Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB170 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 170
5	5	To prohibit the appointment of former fossil fuel executive officers and fossil
6	6	fuel lobbyists as the heads of certain departments, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	JANUARY21, 2025
9	9	Mr. M
10	10	ARKEY(for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill;
11	11	which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu-
12	12	rity and Governmental Affairs
13	13	A BILL
14	14	To prohibit the appointment of former fossil fuel executive
15	15	officers and fossil fuel lobbyists as the heads of certain
16	16	departments, and for other purposes.
17	17	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
18	18	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
19	19	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
20	20	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Banning In Govern-4
21	21	ment Oil Industry Lobbyists from the Cabinet Act’’ or the 5
22	22	‘‘BIG OIL from the Cabinet Act’’. 6
23	23	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7
24	24	In this Act: 8
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27	27	•S 170 IS
28	28	(1) COVERED DEPARTMENT HEAD .—The term 1
29	29	‘‘covered department head’’ means the— 2
30	30	(A) Chief of Staff to the President; 3
31	31	(B) Chief of Staff to the Vice President; 4
32	32	(C) Director of the Office of Management 5
33	33	and Budget; 6
34	34	(D) Chairman of the Council on Environ-7
35	35	mental Quality; 8
36	36	(E) Director of the Office of Science and 9
37	37	Technology Policy; 10
38	38	(F) Executive Director of the United 11
39	39	States Global Change Research Program; 12
40	40	(G) Secretary of Energy; 13
41	41	(H) Administrator of the Energy Informa-14
42	42	tion Administration; 15
43	43	(I) Administrator of the National Oceanic 16
44	44	and Atmospheric Administration; 17
45	45	(J) Administrator of the National Aero-18
46	46	nautics and Space Administration; 19
47	47	(K) Secretary of Transportation; 20
48	48	(L) Deputy Administrator of the National 21
49	49	Highway Traffic Safety Administration; 22
50	50	(M) Administrator of the Pipeline and 23
51	51	Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; 24
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54	54	•S 170 IS
55	55	(N) Chairman of the Federal Energy Reg-1
56	56	ulatory Commission; 2
57	57	(O) Secretary of Agriculture; 3
58	58	(P) Secretary of the Interior; 4
59	59	(Q) Secretary of Defense; 5
60	60	(R) Administrator of the Environmental 6
61	61	Protection Agency; and 7
62	62	(S) Secretary of State. 8
63	63	(2) C
64	64	OVERED POLITICAL APPOINTEE .—The 9
65	65	term ‘‘covered political appointee’’ means a political 10
66	66	appointee, as defined in section 714(h) of title 38, 11
67	67	United States Code, at— 12
68	68	(A) the Department of the Interior; 13
69	69	(B) the Environmental Protection Agency; 14
70	70	(C) the Department of Energy; 15
71	71	(D) the Federal Energy Regulatory Com-16
72	72	mission; 17
73	73	(E) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 18
74	74	Administration; 19
75	75	(F) the Council on Environmental Quality; 20
76	76	(G) the Office of Science and Technology 21
77	77	Policy; 22
78	78	(H) the Office of Management and Budg-23
79	79	et; and 24
80	80	(I) the Department of State. 25
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83	83	•S 170 IS
84	84	(3) EXECUTIVE OFFICER.—The term ‘‘executive 1
85	85	officer’’— 2
86	86	(A) means, with respect to an enterprise— 3
87	87	(i) the president; 4
88	88	(ii) any vice president in charge of a 5
89	89	principal business unit, division, or func-6
90	90	tion, including sales, administration, or fi-7
91	91	nance; 8
92	92	(iii) any other officer who performs a 9
93	93	policy-making function; or 10
94	94	(iv) an executive officer of a sub-11
95	95	sidiary of the enterprise if the executive of-12
96	96	ficer of the subsidiary performs policy- 13
97	97	making functions for the enterprise; and 14
98	98	(B) does not include an employee of a fos-15
99	99	sil fuel entity that works in, or is in charge of, 16
100	100	a division principally responsible for the re-17
101	101	search, development, or deployment of— 18
102	102	(i) wind energy; 19
103	103	(ii) solar energy; or 20
104	104	(iii) any other renewable energy 21
105	105	source. 22
106	106	(4) F
107	107	OSSIL FUEL.—The term ‘‘fossil fuel’’ 23
108	108	means natural gas, coal, oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, or 24
109	109	jet fuel. 25
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112	112	•S 170 IS
113	113	(5) FOSSIL FUEL ENTITY .—The term ‘‘fossil 1
114	114	fuel entity’’ means an entity that is in the business 2
115	115	of extracting or producing fossil fuel. 3
116	116	(6) F
117	117	OSSIL FUEL LOBBYIST.—The term ‘‘fossil 4
118	118	fuel lobbyist’’ means a lobbyist, as defined in section 5
119	119	3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 6
120	120	1602), that is registered or is required to register 7
121	121	under section 4(a) of that Act (2 U.S.C. 1603(a)), 8
122	122	who principally lobbies— 9
123	123	(A) for not less than 1 fossil fuel entity or 10
124	124	fossil fuel trade association; and 11
125	125	(B) on issues relating to the extraction or 12
126	126	production of fossil fuels. 13
127	127	(7) F
128	128	OSSIL FUEL TRADE ASSOCIATION .—The 14
129	129	term ‘‘fossil fuel trade association’’ means a trade 15
130	130	association that principally represents one or more 16
131	131	fossil fuel entities on issues relating to the extraction 17
132	132	or production of fossil fuels. 18
133	133	SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF APPOINTMENT OF FOSSIL FUEL 19
134	134	EXECUTIVES AND LOBBYISTS. 20
135	135	No individual that has served as an executive officer 21
136	136	of a fossil fuel entity, a fossil fuel lobbyist, or an executive 22
137	137	officer of a fossil fuel trade association for any period of 23
138	138	time during the 10-year period preceding the date of ap-24
139	139	pointment or service shall— 25
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142	142	•S 170 IS
143	143	(1) be appointed to serve as a covered depart-1
144	144	ment head or a covered political appointee; or 2
145	145	(2) perform the functions and duties of a cov-3
146	146	ered department head or a covered political ap-4
147	147	pointee in an acting capacity. 5
148	148	Æ
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