Executive Branch Conflict of Interest Prevention Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4222 To require executive branch agencies to prohibit conflicting financial interests through prohibited holdings regulations. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 20, 2023 Mr. LANGWORTHY (for himself and Mr. KILMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability A BILL To require executive branch agencies to prohibit conflicting financial interests through prohibited holdings regulations. 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 Con- 4 flict of Interest Prevention Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROHIBITED HOLDINGS REGU- 6 LATIONS. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 8 (1) COVERED GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.—The 9 term ‘‘covered government official’’ includes any offi- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4222.IH H4222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4222 IH cer or employee who occupies a position classified 1 above GS–15 of the General Schedule or, in the case 2 of positions not under the General Schedule— 3 (A) for which the rate of basic pay is equal 4 to or greater than 120 percent of the minimum 5 rate of basic pay payable for GS–15 of the Gen- 6 eral Schedule; 7 (B) each member of a uniformed service 8 whose pay grade is at or in excess of O–7 under 9 section 201 of title 37, United States Code; and 10 (C) each officer or employee in any other 11 position determined by the Director of the Of- 12 fice of Government Ethics to be of equal classi- 13 fication. 14 (2) DIVERSIFIED FUND.—The term ‘‘diversified 15 fund’’ means a widely held investment fund de- 16 scribed in section 13104(f)(8) of title 5, United 17 States Code, that does not have a stated policy of 18 concentrating its investments in any industry, busi- 19 ness, or single country other than the United States. 20 (b) IN GENERAL.—Subject to any exception for an 21 interest held through a diversified fund or a qualified blind 22 trust, no covered government official shall own any finan- 23 cial interest in a corporation, business, partnership, or 24 other for-profit entity that is determined to be— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4222.IH H4222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4222 IH (1) substantially regulated by the agency or 1 otherwise directly influenced by the action of the ex- 2 ecutive agency; 3 (2) a major contractor of the agency; 4 (3) an organization that has substantial lob- 5 bying contacts with the agency; or 6 (4) an organization that otherwise poses the re- 7 alistic potential for creating a substantial appear- 8 ance of a conflict of interest. 9 (c) GUIDANCE.—The Director of the Office of Gov- 10 ernment Ethics shall issue guidance to executive agencies 11 regarding the meaning of the terms ‘‘substantially regu- 12 lated’’, ‘‘major contractor’’, ‘‘substantial lobbying con- 13 tacts’’, and ‘‘substantial appearance of a conflict of inter- 14 est’’ specifically in the context of this Act. 15 (d) REPORT.—If an agency head determines that no 16 financial interest meets the criteria established in sub- 17 section (b), as defined by the Director of the Office of Gov- 18 ernment Ethics pursuant to subsection (c), and that 19 issuance of a prohibited holdings regulation under this 20 regulation is not possible, the head of the agency shall sign 21 a report to Congress that— 22 (1) explains in detail why there is no realistic 23 potential for any officer or employee described in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4222.IH H4222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4222 IH subsection (a) to encounter a conflict of interest in 1 the performance of official duties; 2 (2) describes in detail all steps undertaken by 3 the agency to evaluate the potential for conflicts of 4 interest to arise at the agency; and 5 (3) if any part of the agency is within the juris- 6 diction of an inspector general, shall include a writ- 7 ten assessment by the Inspector General of the po- 8 tential for conflicts of interest to arise in connection 9 with the performance of official duties by officers 10 and employees described in subsection (a). 11 (e) EVALUATION.—If an agency has issued a prohib- 12 ited holdings regulation prior to the date of enactment of 13 this Act, the agency head shall evaluate whether that regu- 14 lation should cover any additional types of interests not 15 currently covered. If the agency head determines that ex- 16 pansion of the regulation’s coverage is not currently war- 17 ranted, the agency head shall so advise Congress in writ- 18 ing and shall not be required to issue a new regulation 19 under this Act. 20 (f) WAIVERS.—Any regulation prohibiting potentially 21 conflicting financial interests, whether issued pursuant to 22 this Act or prior to the date of enactment of this Act, 23 may, if deemed appropriate by both the agency head and 24 the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, permit 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4222.IH H4222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4222 IH individual waivers in unusual circumstances, provided that 1 the regulation requires the agency to submit the waiver 2 to the Director for publication on the official website of 3 the Office of Government Ethics, subject to applicable rou- 4 tine destruction requirements. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4222.IH H4222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS