘tax return’’— 22 (i) means any Federal income tax re- 23 turn and any amendment or supplement 24 thereto, including supporting schedules, at- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 882 IS tachments, or lists which are supplemental 1 to, or part of, the return for the taxable 2 year; and 3 (ii) includes any information return 4 that reports information that does or may 5 affect the liability for tax for the taxable 6 year. 7 (2) APPLICABILITY OF ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT 8 ACT OF 1978.—For purposes of the definition of 9 ‘‘qualified blind trust’’ in this section, the term ‘‘su- 10 pervising ethics officer’’ in section 102(f)(3) of the 11 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 12 means the Director of the Office of Government 13 Ethics. 14 (b) INITIAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.— 15 (1) SUBMISSION OF DISCLOSURE.— 16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 17 after assuming the office of President or Vice 18 President, respectively, the President and Vice 19 President shall submit to Congress and the Di- 20 rector of the Office of Government Ethics a dis- 21 closure of financial interests. 22 (B) APPLICATION TO SITTING PRESIDENT 23 AND VICE PRESIDENT.—For any individual who 24 is serving as the President or Vice President on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 882 IS the date of enactment of this Act, the disclosure 1 of financial interests shall be submitted to Con- 2 gress and the Director of the Office of Govern- 3 ment Ethics not later than 30 days after the 4 date of enactment of this Act. 5 (2) CONTENTS.— 6 (A) PRESIDENT.—The disclosure of finan- 7 cial interests submitted under paragraph (1) by 8 the President shall— 9 (i) describe in detail each financial in- 10 terest of the President, the spouse of the 11 President, or a minor child of the Presi- 12 dent; 13 (ii) at a minimum, include the infor- 14 mation relating to each such financial in- 15 terest that is required for reports under 16 section 102 of the Ethics in Government 17 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); and 18 (iii) include the tax returns filed by or 19 on behalf of the President for— 20 (I) the 3 most recent taxable 21 years; and 22 (II) each taxable year for which 23 an audit of the return by the Internal 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 882 IS Revenue Service is pending on the 1 date the report is filed. 2 (B) VICE PRESIDENT.—The disclosure of 3 financial interests submitted under paragraph 4 (1) by the Vice President shall— 5 (i) describe in detail each financial in- 6 terest of the Vice President, the spouse of 7 the Vice President, or a minor child of the 8 Vice President; 9 (ii) at a minimum, include the infor- 10 mation relating to each such financial in- 11 terest that is required for reports under 12 section 102 of the Ethics in Government 13 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); and 14 (iii) include the tax returns filed by or 15 on behalf of the Vice President for— 16 (I) the 3 most recent taxable 17 years; and 18 (II) each taxable year for which 19 an audit of the return by the Internal 20 Revenue Service is pending on the 21 date the report is filed. 22 (c) DIVESTITURE OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS POSING 23 A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 882 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The President, the Vice 1 President, the spouse of the President or Vice Presi- 2 dent, and any minor child of the President or Vice 3 President shall divest of any financial interest posing 4 a potential conflict of interest by transferring such 5 interest to a qualified blind trust. 6 (2) TRUSTEE DUTIES.—Within a reasonable pe- 7 riod of time after the date a financial interest is 8 transferred to a qualified blind trust under para- 9 graph (1), the trustee of the qualified blind trust 10 shall— 11 (A) sell the financial interest; and 12 (B) use the proceeds of the sale of the fi- 13 nancial interest to purchase conflict-free hold- 14 ings. 15 (d) REVIEW BY OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 17 Government Ethics shall submit to Congress, the 18 President, and the Vice President an annual report 19 regarding the financial interests of the President, 20 the Vice President, the spouse of the President or 21 Vice President, and any minor child of the President 22 or Vice President. 23 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 24 paragraph (1) shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 882 IS (A) indicate whether any financial interest 1 of the President, the Vice President, the spouse 2 of the President or Vice President, or a minor 3 child of the President or Vice President is a fi- 4 nancial interest posing a potential conflict of in- 5 terest; 6 (B) evaluate whether any previously held 7 financial interest of the President, the Vice 8 President, the spouse of the President or Vice 9 President, or a minor child of the President or 10 Vice President that was a financial interest pos- 11 ing a potential conflict of interest was divested 12 in accordance with subsection (c); and 13 (C) redact such information as the Direc- 14 tor of the Office of Government Ethics deter- 15 mines necessary for preventing identity theft, 16 such as social security numbers or taxpayer 17 identification numbers. 18 (e) ENFORCEMENT.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, the 20 attorney general of any State, or any person ag- 21 grieved by any violation of subsection (c) may seek 22 declaratory or injunctive relief in a court of com- 23 petent jurisdiction if— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 882 IS (A) the Director of the Office of Govern- 1 ment Ethics is unable to issue a report indi- 2 cating whether the President or the Vice Presi- 3 dent is in substantial compliance with sub- 4 section (c); or 5 (B) there is probable cause to believe that 6 the President or the Vice President has not 7 complied with subsection (c). 8 (2) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—In granting injunc- 9 tive relief to the plaintiff, the court shall ensure that 10 any divestment procedure shall ensure the fair mar- 11 ket return for any asset that is liquidated. 12 SEC. 3. RECUSAL OF APPOINTEES. 13 Section 208 of title 18, United States Code, is 14 amended by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(e)(1) Any officer or employee appointed by the 16 President shall recuse himself or herself from any par- 17 ticular matter involving specific parties in which a party 18 to that matter is— 19 ‘‘(A) the President who appointed the officer or 20 employee, which shall include any entity in which the 21 President has a substantial interest; or 22 ‘‘(B) the spouse of the President who appointed 23 the officer or employee, which shall include any enti- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 882 IS ty in which the spouse of the President has a sub- 1 stantial interest. 2 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), if an officer or 3 employee is recused under paragraph (1), a career ap- 4 pointee in the agency of the officer or employee shall per- 5 form the functions and duties of the officer or employee 6 with respect to the matter. 7 ‘‘(B)(i) In this subparagraph, the term ‘Commission’ 8 means a board, commission, or other agency for which the 9 authority of the agency is vested in more than 1 member. 10 ‘‘(ii) If the recusal of a member of a Commission 11 from a matter under paragraph (1) would result in there 12 not being a statutorily required quorum of members of the 13 Commission available to participate in the matter, not- 14 withstanding such statute or any other provision of law, 15 the members of the Commission not recused under para- 16 graph (1) may— 17 ‘‘(I) consider the matter without regard to the 18 quorum requirement under such statute; 19 ‘‘(II) delegate the authorities and responsibil- 20 ities of the Commission with respect to the matter 21 to a subcommittee of the Commission; or 22 ‘‘(III) designate an officer or employee of the 23 Commission who was not appointed by the President 24 who appointed the member of the Commission 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 882 IS recused from the matter to exercise the authorities 1 and duties of the recused member with respect to 2 the matter. 3 ‘‘(3) Any officer or employee who negligently violates 4 paragraph (1) shall be subject to the penalties set forth 5 in section 216. 6 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this section, the term ‘particular 7 matter’ shall have the meaning given the term in section 8 207(i).’’. 9 SEC. 4. CONTRACTS BY THE PRESIDENT OR VICE PRESI- 10 DENT. 11 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 431 of title 18, United 12 States Code, is amended— 13 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘the 14 President, Vice President, or a’’ after 15 ‘‘Contracts by’’; and 16 (2) in the first undesignated paragraph, by in- 17 serting ‘‘the President or Vice President,’’ after 18 ‘‘Whoever, being’’. 19 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The table of 20 sections for chapter 23 of title 18, United States Code, 21 is amended by striking the item relating to section 431 22 and inserting the following: 23 ‘‘431. Contracts by the President, Vice President, or a Member of Congress.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 882 IS SEC. 5. PRESIDENTIAL TAX TRANSPARENCY. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Ethics in Govern- 2 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 3 (1) by inserting after section 102 the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 102A. DISCLOSURE OF TAX RETURNS. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 6 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered candidate’ means an in- 7 dividual— 8 ‘‘(A) required to file a report under section 9 101(c); and 10 ‘‘(B) who is nominated by a major party 11 as a candidate for the office of President; and 12 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered individual’ means— 13 ‘‘(A) a President required to file a report 14 under subsection (a) or (d) of section 101; and 15 ‘‘(B) an individual who occupies the office 16 of the President required to file a report under 17 section 101(e); 18 ‘‘(3) the term ‘major party’ has the meaning 19 given the term in section 9002 of the Internal Rev- 20 enue Code of 1986; and 21 ‘‘(4) the term ‘income tax return’ means, with 22 respect to any covered candidate or covered indi- 23 vidual, any return (within the meaning of section 24 6103(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:55 Apr 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S882.IS S882 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 882 IS lated to Federal income taxes, but does not in- 1 clude— 2 ‘‘(A) information returns issued to persons 3 other than such covered candidate or covered 4 individual, and 5 ‘‘(B) declarations of estimated tax. 6 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE.— 7 ‘‘(1) COVERED INDIVIDUALS.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the in- 9 format [Text truncated for display. 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