Protecting Our Democracy Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4880 To protect our democracy by preventing abuses of Presidential power, restor- ing checks and balances and accountability and transparency in govern- ment, and defending elections against foreign interference, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 26 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. COONS, Mrs. FEIN- STEIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WYDEN) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To protect our democracy by preventing abuses of Presi- dential power, restoring checks and balances and ac- countability and transparency in government, and de- fending elections against foreign interference, 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 ‘‘Protecting Our Democ- 4 racy Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4880 IS SEC. 2. ORGANIZATION OF ACT INTO DIVISIONS; TABLE OF 1 CONTENTS. 2 (a) DIVISIONS.—This Act is organized into divisions 3 as follows: 4 (1) Division A—Preventing Abuses of Presi- 5 dential Power. 6 (2) Division B—Restoring Checks and Bal- 7 ances, Accountability, and Transparency. 8 (3) Division C—Defending Elections Against 9 Foreign Interference. 10 (4) Division D—Severability. 11 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 12 this Act is as follows: 13 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Organization of Act into divisions; table of contents. DIVISION A—PREVENTING ABUSES OF PRESIDENTIAL POWER TITLE I—ABUSE OF THE PARDON POWER PREVENTION Sec. 101. Short title. Sec. 102. Congressional oversight relating to certain pardons. Sec. 103. Bribery in connection with pardons and commutations. Sec. 104. Prohibition on Presidential self-pardon. TITLE II—ENSURING NO PRESIDENT IS ABOVE THE LAW Sec. 201. Short title. Sec. 202. Tolling of statute of limitations. TITLE III—ENFORCEMENT OF THE FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC EMOLUMENTS CLAUSES OF THE CONSTITUTION Sec. 301. Short title. Sec. 302. Definitions. Sec. 303. Prohibition on acceptance of foreign and domestic emoluments. Sec. 304. Civil actions by Congress concerning foreign emoluments. Sec. 305. Disclosures concerning foreign and domestic emoluments. Sec. 306. Enforcement authority of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. Sec. 307. Jurisdiction of the Office of Special Counsel. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4880 IS DIVISION B—RESTORING CHECKS AND BALANCES, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND TRANSPARENCY TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS Sec. 401. Short title. Sec. 402. Findings. Sec. 403. Enforcement of congressional subpoenas. Sec. 404. Compliance with congressional subpoenas. Sec. 405. Rule of construction. TITLE V—REASSERTING CONGRESSIONAL POWER OF THE PURSE Sec. 500. Short title. Subtitle A—Strengthening Congressional Control and Review To Prevent Impoundment Sec. 501. Strengthening congressional control. Sec. 502. Strengthening congressional review. Sec. 503. Updated authorities for and reporting by the Comptroller General. Sec. 504. Advance congressional notification and litigation. Sec. 505. Penalties for failure to comply with the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Subtitle B—Strengthening Transparency and Reporting PART 1—FUNDS MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING TO THE CONGRESS Sec. 511. Expired balance reporting in the President’s budget. Sec. 512. Canceled balance reporting in the President’s budget. Sec. 513. Lapse in appropriations—Reporting in the President’s budget. Sec. 514. Transfer and other repurposing authority reporting in the President’s budget. Sec. 515. Authorizing cancellations in indefinite accounts by appropriation. PART 2—EMPOWERING CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW THROUGH NONPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL AGENCIES AND TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVES Sec. 521. Requirement to respond to requests for information from the Govern- ment Accountability Office for budget and appropriations law decisions. Sec. 522. Reporting requirements for Antideficiency Act violations. Sec. 523. Department of Justice reporting to Congress for Antideficiency Act violations. Sec. 524. Publication of budget or appropriations law opinions of the Depart- ment of Justice Office of Legal Counsel. Subtitle C—Strengthening Congressional Role in and Oversight of Emergency Declarations and Designations Sec. 531. Improving checks and balances on the use of the National Emer- gencies Act. Sec. 532. National Emergencies Act declaration spending reporting in the President’s budget. Sec. 533. Disclosure to Congress of Presidential emergency action documents. Sec. 534. Emergency and overseas contingency operations designations by Con- gress in statute. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4880 IS TITLE VI—SECURITY FROM POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN JUSTICE Sec. 601. Short title. Sec. 602. Definitions. Sec. 603. Communications logs. Sec. 604. Rule of construction. TITLE VII—PROTECTING INSPECTOR GENERAL INDEPENDENCE Subtitle A—Requiring Cause for Removal Sec. 701. Short title. Sec. 702. Amendment. Subtitle B—Inspectors General of Intelligence Community Sec. 711. Independence of Inspectors General of the Intelligence Community. Sec. 712. Authority of Inspectors General of the Intelligence Community to de- termine matters of urgent concern. Sec. 713. Conforming amendments and coordination with other provisions of law. Subtitle C—Congressional Notification Sec. 721. Short title. Sec. 722. Congressional notification of change in status of Inspector General. Sec. 723. Presidential explanation of failure to nominate an Inspector General. TITLE VIII—PROTECTING WHISTLEBLOWERS Subtitle A—Whistleblower Protection Improvement Sec. 801. Short title. Sec. 802. Additional whistleblower protections. Sec. 803. Enhancement of whistleblower protections. Sec. 804. Classifying certain furloughs as adverse personnel actions. Sec. 805. Codification of protections for disclosures of censorship related to re- search, analysis, or technical information. Sec. 806. Technical and conforming amendments. Subtitle B—Reauthorization of Merit Systems Protection Board Sec. 811. Short title. Sec. 812. Reauthorization of Merit Systems Protection Board. Sec. 813. Authorization of Federal employee surveys for merit systems studies. Sec. 814. Whistleblower training for MSPB administrative judges. Subtitle C—Whistleblowers of the Intelligence Community Sec. 821. Limitation on sharing of intelligence community whistleblower com- plaints with persons named in such complaints. Sec. 822. Disclosures to Congress. Sec. 823. Prohibition against disclosure of whistleblower identity as reprisal against whistleblower disclosure by employees and contractors in intelligence community. TITLE IX—ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ACTING OFFICIALS VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4880 IS Sec. 901. Short title. Sec. 902. Clarification of Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. TITLE X—STRENGTHENING HATCH ACT ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES Sec. 1001. Short title. Sec. 1002. Strengthening Hatch Act enforcement and penalties against political appointees. DIVISION C—DEFENDING ELECTIONS AGAINST FOREIGN INTERFERENCE TITLE XI—REPORTING FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS Sec. 1101. Federal campaign reporting of foreign contacts. Sec. 1102. Federal campaign foreign contact reporting compliance system. Sec. 1103. Criminal penalties. Sec. 1104. Report to congressional intelligence committees. Sec. 1105. Rule of construction. TITLE XII—ELIMINATING FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS Sec. 1201. Clarification of application of foreign money ban. Sec. 1202. Requiring acknowledgment of foreign money ban by political com- mittees. DIVISION D—SEVERABILITY TITLE XIII—SEVERABILITY Sec. 1301. Severability. DIVISION A—PREVENTING 1 ABUSES OF PRESIDENTIAL 2 POWER 3 TITLE I—ABUSE OF THE PARDON 4 POWER PREVENTION 5 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 6 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Abuse of the Pardon 7 Power Prevention Act’’. 8 SEC. 102. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT RELATING TO CER- 9 TAIN PARDONS. 10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4880 IS (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 1 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 2 mittees’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 4 House of Representatives and the Committee 5 on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 6 (B) if an investigation relates to intel- 7 ligence or counterintelligence matters, the Per- 8 manent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 9 House of Representatives and the Select Com- 10 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate. 11 (2) COVERED OFFENSE.—The term ‘‘covered 12 offense’’ means— 13 (A) an offense against the United States 14 that arises from an investigation in which the 15 President, or a relative of the President, is a 16 target or subject; 17 (B) an offense under section 102 of the 18 Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 19 192); or 20 (C) an offense under section 1001, 1505, 21 1512, or 1621 of title 18, United States Code, 22 if the offense occurred in relation to a congres- 23 sional proceeding or investigation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4880 IS (3) PARDON.—The term ‘‘pardon’’ includes a 1 commutation of sentence. 2 (4) RELATIVE.—The term ‘‘relative’’ has the 3 meaning given that term in section 3110(a) of title 4 5, United States Code. 5 (b) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—If the President 6 grants an individual a pardon for a covered offense, not 7 later than 30 days after the date of such pardon— 8 (1) the Attorney General shall submit to the 9 chairmen and ranking minority members of the ap- 10 propriate congressional committees— 11 (A) all materials obtained or produced by 12 the prosecution team, including the Attorney 13 General and any United States Attorney, and 14 all materials obtained or prepared by any inves- 15 tigative agency of the United States Govern- 16 ment, relating to the offense for which the indi- 17 vidual was so pardoned; and 18 (B) all materials obtained or produced by 19 the Department of Justice in relation to the 20 pardon; and 21 (2) the President shall submit to the chairmen 22 and ranking minority members of the appropriate 23 congressional committees all materials obtained or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4880 IS produced within the Executive Office of the Presi- 1 dent in relation to the pardon. 2 (c) TREATMENT OF INFORMATION.—Rule 6(e) of the 3 Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure shall not be con- 4 strued to prohibit the disclosure of information required 5 under subsection (b). 6 SEC. 103. BRIBERY IN CONNECTION WITH PARDONS AND 7 COMMUTATIONS. 8 Section 201 of title 18, United States Code, is 9 amended— 10 (1) in subsection (a)— 11 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, in- 12 cluding the President and the Vice President of 13 the United States,’’ after ‘‘or an officer or em- 14 ployee or person’’; and 15 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting before 16 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, including 17 any pardon, commutation, or reprieve, or an 18 offer of any such pardon, commutation, or re- 19 prieve’’; and 20 (2) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting ‘‘(includ- 21 ing, for purposes of this paragraph, any pardon, 22 commutation, or reprieve, or an offer of any such 23 pardon, commutation, or reprieve)’’ after ‘‘corruptly 24 gives, offers, or promises anything of value’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4880 IS SEC. 104. PROHIBITION ON PRESIDENTIAL SELF-PARDON. 1 If the President grants a pardon to himself or herself, 2 the pardon— 3 (1) shall be void and have no effect; and 4 (2) shall not— 5 (A) deprive the courts of jurisdiction; or 6 (B) operate to confer on the President any 7 legal immunity from investigation or prosecu- 8 tion. 9 TITLE II—ENSURING NO 10 PRESIDENT IS ABOVE THE LAW 11 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 12 This title may be cited as the ‘‘No President is Above 13 the Law Act’’. 14 SEC. 202. TOLLING OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. 15 (a) OFFENSES COMMITTED BY THE PRESIDENT OR 16 VICE PRESIDENT DURING OR PRIOR TO TENURE IN OF- 17 FICE.—Section 3282 of title 18, United States Code, is 18 amended by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(c) OFFENSES COMMITTED BY THE PRESIDENT OR 20 VICE PRESIDENT DURING OR PRIOR TO TENURE IN OF- 21 FICE.—In the case of any person serving as President or 22 Vice President of the United States, the duration of that 23 person’s tenure in office shall not be considered for pur- 24 poses of any statute of limitations applicable to any Fed- 25 eral criminal offense committed by that person (including 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4880 IS any offenses committed during any period of time pre- 1 ceding such tenure in office).’’. 2 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub- 3 section (a) shall apply to any offense committed before the 4 date of the enactment of this section, if the statute of limi- 5 tations applicable to that offense had not run as of such 6 date. 7 TITLE III—ENFORCEMENT OF 8 THE FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC 9 EMOLUMENTS CLAUSES OF 10 THE CONSTITUTION 11 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 12 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign and Domestic 13 Emoluments Enforcement Act’’. 14 SEC. 302. DEFINITIONS. 15 In this title: 16 (1) EMOLUMENT.—The term ‘‘emolument’’— 17 (A) means any profit, gain, or advantage 18 that is received directly or indirectly from— 19 (i) any government of a foreign coun- 20 try; 21 (ii) the Federal Government; 22 (iii) any State or local government; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Nov 13, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4880.IS S4880 SSpencer [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]