I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1712
To amend chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, with respect to
prohibited financial transactions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY27, 2025
Mr. L
ICCARDO(for himself, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MULLIN, Mr.
G
RIJALVA, Mr. THANEDAR, Mrs. TORRESof California, Mr. CARSON, Mr.
S
WALWELL, Mr. PETERS, Mr. SOTO, Ms. ELFRETH, Mr. GARAMENDI,
Ms. B
ARRAGA´N, Mr. OLSZEWSKI, Mr. LIEU, Mr. GOLDMANof New York,
Mr. S
MITHof Washington, and Mr. TURNERof Texas) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary,
and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, with
respect to prohibited financial transactions.
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 ‘‘Modern Emoluments 4
and Malfeasance Enforcement Act’’ or the ‘‘MEME Act’’. 5
VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:50 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1712.IH H1712
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 1712 IH
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1
It is the sense of Congress that Federal elected offi-2
cials must not utilize their position, granted by the trust 3
of the public, for private financial gain. The issuance, 4
sponsorship, or promotion of financial instruments by pub-5
lic office holders will deprive the public of the office hold-6
er’s honest services, facilitate bribery by investors or pur-7
chasers, and result in public exploitation and corrupt for-8
eign influence. Members of Congress and the Executive 9
Branch must not seek to use their public office to benefit 10
financially; rather their positions are held in trust for the 11
benefit of the American public. 12
SEC. 3. PROHIBITED FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS. 13
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Chapter 131 of title 5, United 14
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-15
lowing: 16
‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—FINANCIAL EXPLOI-17
TATION BY A PUBLIC OFFICE HOLDER 18
‘‘SEC. 13151. DEFINITIONS. 19
‘‘In this subchapter: 20
‘‘(1) A
DJACENT INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘adja-21
cent individual’ means— 22
‘‘(A) each officer or employee in the execu-23
tive branch holding a Senior Executive Service 24
position (as defined under section 3132(a)(2)); 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:50 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1712.IH H1712
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 1712 IH
‘‘(B) each member of a uniformed service 1
whose pay grade is at or in excess of O–7 under 2
section 201 of title 37; 3
‘‘(C) each officer or employee in any other 4
position determined by the Special Counsel of 5
the United States, in consultation with the Di-6
rector of the Office of Government Ethics, to be 7
of equal classification to a position described in 8
subparagraph (A) or (B); or 9
‘‘(D) the spouse or dependent child of any 10
individual described in subparagraph (A), (B), 11
or (C). 12
‘‘(2) P
ROHIBITED FINANCIAL TRANSACTION .— 13
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘prohibited 14
financial transaction’ means the issuance, spon-15
sorship, or promotion of a covered asset for pe-16
cuniary gain. 17
‘‘(B) C
OVERED ASSET.—The term ‘covered 18
asset’ means— 19
‘‘(i) a security (as such term is de-20
fined in section 3(a) of Securities Ex-21
change Act of 1934); 22
‘‘(ii) a security future (as such term is 23
defined in section 3(a) of Securities Ex-24
change Act of 1934); 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:50 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1712.IH H1712
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 1712 IH
‘‘(iii) a commodity (as defined in sec-1
tion 1a of the Commodity Exchange Act); 2
‘‘(iv) a digital asset which can be sold 3
for remuneration, including a 4
cryptocurrency, a meme coin, a token, or a 5
non-fungible token; or 6
‘‘(v) any derivative, option, warrant, 7
mutual fund, or exchange-traded fund of 8
an asset described in clause (i), (ii), (iii), 9
or (iv). 10
‘‘(3) C
OVERED INDIVIDUAL .—The term ‘cov-11
ered individual’ means— 12
‘‘(A) the President; 13
‘‘(B) the Vice President; 14
‘‘(C) a public official (as defined in section 15
201(a) of title 18); or 16
‘‘(D) the spouse or dependent child of any 17
individual described in subparagraph (A), (B), 18
or (C). 19
‘‘(4) D
EPENDENT CHILD.—The term dependent 20
child has the meaning given the term in section 21
13101. 22
‘‘SEC. 13152. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS. 23
‘‘(a) P
ROHIBITION.—Except as provided in sub-24
section (b), a covered individual or an adjacent individual 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:50 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1712.IH H1712
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
•HR 1712 IH
may not engage in or benefit from a prohibited financial 1
transaction— 2
‘‘(1) during the term of service of the covered 3
individual or adjacent individual; 4
‘‘(2) during the 180-day period prior to the 5
date on which the service of such covered individual 6
or adjacent individual commenced; or 7
‘‘(3) during the 180-day period beginning on 8
the date on which the service of such covered indi-9
vidual or adjacent individual is terminated. 10
‘‘(b) A
DJACENTINDIVIDUALS.—With respect to adja-11
cent individuals, nothing in this section shall be construed 12
to limit the application of section 208 of title 18. 13
‘‘(c) L
IABILITY ANDIMMUNITY.—For purposes of 14
any immunities to civil liability, any conduct comprising 15
or relating to a prohibited financial transaction under this 16
section shall be deemed an ‘unofficial act,’ and beyond the 17
scope of official duties. 18
‘‘SEC. 13153. CIVIL PENALTIES. 19
‘‘(a) C
IVILACTION.—The Attorney General may 20
bring a civil action in any appropriate United States dis-21
trict court against any covered individual or adjacent indi-22
vidual who violates any provision of section 13152. 23
‘‘(b) CONTINUING CONDUCT: Any act intended 24
to encourage the sale of a covered asset, including adver-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:50 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1712.IH H1712
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6
•HR 1712 IH
tisement, promotion, solicitation, marketing, or endorse-1
ment of the covered asset, constitutes a violation of this 2
section. 3
‘‘(c) C
IVILPENALTY.—The court in which any action 4
is brought under subsection (a) may assess against a cov-5
ered individual or an adjacent individual a civil penalty 6
of not more than $250,000. 7
‘‘(d) D
ISGORGEMENT.— 8
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—A covered individual or ad-9
jacent individual shall disgorge to the Treasury of 10
the United States any profit from a prohibited fi-11
nancial transaction or holding conducted in violation 12
of this section. 13
‘‘(2) R
ETROACTIVE.—Disgorgement shall be re-14
quired for any person who violates section 13152 re-15
gardless of whether the issuance of the financial 16
asset transpired prior to the enactment of this Act. 17
‘‘(e) P
RIVATERIGHT OFACTION.—Notwithstanding 18
any contrary provision in any contract relating to the 19
asset, any investor, competitor, or other private party suf-20
fering harm may bring an action in an appropriate district 21
court of the United States for any appropriate equitable 22
or declaratory relief, including monetary damages, with re-23
spect to a violation of section 13152.’’. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:50 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1712.IH H1712
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7
•HR 1712 IH
(b) CRIMINALPENALTIES.—Chapter 11 of title 18, 1
United States is amended by adding at the end the fol-2
lowing: 3
‘‘§ 228. Prohibited financial transactions 4
‘‘(a) B
ENEFITFROMPROHIBITED FINANCIAL 5
T
RANSACTION.—Where any covered individual or adjacent 6
individual knowingly violates any provision of section 7
13152 of title 5, and has either— 8
‘‘(1) caused an aggregate loss of $1,000,000 or 9
more to members of the public; or 10
‘‘(2) benefitted financially, through profit, gain, 11
or advantage, directly or indirectly through family 12
members or business associates, from the sale, pur-13
chase, or distribution of the covered asset issued in 14
violation of section 13152 of title 5, 15
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more 16
than five years, or both. 17
‘‘(b) B
RIBERY.—Where any covered individual or ad-18
jacent individual who knowingly violates any provision of 19
section 13152 of title 5, and directly or indirectly, cor-20
ruptly demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to re-21
ceive or accept anything of value personally or for any 22
other person or entity, in return for— 23
‘‘(1) being influenced in the performance of any 24
official act; 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:50 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1712.IH H1712
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8
•HR 1712 IH
‘‘(2) being influenced to commit or aid in com-1
mitting, or to collude in, or allow, any fraud, or 2
make opportunity for the commission of any fraud, 3
on the United States; or 4
‘‘(3) being induced to do or omit to do any act 5
in violation of the official duty of such official or 6
person, 7
shall be punished pursuant to section 201(b). 8
‘‘(c) I
NSIDERTRADING.—Where any covered indi-9
vidual or adjacent individual who knowingly violates any 10
provision of section 13152 of title 5, and violates section 11
10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, shall be 12
subject to punished pursuant to section 201(b). 13
‘‘(d) I
NTENT.—To incur criminal liability under this 14
section, it is not required that the covered or adjacent indi-15
vidual intended to create an investment asset through the 16
sponsorship, issuance, or promotion of the asset. 17
‘‘(e) L
IABILITY ANDIMMUNITY.—For purposes of 18
any immunities to civil and criminal liability, any conduct 19
comprising or relating to a prohibited financial transaction 20
under this section shall be deemed an unofficial act and 21
beyond the scope of official duties. 22
‘‘(f) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 23
‘‘(1) A
DJACENT INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘adja-24
cent individual’ means— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:50 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1712.IH H1712
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9
•HR 1712 IH
‘‘(A) each officer or employee in the execu-1
tive branch holding a Senior Executive Service 2
position (as defined under section 3132(a)(2)); 3
‘‘(B) each member of a uniformed service 4
whose pay grade is at or in excess of O–7 under 5
section 201 of title 37; 6
‘‘(C) each officer or employee in any other 7
position determined by the Special Counsel of 8
the United States, in consultation with the Di-9
rector of the Office of Government Ethics, to be 10
of equal classification to a position described in 11
subparagraph (A) or (B); or 12
‘‘(D) the spouse or dependent child of any 13
individual described in subparagraph (A), (B), 14
or (C). 15
‘‘(2) P
ROHIBITED FINANCIAL TRANSACTION .— 16
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘prohibited 17
financial transaction’ means the issuance, spon-18
sorship, or promotion of a covered asset for pe-19
cuniary gain. 20
‘‘(B) C
OVERED ASSET.—The term ‘covered 21
asset’ means— 22
‘‘(i) a security (as such term is de-23
fined in section 3(a) of Securities Ex-24
change Act of 1934); 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:50 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1712.IH H1712
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10
•HR 1712 IH
‘‘(ii) a security future (as such term is 1
defined in section 3(a) of Securities Ex-2
change Act of 1934); 3
‘‘(iii) a commodity (as defined in sec-4
tion 1a of the Commodity Exchange Act); 5
‘‘(iv) a digital asset which can be sold 6
for remuneration, including a 7
cryptocurrency, a meme coin, a token, or a 8
non-fungible token; or 9
‘‘(v) any derivative, option, warrant, 10
mutual fund, or exchange-traded fund of 11
(i), (ii), (iii), or (iv). 12
‘‘(3) C
OVERED INDIVIDUAL .—The term ‘cov-13
ered individual’ means— 14
‘‘(A) the President; 15
‘‘(B) the Vice President; 16
‘‘(C) a public official (as defined in section 17
201(a) of title 18); or 18
‘‘(D) the spouse or dependent child of any 19
individual described in subparagraph (A), (B), 20
or (C). 21
‘‘(4) D
EPENDENT CHILD.—The term dependent 22
child has the meaning given the term in section 23
13101.’’. 24
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:50 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1712.IH H1712
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB