Sponsors (14)
Expands ethics and disclosure rules for Special Government Employees, creates a public SGE database, requires waiver posting, and restricts certain SGE contacts with large-company employers.
Official title: Amend title 18, United States Code, to modify the definition of special Government employee, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 10, 2025 by Elizabeth Warren · Last progress April 10, 2025
The bill tightens ethics rules and greatly increases transparency and enforcement to reduce SGE conflicts and protect taxpayers, but does so at the cost of added administrative/IT expenses, potential loss of outside expertise, some business disruption, and privacy/implementation tradeoffs.
Taxpayers, watchdogs, journalists, and the public gain broader, searchable transparency because SGE service records, timely waiver postings, and a free machine‑downloadable database will make who serves, when, and why easier to find and audit.
Federal agencies and the public get stronger and clearer ethics enforcement because OGE rulemaking, clarified agency review duties, and DOJ criminal enforcement will close loopholes and improve consistent application of SGE rules.
Taxpayers and competing contractors benefit from reduced risk of undue influence because SGEs who own or run large firms will face limits on lobbying or influencing agency actions, helping fairer procurement and enforcement outcomes.
Agencies and taxpayers will incur higher administrative and IT costs because agencies must maintain a public, feature‑rich database, expand review work, and implement new disclosure and tracking rules.
Federal agencies and potential external advisers risk losing access to outside expertise because public disclosures, criminal exposure for some unpaid advisors, and stricter limits may deter experts from serving as SGEs.
Large contractors and their executives may face operational disruption because restrictions on senior executives communicating with agencies and unclear ownership definitions could limit normal contractor‑agency interactions.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Tightens ethics rules for Special Government Employees (SGEs) by expanding conflict-of-interest coverage, requiring more public disclosure, and restricting interactions between SGEs and large companies that employ them. It creates a public, searchable database of many SGEs, requires public posting of certain conflict waivers, and makes SGEs who serve long enough subject to the same ethics rules as regular employees.