To require certain officers and employees in the executive branch of the Federal Government to divest certain financial interests, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7581 To require certain officers and employees in the executive branch of the Federal Government to divest certain financial interests, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 13, 2020 Mr. CICILLINE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To require certain officers and employees in the executive branch of the Federal Government to divest certain fi- nancial interests, 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. DIVESTITURE OF CERTAIN FINANCIAL INTER- 3 ESTS OF FEDERAL OFFICERS AND EMPLOY- 4 EES AND SPOUSES. 5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 6 (1) the term ‘‘covered significant business inter- 7 est’’— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:14 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7581.IH H7581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7581 IH (A) means any financial interest of a cov- 1 ered officer or employee in a corporation, com- 2 pany, association, firm, partnership, proprietor- 3 ship, or any other business entity of which the 4 covered officer or employee is— 5 (i) a trustee; 6 (ii) a partner; 7 (iii) an officer; 8 (iv) a director; or 9 (v) a shareholder who holds more than 10 10 percent of any class of equity securities; 11 and 12 (B) does not include any financial interest 13 consisting of obligations issued by the Treasury, 14 diversified mutual funds that qualify for a regu- 15 latory exemption, or residential property that is 16 not held for the production of rental or other 17 income; 18 (2) the terms ‘‘conflict-free holding’’ and 19 ‘‘qualified blind trust’’ have the meanings given 20 those terms in sections 102(f)(3) and 102(f)(8), re- 21 spectively, of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 22 (5 U.S.C. App.); and 23 (3) the term ‘‘covered officer or employee’’ 24 means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:14 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7581.IH H7581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7581 IH (A) any individual occupying a position— 1 (i) listed under the Executive Sched- 2 ule (subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 5, 3 United States Code); 4 (ii) in the Senior Executive Service as 5 a noncareer appointee (as that term is de- 6 fined in section 3132(a) if such title); 7 (iii) of a confidential or policy-deter- 8 mining character under schedule C of sub- 9 part C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Fed- 10 eral Regulations; or 11 (iv) in the executive branch whose ap- 12 pointment is made by the President, by 13 and with the advice and consent of the 14 Senate; and 15 (B) any individual occupying any of the 16 following positions: 17 (i) Assistant to the President for Na- 18 tional Security Affairs. 19 (ii) Assistant to the President and 20 Chief of Staff. 21 (iii) Assistant to the President and 22 Deputy Chief of Staff. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:14 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7581.IH H7581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7581 IH (iv) Assistant to the President and 1 Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications 2 (or Director of Communications). 3 (v) Assistant to the President and 4 Press Secretary. 5 (vi) Senior Advisor to the President. 6 (vii) Assistant to the President and 7 Staff Secretary. 8 (viii) Assistant to the President for 9 Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. 10 (ix) Assistant to the President and 11 Counselor to the President. 12 (x) Director of the National Economic 13 Council. 14 (xi) Director of the Domestic Policy 15 Council. 16 (xii) Assistant to the President and 17 Chief of Staff or Deputy Chief of Staff to 18 the Vice President. 19 (xiii) Special Assistant to the Presi- 20 dent and Director of Communications for 21 the Vice President. 22 (xiv) Press Secretary to the Vice 23 President. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:14 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7581.IH H7581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7581 IH (xv) Senior Advisor to the Vice Presi- 1 dent. 2 (xvi) Deputy Assistant to the Presi- 3 dent and National Security Advisor or 4 Deputy National Security Advisor to the 5 Vice President. 6 (xvii) Deputy Assistant to the Presi- 7 dent and Counselor to the Vice President. 8 (xviii) Assistant to the President and 9 White House Counsel. 10 (b) DIVESTITURE OF COVERED SIGNIFICANT BUSI- 11 NESS INTEREST.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—A covered officer or em- 13 ployee or the spouse of any such officer or employee 14 shall divest of any covered significant business inter- 15 est by transferring such interest to a qualified blind 16 trust. 17 (2) TRUSTEE DUTIES.—Within a reasonable pe- 18 riod of time after the date a covered significant busi- 19 ness interest is transferred to a qualified blind trust 20 under paragraph (1), the trustee of the qualified 21 blind trust shall— 22 (A) sell the interest; and 23 (B) use the proceeds of the sale of the in- 24 terest to purchase conflict-free holdings. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:14 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7581.IH H7581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7581 IH (c) ENFORCEMENT.—The Attorney General, the at- 1 torney general of any State, or any person aggrieved by 2 any violation of subsection (b) may seek declaratory or in- 3 junctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction if there 4 is probable cause to believe that a covered officer or em- 5 ployee or the spouse of such an officer or employee has 6 not complied with such subsection. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:14 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7581.IH H7581 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS