Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1599 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1599
5	5	To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit transactions involving
6	6	certain financial instruments by senior Federal employees, their spouses,
7	7	or dependent children, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	FEBRUARY26, 2025
10	10	Mr. C
11	11	LOUD(for himself, Mr. GOLDENof Maine, Mr. SELF, Mr. BRECHEEN,
12	12	and Mrs. C
13	13	AMMACK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
14	14	the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to
15	15	the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently de-
16	16	termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
17	17	as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
18	18	A BILL
19	19	To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit trans-
20	20	actions involving certain financial instruments by senior
21	21	Federal employees, their spouses, or dependent children,
22	22	and for other purposes.
23	23	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
24	24	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
25	25	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
26	26	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dismantling Invest-4
27	27	ments in Violation of Ethical Standards through Trusts 5
28	28	Act’’. 6
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31	31	•HR 1599 IH
32	32	SEC. 2. PROHIBITING TRANSACTIONS AND OWNERSHIP OF 1
33	33	CERTAIN FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS BY SEN-2
34	34	IOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, THEIR SPOUSES, 3
35	35	OR DEPENDENT CHILDREN. 4
36	36	(a) I
37	37	NGENERAL.—Chapter 13 of title 5, United 5
38	38	States Code, is amended by adding after subchapter III 6
39	39	the following: 7
40	40	‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—RESTRICTIONS REGARDING 8
41	41	FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS 9
42	42	‘‘§ 13151. Definitions 10
43	43	‘‘In this subchapter: 11
44	44	‘‘(1) C
45	45	OVERED FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT .— 12
46	46	‘‘(A) I
47	47	N GENERAL.—The term ‘covered fi-13
48	48	nancial instrument’ means— 14
49	49	‘‘(i) any investment in— 15
50	50	‘‘(I) a security (as defined in sec-16
51	51	tion 3(a) of Securities Exchange Act 17
52	52	of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a))); 18
53	53	‘‘(II) a security future (as de-19
54	54	fined in that section); or 20
55	55	‘‘(III) a commodity (as defined in 21
56	56	section 1a of the Commodity Ex-22
57	57	change Act (7 U.S.C. 1a)); and 23
58	58	‘‘(ii) any economic interest com-24
59	59	parable to an interest described in clause 25
60	60	(i) that is acquired through synthetic 26
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63	63	•HR 1599 IH
64	64	means, such as the use of a derivative, in-1
65	65	cluding an option, warrant, or other simi-2
66	66	lar means. 3
67	67	‘‘(B) E
68	68	XCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered fi-4
69	69	nancial instrument’ does not include— 5
70	70	‘‘(i) a diversified mutual fund; 6
71	71	‘‘(ii) a diversified exchange-traded 7
72	72	fund; 8
73	73	‘‘(iii) a United States Treasury bill, 9
74	74	note, or bond; or 10
75	75	‘‘(iv) compensation from the primary 11
76	76	occupation of a spouse or dependent child 12
77	77	of a senior Federal employee. 13
78	78	‘‘(2) Q
79	79	UALIFIED BLIND TRUST .—The term 14
80	80	‘qualified blind trust’ has the meaning given the 15
81	81	term in section 13104. 16
82	82	‘‘(3) S
83	83	ENIOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEE .—The term 17
84	84	‘senior Federal employee’ means any individual occu-18
85	85	pying a Senior Executive Service position (as that 19
86	86	term is defined in section 3132). 20
87	87	‘‘(4) S
88	88	UPERVISING ETHICS OFFICE .—The term 21
89	89	‘supervising ethics office’ has the meaning given the 22
90	90	term in section 13101. 23
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93	93	•HR 1599 IH
94	94	‘‘§ 13152. Prohibition on certain transactions and 1
95	95	holdings involving covered financial in-2
96	96	struments 3
97	97	‘‘(a) P
98	98	ROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sub-4
99	99	section (b), a senior Federal employee, their spouse, or 5
100	100	their dependent children may not, during the term of serv-6
101	101	ice of the employee, hold, purchase, or sell any covered 7
102	102	financial instrument. 8
103	103	‘‘(b) E
104	104	XCEPTIONS.—The prohibition under sub-9
105	105	section (a) does not apply to— 10
106	106	‘‘(1) a sale by a senior Federal employee, their 11
107	107	spouse, or their dependent child that is completed by 12
108	108	the date that is— 13
109	109	‘‘(A) for an employee serving on the date 14
110	110	of enactment of this title, 180 days after that 15
111	111	date of enactment; and 16
112	112	‘‘(B) for any employee who commences 17
113	113	service as an employee after the date of enact-18
114	114	ment of this title, 180 days after the first date 19
115	115	of the initial term of service; 20
116	116	‘‘(2) a covered financial instrument held in a 21
117	117	qualified blind trust operated on behalf of, or for the 22
118	118	benefit of, a senior Federal employee, their spouse, 23
119	119	or their dependent child; or 24
120	120	‘‘(3) a covered financial instrument exempted 25
121	121	from coverage under section 208 of title 18 pursuant 26
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124	124	•HR 1599 IH
125	125	to section 2640.202 of title 5, Code of Federal Reg-1
126	126	ulations (or any successor regulation). 2
127	127	‘‘(c) A
128	128	PPLICATION OFCERTIFICATE OFDIVESTITURE 3
129	129	P
130	130	ROGRAM.—For purposes of section 1043 of the Internal 4
131	131	Revenue Code of 1986— 5
132	132	‘‘(1) this section shall be treated as a Federal 6
133	133	conflict of interest statute; and 7
134	134	‘‘(2) any person required to dispose of any 8
135	135	property by reason of this section shall be treated as 9
136	136	an eligible person. 10
137	137	‘‘(d) P
138	138	ENALTIES.— 11
139	139	‘‘(1) D
140	140	ISGORGEMENT.—A senior Federal em-12
141	141	ployee, their spouse, or their dependent child shall 13
142	142	disgorge to the general fund of the Treasury any 14
143	143	profit from a transaction or holding involving a cov-15
144	144	ered financial instrument that is conducted in viola-16
145	145	tion of this section. 17
146	146	‘‘(2) I
147	147	NCOME TAX.—A loss from a transaction 18
148	148	or holding involving a covered financial instrument 19
149	149	that is conducted in violation of this section may not 20
150	150	be deducted from the amount of income tax owed by 21
151	151	the applicable senior Federal employee, their spouse, 22
152	152	or their dependent child. 23
153	153	‘‘(3) F
154	154	INES.—A senior Federal employee who 24
155	155	holds or conducts a transaction involving a covered 25
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158	158	•HR 1599 IH
159	159	financial instrument in violation of this section may 1
160	160	be subject to a civil fine assessed by the supervising 2
161	161	ethics office under section 13153. 3
162	162	‘‘§ 13153. Certification of compliance 4
163	163	‘‘(a) I
164	164	NGENERAL.—Not less frequently than annu-5
165	165	ally, each senior Federal employee shall submit to the su-6
166	166	pervising ethics office a written certification that the em-7
167	167	ployee, their spouse, or their dependent child has achieved 8
168	168	compliance with the requirements of this title. 9
169	169	‘‘(b) P
170	170	UBLICATION.—The supervising ethics office 10
171	171	shall publish each certification submitted under subsection 11
172	172	(a) on a publicly available website. 12
173	173	‘‘§ 13154. Authority of supervising ethics office 13
174	174	‘‘(a) I
175	175	NGENERAL.—The supervising ethics office 14
176	176	may implement and enforce the requirements of this sub-15
177	177	chapter, including by— 16
178	178	‘‘(1) issuing— 17
179	179	‘‘(A) for applicable senior Federal employ-18
180	180	ees— 19
181	181	‘‘(i) rules governing that implementa-20
182	182	tion; and 21
183	183	‘‘(ii) 1 or more reasonable extensions 22
184	184	to achieve compliance with this subchapter, 23
185	185	if the supervising ethics office determines 24
186	186	that an employee is making a good faith 25
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189	189	•HR 1599 IH
190	190	effort to divest any covered financial in-1
191	191	struments; and 2
192	192	‘‘(B) guidance relating to covered financial 3
193	193	instruments; 4
194	194	‘‘(2) publishing on the internet certifications 5
195	195	submitted by senior Federal employees under section 6
196	196	13153(a); and 7
197	197	‘‘(3) assessing civil fines against any senior 8
198	198	Federal employee who is in violation of this sub-9
199	199	chapter, subject to subsection (b). 10
200	200	‘‘(b) R
201	201	EQUIREMENTS FOR CIVILFINES.— 11
202	202	‘‘(1) A
203	203	MOUNT.—A fine imposed under this sec-12
204	204	tion against a senior Federal employee shall be equal 13
205	205	to the greater of— 14
206	206	‘‘(A) $1,000, or 15
207	207	‘‘(B) an amount equal to 10 percent of the 16
208	208	greatest dollar value of the applicable covered 17
209	209	financial instrument during any period that 18
210	210	such instrument was held by the applicable sen-19
211	211	ior Federal employee or their spouse or depend-20
212	212	ent child (as the case may be). 21
213	213	‘‘(2) I
214	214	N GENERAL.—Before imposing a fine pur-22
215	215	suant to this section, the supervising ethics office 23
216	216	shall provide to the applicable senior Federal em-24
217	217	ployee— 25
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220	220	•HR 1599 IH
221	221	‘‘(A) a written notice describing each cov-1
222	222	ered financial instrument transaction for which 2
223	223	a fine will be assessed; and 3
224	224	‘‘(B) an opportunity, with respect to each 4
225	225	such covered financial instrument transaction— 5
226	226	‘‘(i) for a hearing; and 6
227	227	‘‘(ii) to achieve compliance with the 7
228	228	requirements of this subchapter. 8
229	229	‘‘(3) P
230	230	UBLICATION.—The supervising ethics of-9
231	231	fice shall publish on a publicly available website a 10
232	232	description of— 11
233	233	‘‘(A) each fine assessed pursuant to this 12
234	234	section; 13
235	235	‘‘(B) the reasons why each such fine was 14
236	236	assessed; and 15
237	237	‘‘(C) the result of each assessment, includ-16
238	238	ing any hearing under paragraph (2)(B)(i) re-17
239	239	lating to the assessment. 18
240	240	‘‘(4) A
241	241	PPEAL.—A senior Federal employee may 19
242	242	appeal to the supervising ethics office a fine assessed 20
243	243	under this section during the 30-day period begin-21
244	244	ning on the date the fine is so assessed. 22
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247	247	•HR 1599 IH
248	248	‘‘§ 13155. Audit by Government Accountability Office 1
249	249	‘‘Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 2
250	250	of this subchapter, the Comptroller General of the United 3
251	251	States shall— 4
252	252	‘‘(1) conduct an audit of the compliance by sen-5
253	253	ior Federal employees with the requirements of this 6
254	254	subchapter; and 7
255	255	‘‘(2) submit to each supervising ethics office a 8
256	256	report describing the results of the audit conducted 9
257	257	under paragraph (1).’’. 10
258	258	(b) A
259	259	PPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub-11
260	260	section (a) shall apply to individuals described in section 12
261	261	13152(a) of title 5, United States Code, (as added by sub-13
262	262	section (a)) beginning on the date that is 12 months fol-14
263	263	lowing the date of enactment of this Act. 15
264	264	(c) A
265	265	DDITIONALEMPLOYEES.—Section 13121(c)(1) 16
266	266	of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting 17
267	267	‘‘up to 100’’ after ‘‘appoint’’. 18
268	268	(d) F
269	269	UNDING.—The Director of the Office of Man-19
270	270	agement and Budget may transfer such funds as the Di-20
271	271	rector considers appropriate, to be derived from unobli-21
272	272	gated amounts available for executive branch programs 22
273	273	identified by the Director to be duplicative, to the Office 23
274	274	of Government Ethics for the purpose of carrying out this 24
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277	277	•HR 1599 IH
278	278	Act, to remain available until the date that is 5 years fol-1
279	279	lowing the date of the enactment of this Act. 2
280	280	Æ
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