[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8696 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8696

 To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish a uniform 2-year 
 post-employment ban on the lobbying of any officer or employee of the 
  executive branch or any Member, officer, or employee of Congress by 
  former executive branch officials and former Members, officers, and 
             employees of Congress, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 11, 2024

  Ms. Porter introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 18, United States Code, to establish a uniform 2-year 
 post-employment ban on the lobbying of any officer or employee of the 
  executive branch or any Member, officer, or employee of Congress by 
  former executive branch officials and former Members, officers, and 
             employees of Congress, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Block the Revolving Door Act''.

SEC. 2. 2-YEAR POST-EMPLOYMENT BAN ON LOBBYING OF EXECUTIVE AND 
              LEGISLATIVE BRANCH BY ALL FORMER GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.

    (a) 2-Year Post-Employment Ban on Lobbying of Executive and 
Legislative Branch.--
            (1) Lobbying by former executive branch officials.--
                    (A) In general.--Paragraph (1) of section 207(c) of 
                title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as 
                follows:
            ``(1) Restrictions.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In addition to the restrictions 
                set forth in subsections (a) and (b), any person who is 
                an officer or employee (including any special 
                Government employee) of the executive branch of the 
                United States (including an independent agency), who is 
                referred to in paragraph (2), and who, within 2 years 
                after the termination of his or her service or 
                employment as such officer or employee, knowingly 
                makes, with the intent to influence, any communication 
                to or appearance before any individual described in 
                subparagraph (B) on behalf of any other person (except 
                the United States) in connection with any matter on 
                which such other person seeks official action by such 
                individual, shall be punished as provided in section 
                216 of this title.
                    ``(B) Individuals described.--An individual 
                described in this subparagraph is any of the following:
                            ``(i) An officer or employee of the 
                        executive branch of the United States 
                        (including an independent agency).
                            ``(ii) A Member of Congress.
                            ``(iii) An elected officer of the Senate or 
                        an employee of the Senate.
                            ``(iv) An elected officer of the House of 
                        Representatives or an employee of the House of 
                        Representatives.
                            ``(v) An employee of any other legislative 
                        office of the Congress.''.
                    (B) Description of former executive branch 
                officials subject to ban.--Subparagraph (A) of section 
                207(c)(2) of such title is amended--
                            (i) by striking ``or'' at the end of clause 
                        (iv);
                            (ii) by striking the period at the end of 
                        clause (v) and inserting a semicolon; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following 
                        new clauses:
                    ``(vi) serves in the position of Vice President of 
                the United States;
                    ``(vii) is employed in a position in the executive 
                branch of the United States (including any independent 
                agency) at a rate of pay payable for level I of the 
                Executive Schedule or employed in a position in the 
                Executive Office of the President at a rate of pay 
                payable for level II of the Executive Schedule; or
                    ``(viii) is appointed by the President to a 
                position under section 105(a)(2)(A) of title 3 or by 
                the Vice President to a position under section 
                106(a)(1)(A) of title 3.''.
                    (C) Elimination of separate 2-year ban for senior 
                executive branch officials.--Section 207 of such title 
                is amended by striking subsection (d).
                    (D) Conforming amendments.--Section 207 of such 
                title is amended--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A) of subsection 
                        (c)(2), by striking ``(other than a person 
                        subject to the restrictions of subsection 
                        (d))'';
                            (ii) in paragraph (9) of subsection (e), by 
                        striking ``As used in this subsection'' and 
                        inserting ``As used in this section'';
                            (iii) in paragraph (1) of subsection (f), 
                        by striking ``subsection (c), (d), or (e)'' and 
                        inserting ``subsection (c) or (e)'';
                            (iv) in subparagraph (A) of subsection 
                        (i)(1), by striking ``subsections (a), (c), and 
                        (d),'' and inserting ``subsections (a) and 
                        (c),'';
                            (v) in subsection (j), by striking 
                        ``subsections (c), (d), and (e)'' each place it 
                        appears in paragraph (2), subparagraph (A) of 
                        paragraph (7), and subparagraph (B)(ii) of 
                        paragraph (7) and inserting ``subsections (c) 
                        and (e)'' ; and
                            (vi) in paragraph (5) of subsection (j), by 
                        striking ``subsections (a), (c), and (d)'' and 
                        inserting ``subsections (a) and (c)''.
            (2) Lobbying by former members and employees of congress 
        and other legislative branch officials.--
                    (A) In general.--Section 207(e) of such title is 
                amended by striking paragraphs (1) through (6) and 
                inserting the following:
            ``(1) Restrictions described.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Any person who is a covered 
                legislative branch official and who, within 2 years 
                after leaving office or the termination of his or her 
                service or employment as such an official, knowingly 
                makes, with the intent to influence, any communication 
                to or appearance before any individual described in 
                subparagraph (C) on behalf of any other person (except 
                the United States) in connection with any matter on 
                which such other person seeks official action by such 
                individual, shall be punished as provided in section 
                216 of this title.
                    ``(B) Covered legislative branch official 
                described.--In this paragraph, a `covered legislative 
                branch official' is any of the following individuals:
                            ``(i) A Member of Congress.
                            ``(ii) An elected officer of the Senate or 
                        an elected officer of the House of 
                        Representatives.
                            ``(iii) An employee of the Senate or an 
                        employee of the House of Representatives to 
                        whom paragraph (2)(A) applies.
                            ``(iv) An employee of any other legislative 
                        office of the Congress to whom paragraph (2)(B) 
                        applies.
                    ``(C) Individuals described.--An individual 
                described in this subparagraph is any of the following:
                            ``(i) An officer or employee of the 
                        executive branch of the United States 
                        (including an independent agency).
                            ``(ii) A Member of Congress.
                            ``(iii) An elected officer of the Senate or 
                        an employee of the Senate.
                            ``(iv) An elected officer of the House of 
                        Representatives or an employee of the House of 
                        Representatives.
                            ``(v) An employee of any other legislative 
                        office of the Congress.''.
                    (B) Conforming amendments.--Section 207(e) of such 
                title is amended--
                            (i) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), 
                        and (9) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4);
                            (ii) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) 
                        (as so redesignated), by striking ``The 
                        restrictions contained in paragraphs (2), (3), 
                        (4), and (5) apply only to acts by a former 
                        employee'' and inserting the following: ``The 
                        restrictions contained in paragraph (1) apply 
                        only to acts by a former employee of the Senate 
                        or a former employee of the House of 
                        Representatives'';
                            (iii) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) 
                        (as so redesignated), by striking ``The 
                        restrictions contained in paragraph (6) apply 
                        only to acts by a former employee'' and 
                        inserting the following: ``The restrictions 
                        contained in paragraph (1) apply only to acts 
                        by a former employee of any other legislative 
                        office of the Congress''; and
                            (iv) in subparagraph (G) of paragraph (4) 
                        (as so redesignated), by striking ``any other 
                        agency, entity, or office in the legislative 
                        branch not covered by paragraph (1), (2), (3), 
                        (4), or (5) of this subsection'' and inserting 
                        the following: ``and any other officer or 
                        employee of the legislative branch who is not 
                        an employee of the House of Representatives or 
                        an employee of the Senate''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments to Other Post-Employment Restrictions.--
            (1) Aiding and advising on trade or treaty negotiation.--
        Section 207(b) of such title is amended--
                    (A) in the heading, by striking ``One-Year'' and 
                inserting ``Two-Year'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ``1-year period'' 
                and inserting ``2-year period''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (1), by striking ``a period of 1 
                year'' and inserting ``a period of 2 years''.
            (2) Representation of foreign entities.--Paragraph (1) of 
        section 207(f) of such title is amended by striking ``within 1 
        year'' and inserting ``within 2 years''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to any individual who, on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, leaves a position to which subsection (a), (b), 
(c), or (e) of section 207 of title 18, United States Code, as amended 
by this section, applies.
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