[Senate Report 116-13]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 44
116th Congress} { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 116-13
======================================================================
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2019
__________
R E P O R T
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
TO ACCOMPANY
S. 394
TO AMEND THE PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT OF 1963 TO
IMPROVE THE ORDERLY TRANSFER OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER DURING PRESIDENTIAL
TRANSITIONS
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
March 25, 2019.--Ordered to be printed
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2019
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
RAND PAUL, Kentucky THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah KAMALA D. HARRIS, California
RICK SCOTT, Florida KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
Gabrielle D'Adamo Singer, Staff Director
Joseph C. Folio III, Chief Counsel
Courtney J. Allen, Deputy Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs
David M. Weinberg, Minority Staff Director
Zachary I. Schram, Minority Chief Counsel
Ashley E. Poling, Minority Director of Governmental Affairs
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 44
116th Congress} { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 116-13
======================================================================
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2019
_______
March 25, 2019.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 394]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 394), to amend the
Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to improve the orderly
transfer of the executive power during Presidential
transitions, having considered the same, reports favorably
thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill, as
amended, do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................4
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................5
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................5
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................6
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............7
I. Purpose and Summary
The purpose of S. 394, the Presidential Transition
Enhancement Act of 2019, is to strengthen the presidential
transition process by clarifying responsibilities of the
General Services Administration (GSA) and other agencies during
a transition and by requiring a contractual relationship
between GSA and a transition team to guide the transition
process.\1\ The bill also codifies ethics requirements during
the presidential transition process by requiring presidential
candidates to develop and publicly release ethics plans for
their transition teams prior to the election, requires a set of
minimum requirements for these ethics plans, and requires
transition team members to sign an ethical code of conduct.
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\1\On September 26, 2018, the Committee approved S. 3487, the
Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2018. That bill is
substantially similar to S. 394. Accordingly, this committee report is
in large part a reproduction of Chairman Johnson's committee report for
S. 3487, S. Rep. No. 115-386.
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II. Background and Need for the Legislation
To ``promote the orderly transfer of the executive power,''
Congress passed the Presidential Transition Act of 1963.\2\
This law and its successor statutes require the GSA to provide
the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect with office
space, equipment, staff, and communications services to prepare
for the assumption of their official duties as President and
Vice President.\3\ The Edward ``Ted'' Kaufman and Michael
Leavitt Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015
established the White House Transition Coordinating Council and
the agency transition directors council to ensure efficient
coordination between Federal agencies and transition teams when
conducting transition activities.\4\
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\2\Presidential Transition Act of 1963, Sec. 2, Pub. L. No. 88-277,
78 Stat. 153 (1964).
\3\Id. at Sec. 3; see also Pre-Election Presidential Transition
Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-283, 124 Stat. 3045 (2010).
\4\Edward ``Ted'' Kaufman and Michael Leavitt Presidential
Transitions Improvements Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114-136, 130 Stat.
301 (2016).
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Trump for America, Inc. (TFA) was the organization
designated to carry out pre-election and post-election
transition activities for then-candidate Donald J. Trump.\5\ In
December 2017, the Committee received an allegation from TFA
that GSA had unlawfully disclosed its privileged
communications.\6\ Since the allegation raised concerns about
whether future presidential transition teams would trust GSA to
safeguard their confidential material, and as the committee
tasked by the Standing Rules of the Senate to oversee
presidential transitions, the Committee opened an examination
of the GSA's actions.\7\ The Committee received 6,400 of pages
of documents produced by GSA and conducted an interview with a
GSA attorney.\8\
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\5\Letter from Christopher J. Christie, Transition Chairman, Trump
for America, Inc., to Timothy Horne, Federal Transition Coordinator,
Gen. Serv. Admin. (Aug. 1, 2016).
\6\Letter from Kory Langhofer, Counsel, Trump for America, Inc., to
Senator Ron Johnson, Chairman, S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental
Affairs (Dec. 16, 2017). Acting Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein
appointed Robert S. Mueller III to serve as a Special Counsel of the
U.S. Department of Justice on May 17, 2017, and ordered the Special
Counsel to investigate ``the Russian government's efforts to interfere
in the 2016 presidential election.'' See U.S. Dep't of Justice, Order
No. 3915-2017, Appointment of Special Counsel to Investigate Russian
Interference with the 2016 Presidential Election and Related Matters,
available at https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/967231/
download.
\7\Letter from Senator Ron Johnson, Chairman, S. Comm. on Homeland
Sec. & Governmental Affairs, to Emily Murphy, Administrator, Gen. Serv.
Admin. (Dec. 19, 2017). See also S. Rule XXV(k)(10) referring to the
Committee matters relating to ``organization and reorganization of the
executive branch of the Government.''
\8\Letter from Emily Murphy, Administrator, Gen. Serv. Admin., to
Senator Ron Johnson, Chairman, S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Governmental
Affairs (Jan. 19, 2018).
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The information provided to the Committee demonstrated that
both GSA and transition teams need additional guidance and
protections in the event of third-party interest in the
activities and records of a transition team. Specifically,
there is no statutory requirement for GSA and transition teams
to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to lay out
the terms and responsibilities for each party regarding
transition services. There also is no statutory language to
ensure GSA is fully transparent with a transition team
regarding its maintenance and distribution of transition team
records. This bill will address those deficiencies by requiring
GSA and transition teams to enter into a MOU that agrees upon
the terms and conditions by which GSA will provide, and the
transition team will receive, transition-related services. In
addition, the MOU must designate a transition representative in
the transition team to whom GSA must direct all third-party
inquiries for transition team records. The bill also requires
GSA and transition teams to provide advance notice if any
deviation from the terms of MOU is anticipated.
In addition to the issue regarding transition team records,
the Partnership for Public Service (Partnership) learned of
other statutory obstacles transition teams faced during the
2016 presidential transition through interviews with transition
officials.\9\ A main concern included differing interpretations
of the services GSA could provide a transition team after
inauguration day. According to the Partnership, despite the
Presidential Transitions Improvements Act authorizing GSA to
continue providing services and facilities for up to 180 days
after inauguration day, GSA and the Trump transition team
negotiated an agreement whereby the transition team paid a
lease to remain in GSA building space through February
2017.\10\ Transition officials also told the Partnership that
60 days, rather than the 180 days authorized under current
statute, is a sufficient amount of time to allow transition
officials ``to focus on recruiting and filling key positions
while also transitioning incoming White House personnel
officials into their new physical quarters within the Executive
Office of the President.''\11\ Current statute also caused
delays for transition teams onboarding detailed Congressional
staff because statute requires an agency head to approve the
detail.\12\
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\9\E-mail from Partnership of Public Service to Committee staff
(Nov. 2, 2018, 16:39 EDT).
\10\Id. See also Edward ``Ted'' Kaufman and Michael Leavitt
Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015, supra note 4 at ' 2.
\11\Id.
\12\Id. See also Presidential Transition Act of 1963, supra note 2
at ' 3.
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The Partnership also identified areas of improved
transition activities within agencies during a presidential
transition. According to the Partnership, transition officials
viewed the agency transition directors council, established
under the Presidential Transitions Improvements Act, ``as
helping to build trust with the incoming administration because
almost all [council] members were the senior career officials
responsible for their agencies' transitions.''\13\ However, a
few agencies sent an official to the council who was not the
person responsible for their agency's transition
responsibilities, raising ``a risk of undermining the
cohesiveness of the transition strategy.''\14\ The Partnership
also learned of confusion among agencies regarding the
statutory requirement to designate career officials to serve in
an acting role for vacant senior political positions to be
appointed by the incoming administration.\15\
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\13\Id.
\14\Id.
\15\Id. See also Edward ``Ted'' Kaufman and Michael Leavitt
Presidential Transitions Improvements Act of 2015, supra note 4 at
Sec. 2.
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In a review of the Trump-Pence transition, the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) reported that, although transition
team members who are not Federal employees, Members of
Congress, or subject to post-Federal employment restrictions
``are not subject to the laws and rules governing ethics,''
both the Trump-Pence and Obama-Biden transition teams ``asked
their members to sign an ethical code of conduct prepared by
the [t]ransition [t]eam as a condition of service'' which
``prohibited [t]ransition [t]eam members from having any
conflicts of interest that would preclude them from working on
the matters assigned to them.''\16\ Further, ``[e]stablishing
an ethical code of conduct was a requirement identified in the
MOU between the Trump-Pence Transition Team and the White House
and the Obama-Biden Transition Team and the White House.''\17\
GAO did note ``the ethical code of conduct for the Trump-Pence
Transition Team did not identify any officials or entities to
provide oversight'' for compliance with the code.\18\
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\16\U.S. Gov't Accountability Off., Presidential Transition:
Information on Ethics, Funding, and Agency Services, 7-8, GAO-17-615R
(Sept. 7, 2017).
\17\Id. at 8.
\18\Id.
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This bill will codify the existing practice of requiring
transition team members to sign an ethical code of conduct, as
part of an ethics plan to be developed by a transition team.
Specifically, presidential candidates will be required to
develop and publicly release ethics plans for their transition
teams prior to the election. The ethics plans include a set of
minimum requirements, including the identification of the
individuals on a transition team that are responsible for
ensuring compliance by transition team members with the ethical
code of conduct. The ethics plans will also include information
on how eligible presidential candidates will address their own
conflicts of interest during a Presidential term if the
Presidential candidate becomes the President-elect.
This bill also addresses the concerns identified by the
Partnership by clarifying that GSA can provide a transition
team with services and facilities for up to 60 days after
inauguration. This bill will reduce delays in detailing
congressional staff to transition teams by having the Member of
Congress for whom the staff works approve the detail rather
than an agency head. The agency transition directors council
will be required to be an agency employee whose job
responsibilities include implementing presidential transition
activities in order to prevent different individuals from
leading transition activities of each agency and clarifies the
requirement for agencies to establish a succession plan for
each outgoing senior political position.
III. Legislative History
S. 394 was introduced on February 7, 2019, by Senators Ron
Johnson (R-WI), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs on February 7, 2019.
The Committee considered S. 394 at a business meeting on
February 13, 2019. The legislation was passed by voice vote en
bloc with Senators Johnson, Portman, Paul, Lankford, Romney,
Enzi, Hawley, Peters, Carper, Hassan, Harris, Sinema and Rosen
present.
Consistent with Committee rules, the Committee reports the
bill with a technical and conforming amendment.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported
Section 1. Short title
This section gives the bill the short title of the
``Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019.''
Section 2. Presidential transition enhancements
This section improves the operation of presidential
transitions for GSA and presidential transition teams.
Subsection (a) allows GSA to provide transition services to
a transition team for up to 60 days after the inauguration of
the President-elect and Vice-President-elect. This subsection
clarifies that congressional employees may be detailed to a
transition team and replaces the term ``computers'' with
``information technology.'' Under this subsection, transition
teams and GSA will be required to enter into a MOU that will
include the conditions by which transition teams will access
GSA staff, facilities, and agency documents. The MOU also
requires the transition team to designate a transition
representative to whom GSA will direct any inquiries or legal
instruments for transition team records. This designation ends
either upon the request of the transition team or 180 days
after the inauguration of the President-elect and Vice-
President-elect. GSA will be required to notify a transition
team at least three days in advance of taking any action that
deviates from the terms and conditions of the MOU.
Subsection (b) requires that an agency employee serving as
a senior representative in the agency transition directors
council must be serving in a career position at the agency.
Each agency must also develop a succession plan for each senior
non-career position in the agency by September 15 of a
Presidential election year.
This subsection also changes the required date of
completion for a MOU between transition teams and the President
of the United States from November 1 of an election year to
October 1. This MOU must also include an agreement that the
transition team will develop and enforce an ethics plan for all
transition team members. Under this ethics plan, all transition
team members must sign and be subject to a Code of Ethical
Conduct, and the transition team must designate and identify
the individuals responsible for enforcing the terms of the
ethics plan. The ethics plan must also describe how covered
eligible presidential candidates will address their own
conflicts of interest during a Presidential term if the
candidate becomes the President-elect. The ethics plan must be
made publicly available on GSA's website by the earlier of the
completion of the MOU or October 1 of an election year.
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, March 1, 2019.
Hon. Ron Johnson, Chairman,
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 394, the
Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is David Hughes.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall,
Director.
Enclosure.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
S. 394 would limit the period during which services and
facilities are provided to Presidential transition teams by the
General Services Administration (GSA). The bill also would set
a timeline for GSA to enter into memorandums of understanding
with Presidential campaigns to prepare for potential
transitions. Finally, S. 394 would authorize the executive
branch to pay legislative branch employees to work for the
President-elect or Vice President-elect during transition
periods.
Using information from GSA, CBO expects that most of the
bill's provisions would not have a significant effect on the
cost of a Presidential transition. However, one provision would
reduce the period during which a transition team may use
government services and facilities following an inauguration
from 180 days to 60 days. CBO estimates that condensing the
time frame during which government services and facilities may
be used would reduce federal costs for staffing and office
space by less than $500,000 annually in the years of
Presidential inaugurations.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is David Hughes.
This estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows: (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
TITLE 3--THE PRESIDENT
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 2--OFFICE AND COMPENSATION OF PRESIDENT
* * * * * * *
SECTION 102--COMPENSATION OF THE PRESIDENT
* * * * * * *
NOTES
* * * * * * *
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT OF 1963
* * * * * * *
SEC. 3. SERVICES AND FACILITIES AUTHORIZED TO BE PROVIDED TO
PRESIDENTS-ELECT AND VICE-PRESIDENTS-ELECT.
(a) The Administrator of General Services, referred to
hereafter in this Act as ``the Administrator,'' is authorized
to provide, [upon request, to each President-elect and each
Vice-President-elect, for use in connection with his
preparations for the assumption of official duties as President
or Vice President necessary services and facilities, including]
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 the
following:
(1) * * *
(2) Payment of the compensation of members of office
staffs designated by the President-elect or Vice-
President-elect at rates determined by them not to
exceed the rate provided by the Classification Act of
1949, as amended [chapter 51 and subchapter III of
chapter 53 of title 5], for grade GS-18: Provided, That
any employee of any agency of any branch of the
Government, or an employee of a committee of either
House of Congress, a joint committee of the Congress,
or an individual Member of Congress, may be detailed to
such staffs on a reimbursable basis with the consent of
the head of the agency, or in the case of an employee
in a position in the legislative branch, with the
consent of the supervising Member of Congress; and
while so detailed such employee shall be responsible
only to the employment without interruption.
Notwithstanding any other law, persons receiving
compensation as members of office staffs under this
subsection, other than those detailed from agencies,
shall not be held or considered to be employees of the
Federal Government except for purposes of the Civil
Service Reform Act [section 8301 et seq. of title 5],
the Federal Employees' Compensation Act [section 8501
et seq. of title 5], the Federal Employees' Group Life
Insurance Act of 1954 [section 8701 et seq. of title
5], and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act of
1959 [section 8901 et seq. of title 5].
* * * * * * *
[(b) The Administrator may not expend funds for the
provision of services and facilities under this section in
connection with any obligations incurred by the President-elect
or Vice-President-elect--
(1) before the day following the date of the general
elections held to determine the electors of President
and Vice President under section 1 or 2 of title 3,
United States Code; or
(2) after 180 days after the date of the inauguration
of the President-elect as President and the
inauguration of the Vice-President-elect as Vice
President.]
(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.
* * * * * * *
(h) * * *
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(i) * * *
(ii) shall, as appropriate, ensure
that any [computers] information
technology or communications services
provided to an eligible candidate under
this subsection are secure;
* * * * * * *
(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 of access to employees, facilities, and
documents of agencies by transition staff.
(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 180 days after the
date of the inauguration of the
President-elect as President and the
inauguration of the Vice-President-
elect as Vice President; or
(ii) before the date described in
clause (i), upon the request of the
President-elect or Vice-President-
elect, or after such inauguration upon
request of the President or 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).
SEC. 4. TRANSITION SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES BEFORE ELECTION.
(a) * * *
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) the term ``eligible candidate'' has the meaning
given that term in section 3(h)(4); [and]
(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
and that such member knows or reasonably should
know has not been made available to the 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
[(4)] (5) the term ``Presidential election'' means a
general election held to determine the electors of
President and Vice President under section 1 or 2 of
title 3, United States Code.
* * * * * * *
(e) * * *
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(3) * * *
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(C) a senior representative serving in a
career position from each agency described in
section 901(b)(1) of title 31, United States
Code, the Office of Personnel Management, the
Office of Government Ethics, and the National
Archives and Records Administration whose
responsibilities include leading Presidential
transition efforts within the agency;
(D) a senior representative serving in a
career position from any other agency
determined by the Co-Chairpersons to be an
agency that has significant responsibilities
relating to the Presidential transition
process; and
* * * * * * *
(f) * * *
(1) * * *
[(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, for each noncareer
position in an agency that the head of the agency
determines is critical, the head of the agency shall
designate a qualified career employee to serve in that
position in an acting capacity if the position becomes
vacant.]
(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.
(g) * * *
(1) In general.--Not later than [November 1] October
1 of a year during which a Presidential election
occurs, the President (acting through the Federal
Transition Coordinator) shall, to the maximum extent
practicable, negotiate a memorandum of understanding
with the transition representative of each eligible
candidate, which shall include, at a minimum, the
conditions of access to employees, facilities, and
documents of agencies by transition staff.
(2) * * *
(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 plan
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
website of the General Services Administration
the earlier of--
(i) the day on which the memorandum
of understanding is completed; or
(ii) October 1.
* * * * * * *
[all]