II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1486 To address financial conflicts of interest of the President and Vice President. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 9, 2023 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. STABENOW, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BENNET, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. COONS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LUJA´N, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To address financial conflicts of interest of the President and Vice President. 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 ‘‘Presidential Conflicts 4 of Interest Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1486 IS SEC. 2. DIVESTITURE OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL INTERESTS 1 OF THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT 2 THAT POSE A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF IN- 3 TEREST. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this section— 6 (A) the term ‘‘conflict-free holding’’ means 7 an interest in a widely held investment fund 8 (whether such fund is a mutual fund, regulated 9 investment company, pension or deferred com- 10 pensation plan, or other investment fund) 11 that— 12 (i) is diversified (as defined in section 13 2640.102 of title 5, Code of Federal Regu- 14 lations, as in effect on the date of enact- 15 ment of this Act); and 16 (ii) is— 17 (I) publicly traded; 18 (II) registered as a management 19 company under the Investment Com- 20 pany Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–1 et 21 seq.); or 22 (III) a unit investment trust (as 23 defined in section 4 of the Investment 24 Company Act of 1940 15 U.S.C. 80a– 25 4) that is a regulated investment com- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1486 IS pany under section 851 of the Inter- 1 nal Revenue Code of 1986; 2 (B) the term ‘‘financial interest posing a 3 potential conflict of interest’’ means a financial 4 interest of the President, the Vice President, 5 the spouse of the President or Vice President, 6 or a minor child of the President or Vice Presi- 7 dent, as applicable, that— 8 (i) would constitute a financial inter- 9 est described in subsection (a) of section 10 208 of title 18, United States Code— 11 (I) if— 12 (aa) for purposes of such 13 section 208, the terms ‘‘officer’’ 14 and ‘‘employee’’ included the 15 President and the Vice President; 16 and 17 (bb) the President or Vice 18 President, as applicable, partici- 19 pated in a particular matter af- 20 fecting such financial interest; 21 and 22 (II) determined without regard to 23 any exception under subsection (b)(1) 24 of such section 208; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1486 IS (ii) constitutes a present, emolument, 1 office, or title, of any kind whatever, from 2 any king, prince, or foreign state (includ- 3 ing from an entity owned or controlled by 4 a foreign government), within the meaning 5 of article I, section 9 of the Constitution of 6 the United States; 7 (C) the term ‘‘qualified blind trust’’ has 8 the meaning given that term in section 9 13104(f)(3) of title 5, United States Code; and 10 (D) the term ‘‘tax return’’— 11 (i) means any Federal income tax re- 12 turn and any amendment or supplement 13 thereto, including supporting schedules, at- 14 tachments, or lists which are supplemental 15 to, or part of, the return for the taxable 16 year; and 17 (ii) includes any information return 18 that reports information that does or may 19 affect the liability for tax for the taxable 20 year. 21 (2) APPLICABILITY OF ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT 22 REQUIREMENTS.—For purposes of the definition of 23 ‘‘qualified blind trust’’ in this section, the term ‘‘su- 24 pervising ethics officer’’ in section 13104(f)(3) of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1486 IS title 5, United States Code, means the Director of 1 the Office of Government Ethics. 2 (b) INITIAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.— 3 (1) SUBMISSION OF DISCLOSURE.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 5 after assuming the office of President or Vice 6 President, respectively, the President and Vice 7 President shall submit to Congress and the Di- 8 rector of the Office of Government Ethics a dis- 9 closure of financial interests. 10 (B) APPLICATION TO SITTING PRESIDENT 11 AND VICE PRESIDENT.—For any individual who 12 is serving as the President or Vice President on 13 the date of enactment of this Act, the disclosure 14 of financial interests shall be submitted to Con- 15 gress and the Director of the Office of Govern- 16 ment Ethics not later than 30 days after the 17 date of enactment of this Act. 18 (2) CONTENTS.— 19 (A) PRESIDENT.—The disclosure of finan- 20 cial interests submitted under paragraph (1) by 21 the President shall— 22 (i) describe in detail each financial in- 23 terest of the President, the spouse of the 24 President, or a minor child of the Presi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1486 IS dent that is required to be disclosed under 1 regulations of the Office of Government 2 Ethics in addition to the financial interests 3 required to be disclosed under section 4 13104 of title 5, United States Code; and 5 (ii) include the tax returns filed by or 6 on behalf of the President for— 7 (I) the 3 most recent taxable 8 years; and 9 (II) each taxable year for which 10 an audit of the return by the Internal 11 Revenue Service is pending on the 12 date the report is filed. 13 (B) VICE PRESIDENT.—The disclosure of 14 financial interests submitted under paragraph 15 (1) by the Vice President shall— 16 (i) describe in detail each financial in- 17 terest of the Vice President, the spouse of 18 the Vice President, or a minor child of the 19 Vice President that is required to be dis- 20 closed under regulations of the Office of 21 Government Ethics in addition to the fi- 22 nancial interests required to be disclosed 23 under section 13104 of title 5, United 24 States Code; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1486 IS (ii) include the tax returns filed by or 1 on behalf of the Vice President for— 2 (I) the 3 most recent taxable 3 years; and 4 (II) each taxable year for which 5 an audit of the return by the Internal 6 Revenue Service is pending on the 7 date the report is filed. 8 (c) DIVESTITURE OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS POSING 9 A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President, the Vice 11 President, the spouse of the President or Vice Presi- 12 dent, and any minor child of the President or Vice 13 President shall divest of any financial interest posing 14 a potential conflict of interest by— 15 (A) converting each such interest to cash 16 or another investment that meets the criteria 17 established by the Director of the Office of Gov- 18 ernment Ethics through regulation as being an 19 interest so remote or inconsequential as not to 20 pose a conflict; or 21 (B) transferring such interest to a quali- 22 fied blind trust. 23 (2) TRUSTEE DUTIES.—Within a reasonable pe- 24 riod of time after the date a financial interest is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1486 IS transferred to a qualified blind trust under para- 1 graph (1)(B), the trustee of the qualified blind trust 2 shall— 3 (A) sell the financial interest; and 4 (B) use the proceeds of the sale of the fi- 5 nancial interest to purchase conflict-free hold- 6 ings. 7 (3) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 120 days 8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 9 of the Office of Government Ethics shall promulgate 10 regulations to define the criteria described in para- 11 graph (1)(A). 12 (d) REVIEW BY OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 14 Government Ethics shall submit to Congress, the 15 President, and the Vice President an annual report 16 regarding the financial interests of the President, 17 the Vice President, the spouse of the President or 18 Vice President, and any minor child of the President 19 or Vice President. 20 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 21 paragraph (1) shall— 22 (A) indicate whether any financial interest 23 of the President, the Vice President, the spouse 24 of the President or Vice President, or a minor 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1486 IS child of the President or Vice President is a fi- 1 nancial interest posing a potential conflict of in- 2 terest; 3 (B) evaluate whether any previously held 4 financial interest of the President, the Vice 5 President, the spouse of the President or Vice 6 President, or a minor child of the President or 7 Vice President that was a financial interest pos- 8 ing a potential conflict of interest was divested 9 in accordance with subsection (c); and 10 (C) redact such information as the Direc- 11 tor of the Office of Government Ethics deter- 12 mines necessary for preventing identity theft, 13 such as social security numbers or taxpayer 14 identification numbers. 15 (3) TRUSTEE RESPONSIBILITY.—If the Presi- 16 dent, the Vice President, the spouse of the President 17 or Vice President, or any minor child of the Presi- 18 dent or Vice President transfers 1 or more interests 19 to a qualified blind trust under subsection (c)(1)(B), 20 the trustee for the qualified blind trust shall assist 21 the Director in complying with paragraph (2)(B) of 22 this subsection by notifying the Director of the Of- 23 fice of Government Ethics when all initial property 24 of the qualified blind trust has been sold and fur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1486 IS nishing such other information as the Director may 1 require. 2 (e) ENFORCEMENT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, the 4 attorney general of any State, or any person ag- 5 grieved by any violation of subsection (c) may seek 6 declaratory or injunctive relief in a court of com- 7 petent jurisdiction if— 8 (A) the Director of the Office of Govern- 9 ment Ethics is unable to issue a report indi- 10 cating whether the President or the Vice Presi- 11 dent is in substantial compliance with sub- 12 section (c); or 13 (B) there is probable cause to believe that 14 the President or the Vice President has not 15 complied with subsection (c). 16 (2) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—In granting injunc- 17 tive relief to the plaintiff, the court shall ensure that 18 any divestment procedure is reasonably calculated to 19 ensure the fair market return for any asset that is 20 liquidated. 21 SEC. 3. RECUSAL OF APPOINTEES. 22 Section 208 of title 18, United States Code, is 23 amended by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1486 IS ‘‘(e)(1) Any officer or employee appointed by the 1 President shall recuse himself or herself from any par- 2 ticular matter involving specific parties in which a party 3 to that matter is— 4 ‘‘(A) the President who appointed the officer or 5 employee, which shall include any entity in which the 6 President has a substantial interest; or 7 ‘‘(B) the spouse of the President who appointed 8 the officer or employee, which shall include any enti- 9 ty in which the spouse of the President has a sub- 10 stantial interest. 11 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), if an officer or 12 employee is recused under paragraph (1), a career ap- 13 pointee in the agency of the officer or employee shall per- 14 form the functions and duties of the officer or employee 15 with respect to the matter. 16 ‘‘(B)(i) In this subparagraph, the term ‘Commission’ 17 means a board, commission, or other agency for which the 18 authority of the agency is vested in more than 1 member. 19 ‘‘(ii) If the recusal of a member of a Commission 20 from a matter under paragraph (1) would result in there 21 not being a statutorily required quorum of members of the 22 Commission available to participate in the matter, not- 23 withstanding such statute or any other provision of law, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1486 IS the members of the Commission not recused under para- 1 graph (1) may— 2 ‘‘(I) consider the matter without regard to the 3 quorum requirement under such statute; 4 ‘‘(II) delegate the authorities and responsibil- 5 ities of the Commission with respect to the matter 6 to a subcommittee of the Commission; or 7 ‘‘(III) designate an officer or employee of the 8 Commission who was not appointed by the President 9 who appointed the member of the Commission 10 recused from the matter to exercise the authorities 11 and duties of the recused member with respect to 12 the matter. 13 ‘‘(3) Any officer or employee who knowingly and will- 14 fully violates paragraph (1) shall be subject to the pen- 15 alties set forth in section 216. 16 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this section, the term ‘particular 17 matter’ shall have the meaning given the term in section 18 207(i).’’. 19 SEC. 4. CONTRACTS BY THE PRESIDENT OR VICE PRESI- 20 DENT. 21 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 431 of title 18, United 22 States Code, is amended— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 May 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1486.IS S1486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1486 IS (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘the 1 President, Vice President, or a’’ after 2 ‘‘Contracts by’’; and 3 (2) in the first undesignated paragraph, by in- 4 serting ‘‘the President or Vice President,’’ after 5 ‘‘Whoever, being’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]