Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1877 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1877
5	5	To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to establish that political
6	6	appointees and special governments may not access beneficiary data
7	7	systems, to establish civil penalties for certain violations relating to
8	8	disclosure or access of beneficiary information, and for other purposes.
9	9	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
10	10	MARCH5, 2025
11	11	Mr. L
12	12	ARSONof Connecticut (for himself, Mr. NEAL, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr.
13	13	B
14	14	ISHOP, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. DELUZIO, Mr. NADLER, Ms. TLAIB, Mr.
15	15	D
16	16	AVISof Illinois, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. THOMPSONof Mis-
17	17	sissippi, Mr. J
18	18	ACKSONof Illinois, Ms. TITUS, Mr. COHEN, Mr.
19	19	K
20	20	RISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms.
21	21	C
22	22	HU, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. BOYLEof Pennsylvania, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr.
23	23	I
24	24	VEY, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mrs. MCIVER, Mrs. HAYES, Ms.
25	25	D
26	26	ELAURO, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. ELFRETH, Ms. ANSARI, Mr. PANETTA, Mr.
27	27	S
28	28	UOZZI, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MOOREof Wisconsin, Ms.
29	29	M
30	30	CCOLLUM, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr.
31	31	T
32	32	HOMPSONof California, Mr. STANTON, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. SA´NCHEZ,
33	33	Ms. N
34	34	ORTON, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr.
35	35	A
36	36	UCHINCLOSS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. SORENSEN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr.
37	37	L
38	38	ANDSMAN, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. POCAN, Mr. AMO, Ms.
39	39	K
40	40	ELLYof Illinois, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. RILEYof New
41	41	York, Ms. B
42	42	ROWNLEY, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. BROWN, Mr.
43	43	M
44	44	CGARVEY, Ms. PETTERSEN, Mr. MFUME, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms.
45	45	P
46	46	LASKETT, Ms. RANDALL, and Ms. DEANof Pennsylvania) introduced
47	47	the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and
48	48	Means
49	49	A BILL
50	50	To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to establish
51	51	that political appointees and special governments may
52	52	not access beneficiary data systems, to establish civil
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55	55	•HR 1877 IH
56	56	penalties for certain violations relating to disclosure or
57	57	access of beneficiary information, and for other purposes.
58	58	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
59	59	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
60	60	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
61	61	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Americans’ 4
62	62	Social Security Data Act’’. 5
63	63	SEC. 2. ACCESS BY POLITICAL APPOINTEES AND SPECIAL 6
64	64	GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES. 7
65	65	Section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 8
66	66	1306) is amended by adding after subsection (g) the fol-9
67	67	lowing: 10
68	68	‘‘(h) A
69	69	CCESS BYPOLITICALAPPOINTEES ANDSPE-11
70	70	CIALGOVERNMENTEMPLOYEES.— 12
71	71	‘‘(1) I
72	72	N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 13
73	73	subsection of this section, an individual who is a po-14
74	74	litical appointee (as that term is defined in section 15
75	75	4(a) of the Edward ‘Ted’ Kaufman and Michael 16
76	76	Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act 17
77	77	of 2015 (5 U.S.C. 3101 note)) or a special govern-18
78	78	ment employee (as that term is defined in section 19
79	79	202(a) of title 18, United States Code) may not ac-20
80	80	cess a beneficiary data system. 21
81	81	‘‘(2) B
82	82	ENEFICIARY DATA SYSTEM DEFINED .— 22
83	83	In this section, the term ‘beneficiary data system’ 23
84	84	means a system that is maintained by the Social Se-24
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88	88	curity Administration for the purposes of admin-1
89	89	istering this Act that— 2
90	90	‘‘(A) issues or records social security ac-3
91	91	count numbers; 4
92	92	‘‘(B) is used to determine eligibility for 5
93	93	benefits under this Act; 6
94	94	‘‘(C) to pay benefits under this Act; or 7
95	95	‘‘(D) otherwise contains personally identifi-8
96	96	able information about individuals receiving or 9
97	97	applying for a benefit under this Act, includ-10
98	98	ing— 11
99	99	‘‘(i) the Master Files of Social Secu-12
100	100	rity Number Holders and SSN Applica-13
101	101	tions (Numident); 14
102	102	‘‘(ii) the Master Beneficiary Record; 15
103	103	‘‘(iii) the Supplemental Security In-16
104	104	come Record and Special Veterans Bene-17
105	105	fits; 18
106	106	‘‘(iv) the National Disability Deter-19
107	107	mination Services File; 20
108	108	‘‘(v) the Earnings Recording and Self- 21
109	109	Employment Income System; and 22
110	110	‘‘(vi) any other system accessible 23
111	111	through the Enterprise Data Warehouse.’’. 24
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114	114	•HR 1877 IH
115	115	SEC. 3. CIVIL DAMAGES FOR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR 1
116	116	DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. 2
117	117	Section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 3
118	118	1301) is further amended by adding after subsection (h), 4
119	119	as added by section 2, the following: 5
120	120	‘‘(i) C
121	121	IVILPENALTIES.— 6
122	122	‘‘(1) I
123	123	N GENERAL.— 7
124	124	‘‘(A) D
125	125	ISCLOSURE OR ACCESS BY EM -8
126	126	PLOYEE OF UNITED STATES .—If any officer or 9
127	127	employee of the United States negligently dis-10
128	128	closes or accesses any information that pertains 11
129	129	to an individual in violation of any provision of 12
130	130	subsection (a) or (h), such individual may bring 13
131	131	a civil action for damages against the United 14
132	132	States in a district court of the United States. 15
133	133	‘‘(B) D
134	134	ISCLOSURE OR ACCESS BY A PER -16
135	135	SON WHO IS NOT AN EMPLOYEE OF UNITED 17
136	136	STATES.—If any person who is not an officer or 18
137	137	employee of the United States negligently dis-19
138	138	closes or accesses any information that pertains 20
139	139	to an individual in violation of any provision of 21
140	140	subsection (a) or (h), such individual may bring 22
141	141	a civil action for damages against such person 23
142	142	in a district court of the United States. 24
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146	146	‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—No liability shall arise 1
147	147	under this section with respect to any disclosure or 2
148	148	access— 3
149	149	‘‘(A) which results from a good faith, but 4
150	150	erroneous, interpretation of subsection (a) or 5
151	151	(h); or 6
152	152	‘‘(B) which is requested by the individual. 7
153	153	‘‘(3) D
154	154	AMAGES.—In any action brought under 8
155	155	paragraph (1), upon a finding of liability on the part 9
156	156	of the defendant, the defendant shall be liable to the 10
157	157	plaintiff in an amount equal to the sum of— 11
158	158	‘‘(A) the greater of— 12
159	159	‘‘(i) $5,000 for each act of unauthor-13
160	160	ized access or disclosure with respect to 14
161	161	which such defendant is found liable; or 15
162	162	‘‘(ii) the sum of— 16
163	163	‘‘(I) the actual damages sus-17
164	164	tained by the plaintiff as a result of 18
165	165	such unauthorized access or disclo-19
166	166	sure, plus 20
167	167	‘‘(II) in the case of a willful ac-21
168	168	cess or disclosure or an access or dis-22
169	169	closure which is the result of gross 23
170	170	negligence, punitive damages, plus 24
171	171	‘‘(B) the costs of the action, plus 25
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175	175	‘‘(C) reasonable attorneys fees, except that 1
176	176	if the defendant is the United States, reason-2
177	177	able attorneys fees may be awarded only if the 3
178	178	plaintiff is the prevailing party. 4
179	179	‘‘(4) P
180	180	ERIOD FOR BRINGING ACTION .—Notwith-5
181	181	standing any other provision of law, an action to en-6
182	182	force any liability created under this section may be 7
183	183	brought, without regard to the amount in con-8
184	184	troversy, at any time within 2 years after the date 9
185	185	of discovery by the plaintiff of the unauthorized dis-10
186	186	closure or access. 11
187	187	‘‘(5) N
188	188	OTIFICATION OF UNLAWFUL DISCLOSURE 12
189	189	OR ACCESS.—If any person is criminally charged by 13
190	190	indictment or information with disclosing or access-14
191	191	ing any information that pertains to an individual in 15
192	192	violation of subsection (a) or (h), the Commissioner 16
193	193	of Social Security shall notify such individual as 17
194	194	soon as practicable of such disclosure or access. The 18
195	195	Commissioner shall also notify such individual if a 19
196	196	Federal or State agency (upon notice to the Com-20
197	197	missioner by such Federal or State agency) proposes 21
198	198	an administrative determination as to disciplinary or 22
199	199	adverse action against an employee arising from the 23
200	200	employee’s unauthorized disclosure or access of the 24
201	201	individual’s information. The notice described in this 25
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205	205	subsection shall include the date of the unauthorized 1
206	206	disclosure or access and the rights of the individual 2
207	207	under such administrative determination.’’. 3
208	208	SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIONS. 4
209	209	Section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 5
210	210	1301) is further amended by adding after subsection (i), 6
211	211	as added by section 3, the following: 7
212	212	‘‘(j) I
213	213	NVESTIGATION ANDREPORT.— 8
214	214	‘‘(1) I
215	215	NVESTIGATION.—The Inspector General 9
216	216	of the Social Security Administration shall inves-10
217	217	tigate each disclosure in violation of subsection (a) 11
218	218	and each access of a beneficiary data system in vio-12
219	219	lation of subsection (h). 13
220	220	‘‘(2) T
221	221	REATMENT OF DISCLOSURE OR AC -14
222	222	CESS.—For the purposes of this subsection, the In-15
223	223	spector General may, if the Inspector General deter-16
224	224	mines appropriate, treat a series of violations of sub-17
225	225	section (a) or (h) as a single violation. 18
226	226	‘‘(3) R
227	227	EPORT.—Not later than 30 days after 19
228	228	the Inspector General becomes aware of a violation 20
229	229	of subsection (a) or (h), the Inspector General shall 21
230	230	submit to Congress a report on such violation, which 22
231	231	shall include— 23
232	232	‘‘(A) a detailed description of the violation; 24
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236	236	‘‘(B) a risk assessment of any threat to the 1
237	237	privacy of any individual whose information was 2
238	238	disclosed or accessed, national security, cyberse-3
239	239	curity, or the integrity of the applicable bene-4
240	240	ficiary data system as a result of the violation; 5
241	241	and 6
242	242	‘‘(C) a detailed description of any stopped 7
243	243	payment during the unauthorized use or ac-8
244	244	cess.’’. 9
245	245	SEC. 5. PRIVACY REGULATIONS. 10
246	246	Notwithstanding this Act and the amendments made 11
247	247	by this Act, part 401 of title 20 of the Code of Federal 12
248	248	Regulations, as in effect on January 19, 2025, shall have 13
249	249	the force and effect of law. 14
250	250	SEC. 6. GAO STUDY AND INTERIM REPORTS. 15
251	251	(a) I
252	252	NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 16
253	253	date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller of the 17
254	254	United States shall submit to the Committee on Finance 18
255	255	of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of 19
256	256	the House of Representatives a report including the fol-20
257	257	lowing information: 21
258	258	(1) The results of a study on the effects of the 22
259	259	changes made to section 1106 of the Social Security 23
260	260	Act by this Act, and by any subsequent Acts. 24
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264	264	(2) A summary of any investigations conducted 1
265	265	under section 1106(i). 2
266	266	(3) Any convictions under section 1106(a). 3
267	267	(4) Any civil actions brought under section 4
268	268	1106(j), including the results of such civil action. 5
269	269	(b) I
270	270	NTERIMREPORTS.—Not later than 1 month 6
271	271	after the date of enactment of this Act, and monthly there-7
272	272	after until such time as the report required under sub-8
273	273	section (a) is submitted, the Comptroller of the United 9
274	274	States shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means 10
275	275	of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 11
276	276	Finance of the Senate an interim report on the informa-12
277	277	tion required under subsection (a), including the status 13
278	278	of the study described in paragraph (1) of such subsection. 14
279	279	SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 15
280	280	The amendments made by sections 2, 3, and 4 of this 16
281	281	Act shall apply to violations of section 1106 of the Social 17
282	282	Security Act occurring on or after the date of enactment 18
283	283	of this Act. 19
284	284	Æ
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