Federal

Prohibition of Financial Trading on Government Property Act

Source: Congress.gov · 1,066 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill prohibits federal employees from buying or selling stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies and other investments while on government property. It also prevents federal employees from using government computers, phones or internet access to conduct any financial trading activities.

Who It Affects

Federal employees including the President, Members of Congress, Postal Service employees and certain Veterans Affairs employees. The bill excludes military members and Supreme Court justices.

Key Provisions

• Federal employees cannot conduct any financial trading activity (buying or selling investments) while physically on government property (Sec. 2(a)(1)) • Federal employees cannot use government-issued devices or resources like computers, internet access or phones to buy or sell investments (Sec. 2(a)(2)) • Employees whose job duties involve financial trading are exempt from this rule, as determined by their agency leader (Sec. 2(b)(1)(A)) • Employees can trade in their Thrift Savings Plan accounts (a government retirement plan) without violating this rule (Sec. 2(b)(1)(B)) • The President and Vice President are exempt from the rule about using government devices for trading (Sec. 2(b)(2)) • Violators can be fined up to the value of the trading activity or $1,000, whichever is greater (Sec. 2(c)(1)(A)) • People who knowingly violate this rule can be fined up to $5,000, imprisoned for up to 3 years, or both (Sec. 2(c)(1)(B)) • Agencies must report violations to their ethics office within 30 days (Sec. 2(d)(1))

What Changes

Federal employees will no longer be allowed to buy or sell investments while at government buildings or while using government technology. Violations can result in fines, jail time up to 3 years and job discipline including firing. Federal ethics offices will investigate violations and issue rules about what counts as a violation.

Important Definitions

• Federal employee: The President, Members of Congress, federal workers, Postal Service employees and certain Veterans Affairs employees (excludes military members and Supreme Court justices) • Federal property: Buildings, land or property owned or leased by the U.S. Government, but not national parks (except White House and President's Park), postal facilities, Indian Reservations, overseas property or border inspection facilities • Financial trading activity: Buying or selling stocks, bonds, commodities, futures, cryptocurrencies, other digital assets, securities, hedge fund interests, derivatives, options or other complex investment vehicles • Supervising ethics office: Not specified in bill text

Effective Date

The law takes effect 90 days after the President signs it into law (Sec. 2(g))

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2383 To prohibit Federal officers and employees from engaging in any financial trading activity while on Federal Government property, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 29, 2023 Ms. MACE (for herself and Ms. CRAIG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and in addi- tion to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prohibit Federal officers and employees from engaging in any financial trading activity while on Federal Govern- ment property, 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 ‘‘Prohibition of Finan- 4 cial Trading on Government Property Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:04 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2383.IH H2383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2383 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FINANCIAL TRADING ACTIVITY 1 WHILE ON GOVERNMENT PROPERTY OR 2 USING GOVERNMENT RESOURCES. 3 (a) PROHIBITION.—A Federal employee may not— 4 (1) conduct, participate in, or otherwise carry 5 out any financial trading activity while on Federal 6 property; or 7 (2) use any Government-issued devices or re- 8 sources, including computers, internet access, tele- 9 phones, or other electronic devices, for the purpose 10 of conducting, participating in, or otherwise carrying 11 out any financial trading activity. 12 (b) EXCEPTIONS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall not 14 apply to— 15 (A) any Federal employee if such employ- 16 ee’s official duties involve financial trading ac- 17 tivity, as determined by the head of the employ- 18 ing agency; and 19 (B) a Federal employee’s engagement in fi- 20 nancial trading activity is directly related to 21 their account under the Thrift Savings Plan. 22 (2) PRESIDENT; VICE PRESIDENT.—Subsection 23 (a)(2) shall not apply to the President or the Vice 24 President. 25 (c) PENALTIES.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:04 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2383.IH H2383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2383 IH (1) PENALTY.— 1 (A) An individual who violates this section 2 shall be fined not more than the value of the fi- 3 nancial trading activity, or $1,000, whichever is 4 greater. 5 (B) An individual who knowingly violates 6 this section shall be fined not more than 7 $5,000, imprisoned not more than 3 years, or 8 both. 9 (2) PERSONNEL ACTION.—Any individual found 10 to be in violation of this Act shall be subject to dis- 11 ciplinary action up to and including removal, as de- 12 termined by the head of the employing agency. 13 (d) REPORTING.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each employing agency shall 15 report any violation of this Act to the supervising 16 ethics office within 30 days after determining that 17 the violation has occurred. 18 (2) COMPLIANCE.—The supervising ethics office 19 shall have the authority to conduct investigations 20 and audits to ensure compliance with this Act. 21 (e) REGULATIONS.—Each supervising ethics office 22 shall issue regulations to implement this Act, including 23 guidelines for determining what constitutes a violation of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:04 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2383.IH H2383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2383 IH the Act, procedures for reporting violations, and penalties 1 under subsection (c)(1). 2 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 3 (1) the term ‘‘Federal employee’’— 4 (A) means— 5 (i) the President; 6 (ii) a Member of Congress (as that 7 term is defined in section 2106 of title 5, 8 United States Code); 9 (iii) an employee (as that term is de- 10 fined under section 2105 of such title); 11 (iv) an employee of the United States 12 Postal Service or Postal Regulatory Com- 13 mission; and 14 (v) notwithstanding section 7425(b) of 15 title 38, United States Code, an employee 16 appointed under chapter 73 or 74 of such 17 title 38; and 18 (B) does not include— 19 (i) any member of the uniformed serv- 20 ices (as that term is defined in section 21 2101 of title 5, United States Code); or 22 (ii) the Chief Justice of the United 23 States or any associate justice of the Su- 24 preme Court of the United States; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:04 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2383.IH H2383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2383 IH (2) the term ‘‘Federal property’’ means any 1 building, land, or other real property owned, leased, 2 or occupied by any department, agency, or instru- 3 mentality of the United States Government, but does 4 not include any— 5 (A) national park (but not including the 6 White House and President’s Park); 7 (B) facility of the United States Postal 8 Service; 9 (C) Indian Reservation (as that term is de- 10 fined in section 3 of the Indian Financing Act 11 of 1974); 12 (D) real property or facility owned by the 13 United States Government located outside the 14 United States and its territories; or 15 (E) Border Inspection Facilities; 16 (3) the term ‘‘financial trading activity’’ means 17 the buying or selling of any stock, bond, commodity, 18 future, cryptocurrency or other digital asset, or 19 other form of security, including an interest in a 20 hedge fund, a derivative, option, or other complex in- 21 vestment vehicle; and 22 (4) the term ‘‘supervising ethics office’’ has the 23 meaning given that term in section 13101 of title 5, 24 United States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:04 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2383.IH H2383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2383 IH (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall begin to take 1 effect 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:04 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2383.IH H2383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.