[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1491 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1491
To amend title 18, United States Code, to modify the definition of
special Government employee, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 10, 2025
Ms. Warren (for herself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Peters, Mr. Lujan, Mr.
Merkley, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Padilla, Mr.
Schiff, Mr. Welch, and Mr. Kelly) introduced the following bill; which
was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to modify the definition of
special Government employee, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``SGE Ethics Enforcement Reform Act of
2025'' or the ``SEER Act 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Some special Government employees have substantial
financial conflicts of interest due to their other business
activities while in Federal service.
(2) Special Government employees are subject to the
criminal conflict-of-interest statute applicable to full-time
Government employees, section 208 of title 18, United States
Code. However, Federal employees, including special Government
employees, do not have to resolve conflicts under that
provision if the relevant work does not constitute a particular
matter.
(3) Unlike senior executive branch employees under chapter
131 of title 5, United States Code, the vast majority of
special Government employees are not required to make their
financial disclosure reports public, thus concealing from the
public their potential financial conflicts of interest.
(4) The vast majority of special Government employees in
the Federal Government serve on advisory committees and have a
limited role in Government decision-making. But a select number
of special Government employees have assumed authority within
the Federal Government commensurate with a senior or very
senior full-time Federal employee.
(5) The executive branch has not notified the public or
Congress when it uses special Government employees to perform
high-level responsibilities.
(6) The executive branch has permitted employees to retain
special Government employee status beyond the statutory limit
of 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive days.
SEC. 3. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.
Title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in section 202(a), in the first sentence, by inserting
``and who has been designated as a special Government employee
on a Notification of Personnel Action (Standard Form 50 or
equivalent) of the officer or employee,'' after ``basis,''; and
(2) in section 208--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) by striking ``(a) Except'' and
inserting ``(a)(1) Except''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) In the case of a special Government employee who is not on an
advisory committee or who serves as the chair or vice chair of an
advisory committee, paragraph (1) shall apply to a discrete and
identifiable component of a matter that on its own would constitute a
particular matter in which, to the knowledge of the special Government
employee, the organization in which the special Government employee is
serving as officer, director, trustee, general partner, or employee has
a financial interest.'';
(B) in subsection (b)--
(i) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``, with
the concurrence of a designated official at the
Office of Government Ethics if the officer or
employee is a special Government employee,''
after ``such official''; and
(ii) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``,
other than the chair or vice chair of the
committee,'' after ``committee'';
(C) in subsection (d)--
(i) in paragraph (1), in the first
sentence, by striking ``Upon'' and inserting
``Except as provided in paragraph (2), upon'';
(ii) by redesignating paragraph (2) as
paragraph (3); and
(iii) by inserting after paragraph (1) the
following:
``(2) In the case of a special Government employee who is not
serving on an advisory committee within the meaning of chapter 10 of
title 5 or a special Government employee who is serving as chair or
vice chair on such an advisory committee, any waiver or exemption
granted under subsection (b)(1) shall be proactively made publicly
available via a searchable online database not later than 14 days after
the date on which the waiver is issued.''.
SEC. 4. RESTRICTION ON COMMUNICATIONS WITH AGENCIES.
(a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``large company''
means--
(1) any for-profit company that has greater than an average
of $1,000,000,000 in market capitalization or revenue for the
previous 3-year period;
(2) any Federal contractor that received greater than
$100,000,000 in annual revenue from the Federal Government
during the previous 3-year period; and
(3) any for-profit company that exerts monopolistic or
monopsonistic control over a significant share of the market in
its particular industry, as defined by regulation by the
Director of the Office of Government Ethics, in consultation
with the Attorney General.
(b) Restriction.--No special Government employee, as defined in
section 202 of title 18, United States Code, who is not on an advisory
committee or a chair or vice chair on an advisory committee may have
direct or indirect communications in their official capacity with an
agency or office that contracts with, regulates, or has a pending
enforcement action against a large company--
(1) that the special Government employee owns; or
(2) for which the special Government employee serves as a
senior executive or director.
(c) Regulations.--The Office of Government Ethics shall promulgate
regulations carrying out this section, including to define ownership of
a large company.
SEC. 5. DATABASE OF SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.
Section 1103 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``(d)(1) In this subsection, the term `covered individual'--
``(A) means an individual who is a special Government
employee who is not serving on an advisory committee; and
``(B) does not include an individual described in paragraph
(1) or (2) of section 13107(a).
``(2) The Director, in coordination with the Office of Government
Ethics, shall maintain to the extent technically practicable, keep
current, and make available to the public over the internet, without a
fee or other access charge, in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable
manner, an electronic database that contains the name of each covered
individual, a rolling tally of the number of days the person has served
as a special Government employee, and a description of why the
individual was designated as a special Government employee rather than
a regular employee.''.
SEC. 6. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS OF SPECIAL GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES.
Title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in section 13103(f)--
(A) in paragraph (8), by striking ``(other than a
special Government employee)'';
(B) in paragraph (11), by striking ``and at the
end'';
(C) in paragraph (12), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(13) A special Government employee who--
``(A) is not serving on an advisory committee or is
serving as a chair or vice chair on an advisory
committee; and
``(B) is not serving in a position classified as a
general schedule position at the GS-9 level or below,
with limited responsibilities, closely supervised by a
career Federal employee.
``(14) For any special Government employee claiming an
exemption from filing a public report this subsection, the
relevant agency ethics officer shall review to ensure the
exemption may be properly applied to that special Government
employee.''; and
(2) in section 13109(a)(1), by inserting ``, except as
provided in section 13103(f)(13),'' after ``title 18)''.
SEC. 7. MODIFICATIONS OF ONLINE ACCESS TO CERTAIN FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
STATEMENTS AND RELATED FORMS.
Section 1(a)(2) of the Act entitled ``An Act to modify the
requirements under the STOCK Act regarding online access to certain
financial disclosure statements and related forms'', approved April 15,
2013 (5 U.S.C. 13107 note) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(F) Any special Government employee of the
executive branch who--
``(i) is not serving on an advisory
committee or is serving as a chair or vice
chair on an advisory committee; or
``(ii) is not serving in a position
classified as a general schedule position at
the GS-9 level or below, with limited
responsibilities, closely supervised by a
career Federal employee.''.
SEC. 8. SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE RULE.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), in the case
of a special Government employee, as defined in section 202 of title
18, United States Code, who has served in their department or agency
for more than 60 days during the immediately preceding period of 365
consecutive days, all Federal ethics rules shall apply to such special
Government employee to the same extent that such rules apply to regular
Government employees.
(b) Exception.--In the case of a special Government employee, as
defined in section 202 of title 18, United States Code, who has served
in their department or agency for more than 130 during the immediately
preceding period of 365 consecutive days, section 209 of title 18,
United States Code, and subchapter III of chapter 131 of title 5,
United States Code, shall apply to such special Government employee to
the same extent that the section applies to regular Government
employees, except that such section 209 shall apply whether the special
Government employee serves with or without pay.
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