119-hr2455

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2455 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2455

 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 March 27, 2025

Mr. Min (for himself, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, and Ms. Norton) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

 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) is 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 is 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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