1 | 1 | | I |
---|
2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
---|
3 | 3 | | 1 |
---|
4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2455 |
---|
5 | 5 | | To require Executive agencies to limit the use of special Government employ- |
---|
6 | 6 | | ees to 130 days, to require the maintenance of a public database of |
---|
7 | 7 | | certain special Government employees, to require the release of financial |
---|
8 | 8 | | disclosures filed by certain special Government employees, and for other |
---|
9 | 9 | | purposes. |
---|
10 | 10 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
---|
11 | 11 | | MARCH27, 2025 |
---|
12 | 12 | | Mr. M |
---|
13 | 13 | | IN(for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, and Ms. NOR- |
---|
14 | 14 | | TON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee |
---|
15 | 15 | | on Oversight and Government Reform |
---|
16 | 16 | | A BILL |
---|
17 | 17 | | To require Executive agencies to limit the use of special |
---|
18 | 18 | | Government employees to 130 days, to require the main- |
---|
19 | 19 | | tenance of a public database of certain special Govern- |
---|
20 | 20 | | ment employees, to require the release of financial disclo- |
---|
21 | 21 | | sures filed by certain special Government employees, and |
---|
22 | 22 | | 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 ‘‘Special Government 4 |
---|
27 | 27 | | Employees Transparency Act of 2025’’. 5 |
---|
28 | 28 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:15 Apr 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2455.IH H2455 |
---|
29 | 29 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
---|
30 | 30 | | •HR 2455 IH |
---|
31 | 31 | | SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON THE USE OF SPECIAL GOVERN-1 |
---|
32 | 32 | | MENT EMPLOYEES. 2 |
---|
33 | 33 | | (a) D |
---|
34 | 34 | | EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘special 3 |
---|
35 | 35 | | Government employee’’ means an individual who— 4 |
---|
36 | 36 | | (1) is a special Government employee under 5 |
---|
37 | 37 | | section 202(a) of title 18, United States Code, or 6 |
---|
38 | 38 | | any other provision of Federal law; and 7 |
---|
39 | 39 | | (2) is employed by an agency, department, of-8 |
---|
40 | 40 | | fice, or other entity within the executive branch of 9 |
---|
41 | 41 | | the United States Government, without regard to 10 |
---|
42 | 42 | | whether employees of that agency, department, of-11 |
---|
43 | 43 | | fice, or entity are subject to the requirements of title 12 |
---|
44 | 44 | | 5, United States Code. 13 |
---|
45 | 45 | | (b) E |
---|
46 | 46 | | STABLISHMENT OF LIMIT.—Notwithstanding 14 |
---|
47 | 47 | | any other provision of law— 15 |
---|
48 | 48 | | (1) an individual who otherwise qualifies as a 16 |
---|
49 | 49 | | special Government employee shall cease to be a spe-17 |
---|
50 | 50 | | cial Government employee after having served as a 18 |
---|
51 | 51 | | special Government employee for 130 days, regard-19 |
---|
52 | 52 | | less of whether those days were consecutive, during 20 |
---|
53 | 53 | | any period of 365 consecutive days; and 21 |
---|
54 | 54 | | (2) if an individual described in paragraph (1) 22 |
---|
55 | 55 | | exceeds the 130-day threshold described in that 23 |
---|
56 | 56 | | paragraph— 24 |
---|
57 | 57 | | (A) the employing authority of the indi-25 |
---|
58 | 58 | | vidual shall, not later than 30 days after the 26 |
---|
59 | 59 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:15 Apr 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2455.IH H2455 |
---|
60 | 60 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
---|
61 | 61 | | •HR 2455 IH |
---|
62 | 62 | | date of cessation of such special Government 1 |
---|
63 | 63 | | employee status— 2 |
---|
64 | 64 | | (i) determine the appropriate employ-3 |
---|
65 | 65 | | ment classification for the individual in ac-4 |
---|
66 | 66 | | cordance with applicable civil service laws 5 |
---|
67 | 67 | | and regulations, including which position 6 |
---|
68 | 68 | | the individual shall be considered to occupy 7 |
---|
69 | 69 | | beginning on the date of that determina-8 |
---|
70 | 70 | | tion; 9 |
---|
71 | 71 | | (ii) with respect to the individual, fol-10 |
---|
72 | 72 | | low an appropriate applicable Federal per-11 |
---|
73 | 73 | | sonnel framework in a manner consistent 12 |
---|
74 | 74 | | with the duties and responsibilities of the 13 |
---|
75 | 75 | | position in which the individual is serving 14 |
---|
76 | 76 | | as determined under clause (i) and with 15 |
---|
77 | 77 | | the personnel management policies of the 16 |
---|
78 | 78 | | employing authority; and 17 |
---|
79 | 79 | | (iii) provide written notice to the indi-18 |
---|
80 | 80 | | vidual— 19 |
---|
81 | 81 | | (I) of the new classification de-20 |
---|
82 | 82 | | termination required under clause (i); 21 |
---|
83 | 83 | | and 22 |
---|
84 | 84 | | (II) that the individual may ap-23 |
---|
85 | 85 | | peal or seek review of the new classi-24 |
---|
86 | 86 | | fication determination through appeal 25 |
---|
87 | 87 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:15 Apr 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2455.IH H2455 |
---|
88 | 88 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 |
---|
89 | 89 | | •HR 2455 IH |
---|
90 | 90 | | and review procedures applicable to 1 |
---|
91 | 91 | | the position in which the individual is 2 |
---|
92 | 92 | | serving as determined under clause 3 |
---|
93 | 93 | | (i); and 4 |
---|
94 | 94 | | (B) the individual shall be subject to all 5 |
---|
95 | 95 | | applicable provisions of law, including legal obli-6 |
---|
96 | 96 | | gations and rights, relating to employees occu-7 |
---|
97 | 97 | | pying the position in which the individual is 8 |
---|
98 | 98 | | serving as determined under subparagraph 9 |
---|
99 | 99 | | (A)(i). 10 |
---|
100 | 100 | | (c) C |
---|
101 | 101 | | OUNTINGDAYS OFSERVICE.—For purposes of 11 |
---|
102 | 102 | | subsection (b), 1 full day of service shall be counted to-12 |
---|
103 | 103 | | ward the 130-day limit described in subsection (b)(1) for 13 |
---|
104 | 104 | | each day— 14 |
---|
105 | 105 | | (1) during which an individual has provided any 15 |
---|
106 | 106 | | service as a special Government employee that is 16 |
---|
107 | 107 | | purely administrative in nature, such as making a 17 |
---|
108 | 108 | | brief telephone call to confirm the date of a meeting 18 |
---|
109 | 109 | | or completing and filing personnel paperwork, for 19 |
---|
110 | 110 | | more than 1 hour; 20 |
---|
111 | 111 | | (2) during which the individual has performed 21 |
---|
112 | 112 | | any service as a special Government employee, such 22 |
---|
113 | 113 | | as reading official materials or substantively pre-23 |
---|
114 | 114 | | paring for a meeting, that is not purely administra-24 |
---|
115 | 115 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:15 Apr 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2455.IH H2455 |
---|
116 | 116 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 |
---|
117 | 117 | | •HR 2455 IH |
---|
118 | 118 | | tive in nature, regardless of the length of time spent 1 |
---|
119 | 119 | | performing such service; or 2 |
---|
120 | 120 | | (3) for which the individual has been com-3 |
---|
121 | 121 | | pensated by the Government for service as a special 4 |
---|
122 | 122 | | Government employee. 5 |
---|
123 | 123 | | SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY FOR SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EM-6 |
---|
124 | 124 | | PLOYEES. 7 |
---|
125 | 125 | | (a) D |
---|
126 | 126 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 |
---|
127 | 127 | | (1) A |
---|
128 | 128 | | DVISORY COMMITTEE .—The term ‘‘advi-9 |
---|
129 | 129 | | sory committee’’— 10 |
---|
130 | 130 | | (A) has the meaning given the term in sec-11 |
---|
131 | 131 | | tion 1001 of title 5, United States Code; and 12 |
---|
132 | 132 | | (B) does not include— 13 |
---|
133 | 133 | | (i) the United States DOGE Service, 14 |
---|
134 | 134 | | or any successor organization; 15 |
---|
135 | 135 | | (ii) the U.S. DOGE Service Tem-16 |
---|
136 | 136 | | porary Organization, or any successor or-17 |
---|
137 | 137 | | ganization; or 18 |
---|
138 | 138 | | (iii) any DOGE Team (as described in 19 |
---|
139 | 139 | | Executive Order 14158 (90 Fed. Reg. 20 |
---|
140 | 140 | | 8441), relating to establishing and imple-21 |
---|
141 | 141 | | menting the President’s ‘‘Department of 22 |
---|
142 | 142 | | Government Efficiency’’), or any successor 23 |
---|
143 | 143 | | organization. 24 |
---|
144 | 144 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:15 Apr 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2455.IH H2455 |
---|
145 | 145 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 |
---|
146 | 146 | | •HR 2455 IH |
---|
147 | 147 | | (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL PARTIES .— 1 |
---|
148 | 148 | | The term ‘‘appropriate congressional parties’’ 2 |
---|
149 | 149 | | means— 3 |
---|
150 | 150 | | (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 4 |
---|
151 | 151 | | and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 5 |
---|
152 | 152 | | (B) the Committee on Oversight and Gov-6 |
---|
153 | 153 | | ernment Reform of the House of Representa-7 |
---|
154 | 154 | | tives; 8 |
---|
155 | 155 | | (C) the majority leader of the Senate; 9 |
---|
156 | 156 | | (D) the Speaker of the House of Rep-10 |
---|
157 | 157 | | resentatives; 11 |
---|
158 | 158 | | (E) the minority leader of the Senate; and 12 |
---|
159 | 159 | | (F) the minority leader of the House of 13 |
---|
160 | 160 | | Representatives. 14 |
---|
161 | 161 | | (3) C |
---|
162 | 162 | | OVERED SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EM -15 |
---|
163 | 163 | | PLOYEE.—The term ‘‘covered special Government 16 |
---|
164 | 164 | | employee’’ means any individual— 17 |
---|
165 | 165 | | (A) who is a special Government employee 18 |
---|
166 | 166 | | under section 202(a) of title 18, United States 19 |
---|
167 | 167 | | Code, or any other provision of Federal law; 20 |
---|
168 | 168 | | and 21 |
---|
169 | 169 | | (B)(i) who is not serving on an advisory 22 |
---|
170 | 170 | | committee; 23 |
---|
171 | 171 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:15 Apr 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2455.IH H2455 |
---|
172 | 172 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 |
---|
173 | 173 | | •HR 2455 IH |
---|
174 | 174 | | (ii) whose responsibilities are substantially 1 |
---|
175 | 175 | | comparable to the types of duties that are clas-2 |
---|
176 | 176 | | sified at the GS–11 level or above; and 3 |
---|
177 | 177 | | (iii) who is not appointed to a position in 4 |
---|
178 | 178 | | the civil service that may only be filled by a 5 |
---|
179 | 179 | | full-time student enrolled in an institution of 6 |
---|
180 | 180 | | higher education, as defined in section 102 of 7 |
---|
181 | 181 | | the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8 |
---|
182 | 182 | | 1002). 9 |
---|
183 | 183 | | (4) D |
---|
184 | 184 | | IRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 10 |
---|
185 | 185 | | the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 11 |
---|
186 | 186 | | (5) E |
---|
187 | 187 | | XECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 12 |
---|
188 | 188 | | agency’’— 13 |
---|
189 | 189 | | (A) has the meaning given the term in sec-14 |
---|
190 | 190 | | tion 105 of title 5, United States Code; and 15 |
---|
191 | 191 | | (B) includes the Executive Office of the 16 |
---|
192 | 192 | | President. 17 |
---|
193 | 193 | | (6) N |
---|
194 | 194 | | ATIONAL DEFENSE INFORMATION .—The 18 |
---|
195 | 195 | | term ‘‘national defense information’’ has the mean-19 |
---|
196 | 196 | | ing given the term ‘‘classified information’’ in sec-20 |
---|
197 | 197 | | tion 798(b) of title 18, United States Code. 21 |
---|
198 | 198 | | (7) SGE |
---|
199 | 199 | | DATABASE.—The term ‘‘SGE Data-22 |
---|
200 | 200 | | base’’ means the database established under sub-23 |
---|
201 | 201 | | section (b)(1). 24 |
---|
202 | 202 | | (b) SGE D |
---|
203 | 203 | | ATABASE.— 25 |
---|
204 | 204 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:15 Apr 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2455.IH H2455 |
---|
205 | 205 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 |
---|
206 | 206 | | •HR 2455 IH |
---|
207 | 207 | | (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 210 days 1 |
---|
208 | 208 | | after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, 2 |
---|
209 | 209 | | in consultation with the Director of the Office of 3 |
---|
210 | 210 | | Government Ethics, shall establish a searchable, 4 |
---|
211 | 211 | | sortable database for the public release of, with re-5 |
---|
212 | 212 | | spect to each covered special Government em-6 |
---|
213 | 213 | | ployee— 7 |
---|
214 | 214 | | (A) the name of the covered special Gov-8 |
---|
215 | 215 | | ernment employee; 9 |
---|
216 | 216 | | (B) the title of the position of the covered 10 |
---|
217 | 217 | | special Government employee; 11 |
---|
218 | 218 | | (C) the rate of basic pay, if any, of the 12 |
---|
219 | 219 | | covered special Government employee; 13 |
---|
220 | 220 | | (D) the employing Executive agency of the 14 |
---|
221 | 221 | | covered special Government employee; 15 |
---|
222 | 222 | | (E) the employing organizational compo-16 |
---|
223 | 223 | | nent of the employing Executive agency of the 17 |
---|
224 | 224 | | covered special Government employee; 18 |
---|
225 | 225 | | (F) the appointment date of the covered 19 |
---|
226 | 226 | | special Government employee; and 20 |
---|
227 | 227 | | (G) if applicable, the termination date of 21 |
---|
228 | 228 | | the covered special Government employee. 22 |
---|
229 | 229 | | (2) P |
---|
230 | 230 | | UBLIC AVAILABILITY.— 23 |
---|
231 | 231 | | (A) I |
---|
232 | 232 | | N GENERAL.—The SGE Database 24 |
---|
233 | 233 | | shall be accessible to the public through the of-25 |
---|
234 | 234 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:15 Apr 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2455.IH H2455 |
---|
235 | 235 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9 |
---|
236 | 236 | | •HR 2455 IH |
---|
237 | 237 | | ficial website of the Office of Personnel Man-1 |
---|
238 | 238 | | agement without charge and without a require-2 |
---|
239 | 239 | | ment that users register for access. 3 |
---|
240 | 240 | | (B) R |
---|
241 | 241 | | EQUIREMENTS.—The Director shall 4 |
---|
242 | 242 | | ensure that the SGE Database— 5 |
---|
243 | 243 | | (i) allows access through an applica-6 |
---|
244 | 244 | | tion programming interface; and 7 |
---|
245 | 245 | | (ii) is fully compliant with— 8 |
---|
246 | 246 | | (I) section 508 of the Rehabilita-9 |
---|
247 | 247 | | tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d); 10 |
---|
248 | 248 | | and 11 |
---|
249 | 249 | | (II) the most recent Web Content 12 |
---|
250 | 250 | | Accessibility Guidelines (or successor 13 |
---|
251 | 251 | | guidelines). 14 |
---|
252 | 252 | | (3) C |
---|
253 | 253 | | URRENCY OF INFORMATION .—The head of 15 |
---|
254 | 254 | | each Executive agency shall— 16 |
---|
255 | 255 | | (A) notify the Director of each appoint-17 |
---|
256 | 256 | | ment, designation, conversion, termination, or 18 |
---|
257 | 257 | | other personnel action involving or affecting a 19 |
---|
258 | 258 | | covered special Government employee not later 20 |
---|
259 | 259 | | than 30 days after the date of such personnel 21 |
---|
260 | 260 | | action; and 22 |
---|
261 | 261 | | (B) from time to time, review information 23 |
---|
262 | 262 | | contained in the SGE Database that pertains to 24 |
---|
263 | 263 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:15 Apr 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2455.IH H2455 |
---|
264 | 264 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10 |
---|
265 | 265 | | •HR 2455 IH |
---|
266 | 266 | | that Executive agency to ensure that the infor-1 |
---|
267 | 267 | | mation is current, complete, and accurate. 2 |
---|
268 | 268 | | (4) O |
---|
269 | 269 | | VERSIGHT OF SUBMISSIONS .— 3 |
---|
270 | 270 | | (A) I |
---|
271 | 271 | | N GENERAL.—The Director shall con-4 |
---|
272 | 272 | | duct such periodic audits as may be necessary 5 |
---|
273 | 273 | | to ensure that Executive agencies have estab-6 |
---|
274 | 274 | | lished adequate procedures for submitting cur-7 |
---|
275 | 275 | | rent, complete, and accurate information relat-8 |
---|
276 | 276 | | ing to covered special Government employees 9 |
---|
277 | 277 | | for inclusion in the SGE Database. 10 |
---|
278 | 278 | | (B) R |
---|
279 | 279 | | EPORT.—Not later than 3 years after 11 |
---|
280 | 280 | | the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 12 |
---|
281 | 281 | | shall submit a report to the appropriate con-13 |
---|
282 | 282 | | gressional parties that— 14 |
---|
283 | 283 | | (i) describes the efforts undertaken to 15 |
---|
284 | 284 | | comply with paragraph (1); and 16 |
---|
285 | 285 | | (ii) assesses the degree to which infor-17 |
---|
286 | 286 | | mation in the SGE Database is current, 18 |
---|
287 | 287 | | complete, and accurate. 19 |
---|
288 | 288 | | (c) P |
---|
289 | 289 | | UBLICAVAILABILITY OFFINANCIALDISCLO-20 |
---|
290 | 290 | | SUREREPORTS.—Notwithstanding section 13109 of title 21 |
---|
291 | 291 | | 5, United States Code, each Executive agency shall make 22 |
---|
292 | 292 | | publicly available any financial disclosure report filed by 23 |
---|
293 | 293 | | a covered special Government employee with the Executive 24 |
---|
294 | 294 | | agency after the date of enactment of this Act, using the 25 |
---|
295 | 295 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:15 Apr 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2455.IH H2455 |
---|
296 | 296 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 11 |
---|
297 | 297 | | •HR 2455 IH |
---|
298 | 298 | | procedures established under section 13107 of title 5, 1 |
---|
299 | 299 | | United States Code, except that this subsection shall not 2 |
---|
300 | 300 | | apply to any financial disclosure report— 3 |
---|
301 | 301 | | (1) that is filed by an individual described in 4 |
---|
302 | 302 | | paragraph (1) or (2) of section 13107(a) of title 5, 5 |
---|
303 | 303 | | United States Code; 6 |
---|
304 | 304 | | (2) that is filed by a special Government em-7 |
---|
305 | 305 | | ployee who is not a covered special Government em-8 |
---|
306 | 306 | | ployee; or 9 |
---|
307 | 307 | | (3) that contains national defense information. 10 |
---|
308 | 308 | | Æ |
---|
309 | 309 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:15 Apr 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2455.IH H2455 |
---|
310 | 310 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
---|