Drain the Swamp and the President’s Assets Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2027 To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require the President to place any financial conflicts of interest into a blind trust, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 2, 2019 Mr. ESPAILLAT 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 to place any financial conflicts of interest into a blind trust, 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 ‘‘Drain the Swamp and 4 the President’s Assets Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2027.IH H2027 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2027 IH SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF PRESIDENT’S FINANCIAL CON- 1 FLICTS OF INTEREST INTO BLIND TRUST. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Ethics in Govern- 3 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 101 et seq.) is amended 4 by inserting after section 111 the following: 5 ‘‘§ 112. The President: placement of financial conflicts 6 of interest into blind trust 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 30 8 days after the date that the President first assumes office, 9 the President may not hold any asset that would otherwise 10 be considered a disqualifying financial interest under sec- 11 tion 208 of title 18, United States Code, if the President 12 were subject to such section. 13 ‘‘(b) BLIND TRUST.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may place 15 any asset covered by subsection (a) into a blind trust 16 (as that term is defined in section 102(f)(3)). 17 ‘‘(2) DIVESTITURE.—Not later than 30 days 18 after any such asset is placed in a blind trust, the 19 trustee or other entity who is involved in the man- 20 agement or control of the blind trust shall divest the 21 blind trust of such asset.’’. 22 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub- 23 section (a) shall apply to any President assuming office 24 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2027.IH H2027 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2027 IH SEC. 3. VIOLATIONS. 1 A violation of the amendment made by this Act shall 2 constitute a high crime and misdemeanor for the purposes 3 of article II, section 4 of the Constitution of the United 4 States. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:07 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2027.IH H2027 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS