Sponsors (19)
Last progress June 5, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 5, 2025 by Dave Min
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Requires faster, standardized, and public electronic filing of financial-disclosure reports for Members of Congress and staff, senior executive-branch employees, judicial officers, and certain Federal Reserve bank officers; extends specific ethics and disclosure laws to presidents, vice presidents, and Federal Reserve bank leaders; strengthens reporting rules, penalties, and conflict-of-interest/divestiture authorities. Agencies and supervising ethics offices must update rules and build public, searchable online systems with set timelines and civil penalties for noncompliance.
Defines “covered payment” as any payment of money or other item of value made or promised by the Federal Government, explicitly including loans, contracts, and grants, and allowing the Secretary of the Treasury (with the Director of OGE) to add other types by regulation. Excludes federal salary/compensation for federal service and tax refunds (including refundable tax credits).
Defines “covered person” as an individual described in paragraphs (1) through (10) of section 13105(l) of title 5, U.S.C., and as including the spouse or dependent child of such an individual.
Defines “dependent child” for these rules as an individual under age 19 who is a dependent of the covered individual within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Requires a covered person (including any business owned and controlled by that person) to submit to the applicable supervising ethics office a report describing any covered payment not later than 30 days after receipt of notice of an application for, or receipt of, the covered payment, but in no case later than 45 days after the date the payment is made or promised.
Establishes a fine of $5,000 in each case in which a covered person fails to file the required report, to be assessed pursuant to regulations issued by the applicable supervising ethics office (notwithstanding section 13106(d)).
Who is affected and how:
Members of Congress and congressional staff: Must comply with faster, standardized electronic filing and public disclosure; increased public access to their financial records; potential civil penalties for late or missing reports.
Very senior executive-branch employees and other covered federal employees: New electronic filing and publication requirements increase transparency and require agencies to collect and publish data; ethics offices must update rules and procedures.
Judicial officers and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts: Judicial financial disclosures must be filed electronically and published on a public site the AOUSC helps establish; the AOUSC must build or adapt systems and update guidance.
Presidents, vice presidents, and officers of Federal Reserve banks (presidents, vice presidents, directors): Specific ethics and disclosure statutes are extended to these officeholders, subjecting them to parts of chapter 131, the STOCK Act, and certain Securities Exchange Act provisions; supervising ethics offices are designated for oversight.
Spouses, dependent children, and businesses owned or controlled by covered officials: Reporting obligations expand to include these relationships when federal payments are applied for or received, increasing disclosure of related-party transactions.
Supervising ethics offices and agencies (Inspector General of the Board of Governors, CFPB, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, agency ethics offices): Must revise written rules within one year, build or modify IT systems to accept electronic filings, establish public-facing searchable portals and APIs, and implement new enforcement procedures — incurring administrative and IT costs.
The public, journalists, and watchdog organizations: Gain broader, machine-readable access to financial-disclosure reports and government payment reports, improving transparency and oversight capacity.
Tax administration and divestiture processes: Changes to the Internal Revenue Code and issuance authorities for certificates of divestiture affect how covered officials may be permitted to divest assets for ethics compliance; tax and ethics counsel will need to align procedures.
Overall effects:
Timelines to note: