Executive Branch Accountability and Transparency Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3642 To require the Office of Government Ethics to establish and maintain a centralized database for executive branch ethics records of noncareer appointees. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 24, 2023 Mr. LANGWORTHY (for himself, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. BUCK, Mrs. MILLER of Illi- nois, Mr. ALFORD, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. WILLIAMS of New York, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, and Mr. TIMMONS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Ac- countability A BILL To require the Office of Government Ethics to establish and maintain a centralized database for executive branch ethics records of noncareer appointees. 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 ‘‘Executive Branch Ac- 4 countability and Transparency Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3642 IH SEC. 2. CENTRALIZED DATABASE FOR PUBLICLY AVAIL- 1 ABLE GOVERNMENT ETHICS RECORDS. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 210 days after 3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of- 4 fice of Government Ethics shall establish a searchable, 5 sortable database through which members of the public 6 can access covered ethics records. 7 (b) SPECIFICATIONS OF DATABASE.—The database 8 under subsection (a) shall be— 9 (1) hosted on a official website of the Office of 10 Government Ethics without charge and without a re- 11 quirement that members of the public register for 12 access; 13 (2) accessible through an application program- 14 ming interface; and 15 (3) fully compliant with— 16 (A) section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act 17 of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d); and 18 (B) the most recent Web Content Accessi- 19 bility Guidelines (or successor guidelines). 20 (c) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER INSPECTION PROCE- 21 DURES.—In establishing the database under subsection 22 (a), the Director of the Office of Government Ethics may 23 not apply the inspection procedures established in section 24 13107(b) of title 5, United States Code, to any procedures 25 concerning the accessibility of covered ethics records. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3642 IH (d) AGENCY COOPERATION.— 1 (1) SUBMISSION OF ELECTRONIC COVERED 2 ETHICS RECORDS.—Except as provided in subsection 3 (g), the designated agency ethics official of each em- 4 ploying agency shall— 5 (A) not later than 60 days after the date 6 of enactment of this Act or within 60 days of 7 receipt or issuance, submit electronic copies of 8 covered ethics records, in such format and 9 through such means as the Director of the Of- 10 fice of Government Ethics may require; and 11 (B) ensure that the content of all such 12 records is machine readable and compliant with 13 the requirements of subsection (b). 14 (2) COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH COMPLIANCE.— 15 The cost of complying with the requirements of 16 paragraph (1) and uploading covered ethics records 17 to the website of the Office of Government Ethics 18 shall be the responsibility of the employing agency. 19 (e) REIMBURSABLE COSTS.— 20 (1) PERIODIC ASSESSMENT.—In consultation 21 with the Office of Management and Budget, the Di- 22 rector of the Office of Government Ethics is author- 23 ized to periodically assess from any agency a share 24 of the costs of establishing and maintaining the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3642 IH database, provided that the total amounts assessed 1 do not exceed costs actually incurred by the Office 2 of Government Ethics, and provided further that 3 any part of the assessment attributable to the cost 4 of services of personnel of the Office of Government 5 Ethics does not exceed the cost of one full-time 6 equivalent. 7 (2) DETERMINATION AND REIMBURSEMENT.— 8 (A) DETERMINATION.—The Office of Man- 9 agement and Budget shall assist the Office of 10 Government Ethics in determining amounts to 11 assess agencies and in collecting the assess- 12 ments authorized under this subsection. 13 (B) REIMBURSEMENT.—Each agency in 14 the executive branch is authorized to reimburse 15 the Office of Government Ethics for an as- 16 sessed share of such costs. 17 (f) REDACTIONS.—Covered ethics records may not be 18 redacted except to the extent necessary to— 19 (1) ensure the exclusion of information de- 20 scribed in subsection (i)(3)(B); 21 (2) prevent the release of trade secrets or com- 22 mercial information that is privileged or confidential, 23 unless the disclosure of such information is required 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3642 IH pursuant to section 13104 of title 5, United States 1 Code; or 2 (3) prevent the release of information that, in 3 the opinion of the Director, poses an identifiable risk 4 to the safety of an individual, such as a street ad- 5 dress, the name of a minor, or a brokerage account 6 number. 7 (g) RECORDS PREDATING ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 8 DATABASE.— 9 (1) SEARCH FOR OLDER INFORMATION.—Not 10 later than 12 months after the date of enactment of 11 this Act, each employing agency shall complete a 12 search reasonably calculated to find covered ethics 13 records that were created during the 9-year period 14 preceding the date of enactment of this Act. 15 (2) INCLUDED INFORMATION AND CERTIFI- 16 CATION.—The search shall include all materials in 17 the possession of the agency’s ethics office or readily 18 accessible materials in any other office within the 19 agency that the designated agency ethics official cer- 20 tifies in writing is the most likely office to possess 21 covered ethics records. 22 (3) EXCLUSION FROM SEARCH.—The agency 23 may exclude information described in subsection 24 (i)(3)(B) from the search. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3642 IH (4) ELECTRONIC COPIES.—The agency shall 1 provide the Director of the Office of Government 2 Ethics with electronic copies of all covered ethics 3 records in a manner prescribed by the Director and 4 as required by this Act with respect to format and 5 accessibility. 6 (5) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the 7 completion of the search under paragraph (1), the 8 designated agency ethics official shall provide the 9 Director of the Office of Government Ethics with a 10 report that describes— 11 (A) the scope of the search and steps un- 12 dertaken to identify information; 13 (B) a copy of the certification required 14 under paragraph (2); 15 (C) the best estimate as to the complete- 16 ness of the collection of information provided to 17 the Director; 18 (D) an identification of any categories of 19 information known to the agency that the agen- 20 cy was unable to find; and 21 (E) a certification signed by the designated 22 agency ethics official affirming that the agency 23 made reasonable efforts in good faith to identify 24 and obtain covered ethics records. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3642 IH (6) PUBLICATION.—The Director shall publish 1 the report under paragraph (5) on the official 2 website of the Office of Government Ethics. 3 (h) REMOVAL OF RECORDS FROM THE DATABASE.— 4 Notwithstanding any other law regarding the destruction 5 of records or information, all covered ethics records re- 6 quired to be included in the database shall remain publicly 7 available through the database established under this Act 8 for a period of not less than 10 years. 9 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means each 11 executive agency, as defined in section 105 of title 12 5, United States Code, and each component of the 13 Executive Office of the President. 14 (2) COVERED EMPLOYEE.— 15 (A) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘covered em- 16 ployee’’ includes the following individuals: 17 (i) Each individual who is— 18 (I) a noncareer employee; and 19 (II) is described in paragraphs 20 (3) through (8) of section 13103(f) of 21 title 5, United States Code. 22 (ii) Each individual serving in a posi- 23 tion with respect to which a determination 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3642 IH has been made under section 7511(b)(2) of 1 title 5, United States Code. 2 (iii) Each special Government em- 3 ployee, as defined in section 202(a) of title 4 18, United States Code, who is employed 5 in the Executive Office of the President, 6 other than a special government employee 7 serving solely on a Federal advisory com- 8 mittee or presidential advisory committee. 9 (iv) An individual who previously 10 served in the Federal Government in a ca- 11 pacity described in subparagraphs (A) 12 through (C) within the last 10 years. 13 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘covered em- 14 ployee’’ excludes any individual described in 15 section 13107(a)(1) of title 5, United States 16 Code. 17 (3) COVERED ETHICS RECORD.— 18 (A) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘covered eth- 19 ics record’’— 20 (i) with respect to any individual, 21 means— 22 (I) each approval granted pursu- 23 ant to subsection (b) or subsection (c) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3642 IH of section 908 of title 37, United 1 States Code; and 2 (II) each report to Congress re- 3 quired under section 908(d) of title 4 37, United States Code; and 5 (ii) with respect to a covered em- 6 ployee, means each of the following: 7 (I) Each public financial disclo- 8 sure report filed pursuant to section 9 13103 or section 13105(l) of title 5, 10 United States Code. 11 (II) Each amendment to a public 12 financial disclosure report filed pursu- 13 ant to section 13103 or section 14 13105(l) of title 5, United States 15 Code. 16 (III) Each waiver of— 17 (aa) a post-employment re- 18 striction, pursuant to subsection 19 (c)(2)(C) or subsection (k) of sec- 20 tion 207 of title 18, United 21 States Code; 22 (bb) section 208(a) of title 23 18, United States Code, that has 24 been issued pursuant to section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3642 IH 208(b)(1) of title 18, United 1 States Code; 2 (cc) a public financial disclo- 3 sure requirement, pursuant to 4 section 13103(i) of title 5, 5 United States Code; 6 (dd) the requirement to dis- 7 close a gift, pursuant to section 8 13104(a)(2)(C) of title 5, United 9 States Code; and 10 (ee) a provision of any regu- 11 lation of the Office of Govern- 12 ment Ethics, supplemental agen- 13 cy ethics regulation, or Executive 14 order pertaining to government 15 ethics. 16 (IV) Each authorization of an in- 17 dividual to participate in a matter 18 from which recusal would otherwise be 19 required under any provision of law, 20 regulation, Executive order, or policy 21 pertaining to government ethics and 22 applicable to the individual as an em- 23 ployee of the executive branch. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 3642 IH (V) Each approval or authoriza- 1 tion permitting an individual to accept 2 a gift from an outside source that 3 would otherwise be prohibited under 4 section 7353 of title 5, United States 5 Code, or any other provision of law, 6 regulation, Executive order, or policy 7 pertaining to government ethics and 8 applicable to the individual as an em- 9 ployee of the executive branch. 10 (VI) Each determination— 11 (aa) that a position may be 12 excluded from otherwise applica- 13 ble public financial disclosure re- 14 quirements, pursuant to section 15 13103(f)(5) of title 5, United 16 States Code; 17 (bb) that an employee of the 18 executive branch, or the spouse 19 or minor child of an employee of 20 the executive branch, must divest 21 a financial interest; or 22 (cc) regarding an individual 23 that is made pursuant to any 24 other provision of law, regulation, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 3642 IH Executive order, or policy per- 1 taining to government ethics and 2 applicable to the individual as an 3 employee or former employee of 4 the executive branch. 5 (VII) Each written ethics agree- 6 ment, recusal, or screening arrange- 7 ment pertaining to employment in the 8 executive branch. 9 (VIII) Each record of a presi- 10 dential appointee’s completion of eth- 11 ics training required under a regula- 12 tion of the Office of Government Eth- 13 ics. 14 (IX) Each Certificate of Divesti- 15 ture issued pursuant to section 1043 16 of title 26, United States Code, and 17 each request that resulted in the 18 issuance of a Certificate of Divesti- 19 ture. 20 (X) Each qualified blind trust 21 agreement and each record described 22 in section 13104(f)(5)(D) of title 5, 23 United States Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jun 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3642.IH H3642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 3642 IH (XI) Each record submitted pur- 1 suant to section 13103(b)(1) of title 2 5, United States Code for the purpose 3 of making current, with respect to in- 4 come and honoraria, a financial dis- 5 closure filed pursuant to that para- 6 graph. 7 (XII) Each notice submitted pur- 8 suant to section 13111 of title 5, 9 United States Code and any certifi- 10 cation by a Senate-confirmed presi- 11 dential appointee as to compliance 12 with an ethics agreement, whether 13 submitted to the employing agency, 14 the Office of Government Ethics, or 15 the Senate. 16 (XIII) Any written opinion issued 17 pursuant to section 847 of the Na- 18 tional Defense Authorization Act for 19 2008 (Public Law 110–181), except 20 that the employing agency may redact 21 the name of an individual or organiza- 22 tion with whom an individual has not 23 yet accepted an offer of employment [Text truncated for display. 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