[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1196 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1196
To require Executive agencies to limit the use of special Government
employees to 130 days, to require the maintenance of a public database
of certain special Government employees, to require the release of
financial disclosures filed by certain special Government employees,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 27, 2025
Mr. Lujan (for himself, Ms. Warren, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Kelly,
Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Cortez Masto, and Mr. Merkley) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require Executive agencies to limit the use of special Government
employees to 130 days, to require the maintenance of a public database
of certain special Government employees, to require the release of
financial disclosures filed by certain special Government employees,
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 ``Special Government Employees
Transparency Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON THE USE OF SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.
(a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``special Government
employee'' means an individual who--
(1) qualifies as a special Government employee under
section 202(a) of title 18, United States Code, or any other
provision of Federal law; and
(2) is employed by an agency, department, office, or other
entity within the executive branch of the United States
Government, without regard to whether employees of that agency,
department, office, or entity are subject to the requirements
of title 5, United States Code.
(b) Establishment of Limit.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law--
(1) an individual who otherwise qualifies as a special
Government employee shall cease to be a special Government
employee after having served as a special Government employee
for 130 days, regardless of whether those days were
consecutive, during any period of 365 consecutive days; and
(2) if an individual described in paragraph (1) exceeds the
130-day threshold described in that paragraph--
(A) the employing authority of the individual
shall, not later than 30 days after the date of
cessation of such special Government employee status--
(i) determine the appropriate employment
classification for the individual in accordance
with applicable civil service laws and
regulations, including which position the
individual shall be considered to occupy
beginning on the date of that determination;
(ii) with respect to the individual, follow
an appropriate applicable Federal personnel
framework in a manner consistent with the
duties and responsibilities of the position in
which the individual is serving as determined
under clause (i) and with the personnel
management policies of the employing authority;
and
(iii) provide written notice to the
individual--
(I) of the new classification
determination required under clause
(i); and
(II) that the individual may appeal
or seek review of the new
classification determination through
appeal and review procedures applicable
to the position in which the individual
is serving as determined under clause
(i); and
(B) the individual shall be subject to all
applicable provisions of law, including legal
obligations and rights, relating to employees occupying
the position in which the individual is serving as
determined under subparagraph (A)(i).
(c) Counting Days of Service.--For purposes of subsection (b), 1
full day of service shall be counted toward the 130-day limit described
in subsection (b)(1) for each day--
(1) during which an individual has provided any service as
a special Government employee that is purely administrative in
nature, such as making a brief telephone call to confirm the
date of a meeting or completing and filing personnel paperwork,
for more than 1 hour;
(2) during which the individual has performed any service
as a special Government employee, such as reading official
materials or substantively preparing for a meeting, that is not
purely administrative in nature, regardless of the length of
time spent performing such service; or
(3) for which the individual has been compensated by the
Government for service as a special Government employee.
SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY FOR SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Advisory committee.--The term ``advisory committee''--
(A) has the meaning given the term in section 1001
of title 5, United States Code; and
(B) does not include--
(i) the United States DOGE Service, or any
successor organization;
(ii) the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary
Organization, or any successor organization; or
(iii) any DOGE Team (as described in
Executive Order 14158 (90 Fed. Reg. 8441),
relating to establishing and implementing the
President's ``Department of Government
Efficiency''), or any successor organization.
(2) Appropriate congressional parties.--The term
``appropriate congressional parties'' means--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform of the House of Representatives;
(C) the majority leader of the Senate;
(D) the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
(E) the minority leader of the Senate; and
(F) the minority leader of the House of
Representatives.
(3) Covered special government employee.--The term
``covered special Government employee'' means any individual--
(A) who qualifies as a special Government employee
under section 202(a) of title 18, United States Code,
or any other provision of Federal law; and
(B)(i) who is not serving on an advisory committee;
(ii) whose responsibilities are substantially
comparable to the types of duties that are classified
at the GS-11 level or above; and
(iii) who is not appointed to a position in the
civil service that may only be filled by a full-time
student enrolled in an institution of higher education,
as defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002).
(4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Office of Personnel Management.
(5) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency''--
(A) has the meaning given the term in section 105
of title 5, United States Code; and
(B) includes the Executive Office of the President.
(6) National defense information.--The term ``national
defense information'' has the meaning given the term
``classified information'' in section 798(b) of title 18,
United States Code.
(7) SGE database.--The term ``SGE Database'' means the
database established under subsection (b)(1).
(b) SGE Database.--
(1) Establishment.--Not later than 210 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Director, in consultation with
the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, shall
establish a searchable, sortable database for the public
release of, with respect to each covered special Government
employee--
(A) the name of the covered special Government
employee;
(B) the title of the position of the covered
special Government employee;
(C) the rate of basic pay, if any, of the covered
special Government employee;
(D) the employing Executive agency of the covered
special Government employee;
(E) the employing organizational component of the
employing Executive agency of the covered special
Government employee;
(F) the appointment date of the covered special
Government employee; and
(G) if applicable, the termination date of the
covered special Government employee.
(2) Public availability.--
(A) In general.--The SGE Database shall be
accessible to the public through the official website
of the Office of Personnel Management without charge
and without a requirement that users register for
access.
(B) Requirements.--The Director shall ensure that
the SGE Database--
(i) allows access through an application
programming interface; and
(ii) is fully compliant with--
(I) section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.
794d); and
(II) the most recent Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (or successor
guidelines).
(3) Currency of information.--The head of each Executive
agency shall--
(A) notify the Director of each appointment,
designation, conversion, termination, or other
personnel action involving or affecting a covered
special Government employee not later than 30 days
after the date of such personnel action; and
(B) from time to time, review information contained
in the SGE Database that pertains to that Executive
agency to ensure that the information is current,
complete, and accurate.
(4) Oversight of submissions.--
(A) In general.--The Director shall conduct such
periodic audits as may be necessary to ensure that
Executive agencies have established adequate procedures
for submitting current, complete, and accurate
information relating to covered special Government
employees for inclusion in the SGE Database.
(B) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit a
report to the appropriate congressional parties that--
(i) describes the efforts undertaken to
comply with paragraph (1); and
(ii) assesses the degree to which
information in the SGE Database is current,
complete, and accurate.
(c) Public Availability of Financial Disclosure Reports.--
Notwithstanding section 13109 of title 5, United States Code, each
Executive agency shall make publicly available any financial disclosure
report filed by a covered special Government employee with the
Executive agency after the date of enactment of this Act, using the
procedures established under section 13107 of title 5, United States
Code, except that this subsection shall not apply to any financial
disclosure report--
(1) that is filed by an individual described in paragraph
(1) or (2) of section 13107(a) of title 5, United States Code;
(2) that is filed by a special Government employee who is
not a covered special Government employee; or
(3) that contains national defense information.
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