Sponsors (4)
The bill strengthens accountability and transparency by allowing forfeiture of retirement benefits for Members found to have likely engaged in misconduct and by preserving investigative records, while also protecting against retroactive discipline — but it risks severe financial penalties imposed before conviction, limits pardon relief, and creates new administrative and legal burdens for agencies and committees.
Members of Congress found by ethics investigators to have likely committed misconduct will no longer receive federal annuities or TSP funds, preventing those officials (and their beneficiaries) from benefiting from government retirement programs.
House and Senate ethics committees must preserve investigative records, increasing transparency and creating a clearer record for oversight and any future proceedings.
Members of Congress and ethics committees get clarity that new disciplinary standards only apply to conduct occurring after enactment, reducing legal uncertainty for current members and committees.
Members who resign before a formal conviction can permanently lose pension and TSP benefits based on an ethics subcommittee finding, imposing large financial losses on those individuals and their beneficiaries.
Prohibiting restoration of forfeited annuities by presidential pardon limits the President's clemency power for these cases, reducing an avenue for relief and raising separation-of-powers concerns for affected individuals.
Forfeiture provisions increase administrative burdens on OPM and TSP administrators (calculating attributable lump-sum credits, processing refunds, issuing regulations), which could delay benefits and consume taxpayer resources.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Removes pension/TSP credit and requires refunds/forfeitures for Members expelled or who resign after an ethics subcommittee finds substantial reason to believe misconduct occurred; applies to post-enactment conduct.
Official title: To provide that, if an individual is expelled from Congress or resigns from Congress in certain cases involving misconduct, any Member service previously rendered by that individual shall be noncreditable for purposes of determining eligibility for an annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees Retirement System, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 3, 2026 by Zach Nunn · Last progress September 3, 2026
Makes congressional service noncreditable for federal annuity eligibility and benefits when a Member is expelled or resigns after an ethics subcommittee adopts a Statement of Alleged Violation finding substantial reason to believe misconduct occurred. It requires refunds or forfeiture of pension-related amounts tied to the Member service, preserves records, bars restoration by presidential pardon, and directs OPM to issue implementing regulations. Applies only to expulsions or ethics findings based in whole or in part on acts or conduct that occur after the law takes effect; does not apply retroactively to conduct that occurred entirely before enactment.