Bills
| 3.23.22

Restoring the Public Trust Act: Strengthening Ethical Standards in the Federal Gov’t (H.R. 706)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 706?

(Updated March 17, 2019)

This bill — the Restoring the Public Trust Act — would incorporate a number of pieces of legislation aimed at strengthening ethical standards in the federal government. It’s divided into three sections aimed at curbing corruption, eliminating conflicts of interest, and strengthening oversight by inspectors general. A breakdown of each of section can be found below.

Section I: Draining the Swamp

This part of the bill consists of multiple existing bills, all of which seek to curb corruption and nepotism in federal government. The individual bills are:

Section II: Rooting Out Conflicts of Interest

This part of the bill includes two bills, the Commonsense Legislation Ensuring Accountability by Reporting Access of Non-Cleared Employees to Secrets (CLEARANCES) Act and Presidential Tax Transparency Act, as well as other requirements to eliminate conflicts of interest.

  • Commonsense Legislation Ensuring Accountability by Reporting Access of Non-Cleared Employees to Secrets (CLEARANCES) Act: The White House must report to Congress when it grants a security clearance in contravention of an unfavorable clearance recommendation, in part to prevent dangerous and heavily indebted individuals from entering the most sensitive positions in government.

  • Blind Trusts: Requires members of the President’s Cabinet and certain senior White House advisors to place stocks, bonds, commodities futures, other forms of securities in a blind trust during their tenure.

  • Preventing domestic emoluments: Prohibits any business interest owned in whole or in part by the President or Vice President, his/her spouse, or immediate family member from doing business with the federal government.

  • Presidential Tax Transparency Act: Requires all candidates for President to release their tax returns for the past three years.

  • No more shadow White House meetings: Requires the White House to maintain a publicly accessible website that includes data on visitor logs.

Section III: Strengthening Inspectors General

This part of the bill would protect inspectors general, and ensure Congressional oversight of their hiring and firing decisions. There are two provisions:

  • Congressional oversight of inspectors general: Requires notification to Congress of a president’s decision to place an agency inspector general – whose job is to root out waste, fraud, and corruption – on leave or to change their status in any way.

  • Presidential explanation of failure to nominate an inspector general: Requires the president to report to Congress if he or she fails to nominate an Inspector General for a given agency, including a target date for making a formal recommendation. This report must also include the president’s reasons for not making a formal nomination, and a target date for making a formal nomination.

Argument in favor

The Trump administration’s unusually high number of conflicts, potential ethical lapses, and other inappropriate behavior makes it necessary to strengthen ethics laws to ensure that administration officials, including the president, don’t abuse their offices to enrich themselves and their associates.

Argument opposed

All presidential administrations have conflicts of interest. It’s unfair to hold the Trump administration to an unusually high standard just because many administration members happen to have come from the for-profit world, and therefore still have ties to it.

Impact

Executive branch; Congress; the President; executive agencies; and governmental ethics.

Cost of H.R. 706

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) reintroduced this bill from the 115th Congress to strengthen ethical standards in the federal government to prevent corruption and ensure accountability:

“Trump and his administration have made a mockery of government ethics, demonstrating the weak spots in our current laws. He has normalized unethical behavior in a way that was once unthinkable, proving that we need stronger ethics laws. The damage that Trump has done to the public’s confidence in its government won’t be easy to fix but this bill ensures that those gaping holes in our anticorruption and ethics laws are addressed. In doing so, we will course correct our government to ensure it is working for the people, which is a key Democratic priority this Congress. The Restoring the Public Trust Act helps us do the critical work of rebuilding the public’s faith in government.”

In a joint statement when they introduced this bill last Congress, Rep. Lieu and bill cosponsors Reps. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) said:

“One of the most surprising aspects of the Trump Administration has been how willingly they have shirked ethical norms—and how easily some of our current laws have allowed it to happen. Actions that would’ve been unthinkable in prior Administrations are standard practice in this one. If there is something positive to come out of the Trump Administration’s culture of corruption, it’s that we now have an acute understanding of the loopholes in our current anticorruption protections. Whether it’s using government airplanes for personal trips or forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for visits to an official’s commercial property, Trump’s willingness to wring the taxpayer dry needs to end. Our institutions are only as strong as people’s faith in them. In order to restore the public’s confidence in their government, we have to get rid of grifting among those in our highest ranks of office. Our Restoring the Public Trust Act is a tool to help us get there.”

This bill has four Democratic cosponsors in the current session of Congress. It also had four Democratic cosponsors in the last Congress, where it didn't receive a committee vote. It also has the support of American Oversight, the Campaign for Accountability, Common Cause, and Public Citizen.


Of Note: President Trump’s known business dealings and personal interests present many potential conflicts with his public duties as President of the United States. He’s been accused of profiting off of the presidency, making policy with an eye to serving his own and his friends’ interests, and more. Similarly, members of the administration have been accused of improprieties such as too much closeness to industry interests and using their positions to boost Trump brands.

Collectively, President Trump, his family members, appointees, and advisers have been accused of conflicts of interest, misuse of public funds, influence peddling, self-enrichment, working for foreign governments, failure to disclose information, and violating ethics rules. In some cases, these accusations have led to investigations and lawsuits. In other cases, administration members have resigned.


Media:

Summary by Lorelei Yang
(Photo Credit: iStockphoto.com / Rawpixel)