[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 394 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 44
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 394
[Report No. 116-13]
To amend the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to improve the orderly
transfer of the executive power during Presidential transitions.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 7, 2019
Mr. Johnson (for himself, Mr. Carper, and Ms. Hassan) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
March 25, 2019
Reported by Mr. Johnson, with amendments
[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to improve the orderly
transfer of the executive power during Presidential transitions.
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 ``Presidential Transition Enhancement
Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENTS.
(a) In General.--Section 3 of the Presidential Transition Act of
1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by
striking ``upon request,'' and all that follows through
``including'' and inserting ``upon request, to each
President-elect, each Vice-President-elect, and, for up
to 60 days after the date of the inauguration of the
President-elect and Vice-President-elect, each
President and Vice President, for use in connection
with the preparations for the assumption of official
duties as President or Vice President necessary
services and facilities, including''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by inserting ``, or an employee of a
committee of either House of Congress, a joint
committee of the Congress, or an individual
Member of Congress,'' after ``any branch of the
Government''; and
(ii) by inserting ``, or in the case of an
employee in a position in the legislative
branch, with the consent of the supervising
Member of Congress'' after ``with the consent
of the head of the agency'';
(2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
``(b) The Administrator shall expend funds for the provision of
services and facilities under this section--
``(1) in connection with any obligation incurred by the
President-elect or Vice-President-elect, or after the
inauguration of the President-elect as President and the
inauguration of the Vice-President-elect as Vice President
incurred by the President or Vice President, during the
period--
``(A) beginning on the day after the date of the
general elections held to determine the electors of the
President and Vice President under section 1 or 2 of
title 3, United States Code; and
``(B) ending on the date that is 60 days after the
date of such inauguration; and
``(2) without regard to whether the President-elect, Vice-
President-elect, President, or Vice President submits to the
Administrator a request for payment regarding services or
facilities before the end of such period.'';
(3) in subsection (h)(2)(B)(ii), by striking ``computers''
and inserting ``information technology''; and
(4) By adding at the end the following:
``(i) Memorandums of Understanding.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than September 1 of a year
during which a Presidential election occurs, the Administrator
shall, to the maximum extent practicable, enter into a
memorandum of understanding with each eligible candidate, which
shall include, at a minimum, the conditions for the
administrative support services and facilities described in
subsection (a).
``(2) Existing resources.--To the maximum extent
practicable, a memorandum of understanding entered into under
paragraph (1) shall be based on memorandums of understanding
relating to previous Presidential transitions.
``(3) Transition representative.--
``(A) Designation of representative for
inquiries.--Each memorandum of understanding entered
into under this subsection shall designate a
representative of the eligible candidate to whom the
Administrator shall direct any inquiries or legal
instruments regarding the records of the eligible
candidate that are in the custody of the Administrator.
``(B) Change in transition representative.--The
designation of a new individual as the transition
representative of an eligible candidate shall not
require the execution of a new memorandum of
understanding under this subsection.
``(C) Termination of designation.--The designation
of a transition representative under a memorandum of
understanding shall terminate--
``(i) not later than September 30 of the
year during which the inauguration of the
President-elect as President and the
inauguration of the Vice-President-elect as
Vice President occurs; or
``(ii) before the date described in clause
(i), upon request of the President-elect or the
Vice-President-elect or, after such
inauguration, upon request of the President or
the Vice President.
``(4) Amendments.--Any amendment to a memorandum of
understanding entered into under this subsection shall be
agreed to in writing.
``(5) Prior notification of deviation.--Each party to a
memorandum of understanding entered into under this subsection
shall provide written notice, except to the extent prohibited
under another provision of law, not later than 3 days before
taking any action that deviates from the terms and conditions
agreed to in the memorandum of understanding.
``(6) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `eligible
candidate' has the meaning given that term in subsection
(h)(4).''.
(b) Agency Transitions.--Section 4 of the Presidential Transition
Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph
(5); and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
``(4) the term `nonpublic information'--
``(A) means information from the Federal Government
that a member of a transition team obtains as part of
the employment of the member that such member knows or
reasonably should know has not been made available to
the general public; and
``(B) includes information that a member of the
transition team knows or reasonably should know--
``(i) is exempt from disclosure under
section 552 of title 5, United States Code, or
otherwise protected from disclosure by law; and
``(ii) is not authorized by the appropriate
government agency or officials to be released
to the public; and'';
(2) in subparagraphs (C) and (D) of subsection (e)(3), by
inserting ``serving in a career position'' after ``senior
representative'';
(3) by striking subsection (f)(2) and inserting the
following:
``(2) Acting officers.--Not later than September 15 of a
year during which a Presidential election occurs, and in
accordance with subchapter III of chapter 33 of title 5, United
States Code, the head of each agency shall ensure that a
succession plan is in place for each senior noncareer position
in the agency.''; and
(4) in subsection (g)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``November 1''
and inserting ``October 1''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Ethics plan.--
``(A) In general.--Each memorandum of understanding
under paragraph (1) shall include an agreement that the
eligible candidate will implement and enforce an ethics
plan to guide the conduct of the transition beginning
on the date on which the eligible candidate becomes the
President-elect.
``(B) Contents.--The ethics plan shall include, at
a minimum--
``(i) a description of the ethics
requirements that will apply to all members of
the transition team, including any specific
requirement for transition team members who
will have access to nonpublic or classified
information;
``(ii) a description of how the transition
team will--
``(I) address the role on the
transition team of--
``(aa) lobbyists registered
under the Lobbying Disclosure
Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et
seq.) and individuals who were
former lobbyists registered
under that Act; and
``(bb) persons registered
under the Foreign Agents
Registration Act of 1938 (22
U.S.C. 611 et seq.), foreign
nationals, and other foreign
agents;
``(II) prohibit a transition team
member with conflicts of interest
similar to those applicable to Federal
employees under section 2635.402(a) and
section 2635.502(a) of title 5, Code of
Federal Regulations, related to current
or former employment, affiliations,
clients, or investments, from working
on particular matters involving
specific parties that affect the
interests of such member; and
``(III) address how the covered
eligible candidate will address his or
her own conflicts of interest during a
Presidential term if the covered
eligible candidate becomes the
President-elect;
``(iii) a Code of Ethical Conduct, which
each member of the transition team will sign
and be subject to, that reflects the content of
the ethics plans under this paragraph and at a
minimum requires transition team members to--
``(I) seek authorization from
transition team leaders or their
designees before seeking, on behalf of
the transition, access to any nonpublic
information;
``(II) keep confidential any
nonpublic information provided in the
course of the duties of the member with
the transition and exclusively use such
information for the purposes of the
transition; and
``(III) not use any nonpublic
information provided in the course of
transition duties, in any manner, for
personal or private gain for the member
or any other party at any time during
or after the transition; and
``(iv) a description of how the transition
team will enforce the Code of Ethical Conduct,
including the names of the members of the
transition team responsible for enforcement,
oversight, and compliance.
``(C) Publicly available.--The transition team
shall make the ethics plan described in this paragraph
publicly available on the Internet internet website of
the General Services Administration the earlier of--
``(i) the day on which the memorandum of
understanding is completed; or
``(ii) October 1.''.
Calendar No. 44
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 394
[Report No. 116-13]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to improve the orderly
transfer of the executive power during Presidential transitions.
_______________________________________________________________________
March 25, 2019
Reported with amendments