End the Congressional Revolving Door Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3326 To provide that a former Member of Congress or former senior Congressional employee who receives compensation as a lobbyist shall not be eligible for retirement benefits or certain other Federal benefits. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 18, 2019 Mr. POSEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide that a former Member of Congress or former senior Congressional employee who receives compensation as a lobbyist shall not be eligible for retirement benefits or certain other Federal benefits. 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 ‘‘End the Congressional 4 Revolving Door Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.IH H3326 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3326 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION RELATING TO CERTAIN FEDERAL 1 BENEFITS FOR A FORMER MEMBER OF CON- 2 GRESS OR FORMER SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL 3 EMPLOYEE WHO RECEIVES COMPENSATION 4 AS A LOBBYIST. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—A covered individual who is a reg- 6 istered lobbyist shall not be eligible for any covered bene- 7 fits for any month— 8 (1) which begins after the date of the enact- 9 ment of this Act; and 10 (2) in or for which such covered individual is— 11 (A) employed as a lobbyist; and 12 (B) entitled to compensation as a lobbyist. 13 (b) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 14 section, the term ‘‘covered individual’’ means an individual 15 who becomes a former Member of Congress or a former 16 senior Congressional employee after the date of the enact- 17 ment of this Act. 18 (c) COVERED BENEFITS.—For purposes of this sec- 19 tion, the term ‘‘covered benefits’’, as used with respect to 20 a covered individual, means any payment or other benefit 21 which is payable, by virtue of service performed by such 22 covered individual, under any of the following: 23 (1) The Civil Service Retirement System, in- 24 cluding the Thrift Savings Plan. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.IH H3326 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3326 IH (2) The Federal Employees’ Retirement Sys- 1 tem, including the Thrift Savings Plan. 2 (3) The Federal Employees’ Health Benefits 3 Program, including enhanced dental benefits and en- 4 hanced vision benefits under chapters 89A and 89B, 5 respectively, of title 5, United States Code. 6 (4) The Federal Employees’ Group Life Insur- 7 ance Program. 8 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 9 (1) the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means a 10 Senator, Member of the House of Representatives, 11 or Delegate to the House of Representatives, and 12 the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico; 13 (2) the term ‘‘senior Congressional employee’’ 14 means— 15 (A) each officer or employee of the legisla- 16 tive branch (except any officer or employee of 17 the Government Accountability Office) who, for 18 at least 60 days, occupies a position for which 19 the rate of basic pay is equal to or greater than 20 120 percent of the minimum rate of basic pay 21 payable for GS–15 of the General Schedule; 22 (B) each officer or employee of the Govern- 23 ment Accountability Office who, for at least 60 24 consecutive days, occupies a position for which 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.IH H3326 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3326 IH the rate of basic pay, minus the amount of lo- 1 cality pay that would have been authorized 2 under section 5304 of title 5, United States 3 Code (had the officer or employee been paid 4 under the General Schedule) for the locality 5 within which the position of such officer or em- 6 ployee is located (as determined by the Comp- 7 troller General), is equal to or greater than 120 8 percent of the minimum rate of basic pay pay- 9 able for GS–15 of the General Schedule; and 10 (C) at least one principal assistant des- 11 ignated for purposes of this paragraph by each 12 Member who does not have an employee who 13 occupies a position for which the rate of basic 14 pay is equal to or greater than 120 percent of 15 the minimum rate of basic pay payable for GS– 16 15 of the General Schedule; 17 (3) the term ‘‘registered lobbyist’’ means— 18 (A) a lobbyist registered or required to 19 register, or on whose behalf a registration is 20 filed or required to be filed, under section 4 of 21 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 22 1603); and 23 (B) an individual registered or required to 24 register as the agent of a foreign principal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3326.IH H3326 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3326 IH under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.); and 2 (4) the term ‘‘lobbyist’’ has the meaning given 3 such term by section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure 4 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602). 5 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 6 tion shall be considered to prevent the payment of— 7 (1) any lump-sum credit, as defined by section 8 8331(8) or 8401(19) of title 5, United States Code, 9 to which an individual is entitled; or 10 (2) any amount in the account of an individual 11 in the Thrift Savings Fund which, as of the date on 12 which paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) are 13 first met with respect to such individual, is non- 14 forfeitable. 15 (f) REGULATIONS.—Any regulations necessary to 16 carry out this section may be prescribed— 17 (1) except as provided in paragraph (2), by the 18 Director of the Office of Personnel Management; 19 and 20 (2) to the extent that this Act relates to the 21 Thrift Savings Plan, by the Executive Director (as 22 defined by section 8401(13) of title 5, United States 23 Code). 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3326.IH H3326 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS