[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 490 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 490
To provide that unauthorized access to the central payment systems of
the Bureau of the Fiscal Service is unlawful.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 6 (legislative day, February 5), 2025
Mr. Schumer (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Warren, Mr. Peters, Mrs.
Murray, and Mr. Warner) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide that unauthorized access to the central payment systems of
the Bureau of the Fiscal Service is unlawful.
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 ``Protecting Americans' Privacy Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO THE CENTRAL PAYMENT SYSTEMS OF THE
BUREAU OF THE FISCAL SERVICE.
(a) Prohibitions.--
(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for an individual to
knowingly access or exercise administrative control over any
public money receipt or payment system of the Department of the
Treasury (including any payment system of the Bureau of the
Fiscal Service (or any successor thereof)) if the individual--
(A) is not--
(i) a Federal employee; or
(ii) a Federal contractor whose current
continuous service in a position on an agency's
contract, as of the date of such access, is for
a period of at least 1 year;
(B) is a Federal employee--
(i) who is employed as the chief executive
officer, chief financial officer, chief
operating officer, or a position of similar
stature at a covered entity;
(ii) who serves on the Board of Directors
of a covered entity;
(iii) who has control over a covered
entity; or
(iv) whose current continuous service in a
position in the civil service (as that term is
defined in section 2101 of title 5, United
States Code), as of the date of such access, is
for a period of less than 1 year; or
(C) is a covered employee who--
(i) has a conflict of interest as described
in section 208 of title 18, United States Code,
with respect to such central payment system, or
(ii) has not signed a written ethics
agreement with either the covered employee's
respective agency or the Office of Government
Ethics.
(2) Facilitation of access.--It shall be unlawful for an
individual to facilitate access to or the exercise of
administrative control over any such public money receipt or
payment system, or to knowingly permit such access or exercise
of control, which such individual knows or should know is in
violation of paragraph (1).
(b) Enforcement by Individuals.--
(1) In general.--Any persons harmed by a violation of
subsection (a) may file a civil action in any district court of
the United States or State court of general jurisdiction to
recover from the individual who engaged in the violation
appropriate relief described in paragraph (2).
(2) Relief.--In an action under this subsection,
appropriate relief includes--
(A) preliminary and other equitable or declaratory
relief, as appropriate;
(B) damages as described in paragraph (3);
(C) punitive damages, as appropriate; and
(D) reasonable attorney's fees and other reasonable
litigation costs.
(3) Damages.--In an action under this subsection, a court
may assess as damages an amount equal to the greater of--
(A) the sum of the actual damages suffered by the
plaintiff; or
(B) $250,000 for each unauthorized access relating
to the plaintiff.
(4) Joint and several liability.--Any individual who
violates subsection (a)(1) and any individual who violates
subsection (a)(2) shall be jointly and severally liable to the
extent such violations relate to the same access.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Agency.--The term ``agency''--
(A) has the meaning given the term ``Executive
agency'' in section 105 of title 5, United States Code;
and
(B) includes each component of the Executive Office
of the President, including each such component
established under title 3, United States Code.
(2) Control.--The term ``control'' means, with respect to
an entity--
(A) ownership of, or the power to vote, more than
50 percent of the outstanding shares of any class of
voting security of the entity;
(B) control over the election of a majority of the
directors of the entity (or of individuals exercising
similar functions); or
(C) the power to exercise a controlling influence
over the management of the entity.
(3) Covered employee.--The term ``covered employee''
includes the following individuals:
(A) Each individual who is--
(i) a noncareer employee; and
(ii) described in any of paragraphs (3)
through (8) of section 13103(f) of title 5,
United States Code.
(B) Each individual serving in a position with
respect to which a determination has been made under
section 7511(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code.
(C) Each special Government employee, as defined in
section 202(a) of title 18, United States Code.
(4) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means a
corporation (and the subsidiaries it controls), company,
association, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company,
or any other organization or institution, including an
organization described in section 501(c) of the Internal
Revenue Code.
(5) Federal contractor.--The term ``Federal contractor''
means an individual, other than a Federal employee, working
under a contract with an agency.
(6) Federal employee.--The term ``Federal employee'' means
an individual employed by or holding office in an agency.
(7) Noncareer employee.--The term ``noncareer employee''
means an individual who is--
(A) serving in a position to which the President
appointed the individual (without regard to whether the
advice and consent of the Senate was required with
respect to that appointment), other than an individual
who is--
(i) a member of a uniformed service, as
that term is defined in section 210(m) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 410(m)); or
(ii) a member of the Foreign Service
serving under a career appointment, as
described in section 301 of the Foreign Service
Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3941);
(B) a noncareer appointee, as that term is defined
in section 3132(a) of title 5, United States Code;
(C) serving in a position in a Federal executive
system (other than the Senior Executive Service
established under subchapter II of chapter 31 of title
5, United States Code), if appointment to the position
is not made through merit-based procedures; or
(D) serving in a position with respect to which a
determination has been made under section 7511(b)(2) of
title 5, United States Code.
(d) No Inference.--Nothing in this section shall be construed as
creating any inference as to whether any act which occurred prior to
the enactment of this Act was lawful or otherwise permitted.
SEC. 3. CONFIDENTIALITY OF RETURNS AND RETURN INFORMATION UNDER
INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.
(a) In General.--Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
is amended by redesignating subsection (q) as subsection (r) and by
inserting after subsection (p) the following new subsection:
``(q) Prohibition on Disclosure to Certain Employees.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no return or
return information shall be disclosed by means of access to any public
money receipt or payment system of the Department of the Treasury
(including any payment system of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (or
any successor thereof)) to any individual described in subparagraph (B)
or (C) of section 2(a)(1) of the Protecting Americans' Privacy Act of
2025.''.
(b) Civil Damages for Unauthorized Inspection or Disclosure.--
(1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 7431 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(3) Inspection or disclosure by certain employees.--If
any individual described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of section
2(a)(1) of the Protecting Americans' Privacy Act of 2025
knowingly, or by reason of negligence, inspects or discloses
any return or return information with respect to a taxpayer in
violation of section 6103(q), such taxpayer may bring a civil
action for damages against such person in a district court of
the United States. In any action brought under this paragraph,
subsection (c)(1)(A) shall be applied by substituting
`$250,000' for `$1,000'.''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--Paragraph (1) of section 7431(a)
of such Code is amended by striking ``If any'' in paragraph (1)
and inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (3), if any''.
(c) No Inference.--Nothing in the amendments made by this section
shall be construed as creating any inference as to whether any
disclosure or inspection prior to the enactment of this Act was lawful
or permitted by section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
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