H.R. 4890 — Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act

This section adds a new subchapter IV to chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, concerning placement of certain assets of Members of Congress and their spouses and dependent children in qualified blind trusts. Section 13161 defines terms including (1) covered investment (generally a security, commodity, future, or comparable economic interest held directly or indirectly through funds, non-qualified trusts, or plans, excluding diversified mutual or exchange-traded funds, U.S. Treasury securities, certain spousal compensation or board service, government employee retirement plans, tax-free municipal bonds, and interests in small business concerns—as defined in 15 U.S.C. 632—if determined by the supervising ethics office to present no conflict of interest); (2) covered person (a Member of Congress, spouse, or dependent child under age 19); and (3) qualified blind trust (a trust approved by the supervising ethics office). Section 13162(a) bans purchases of covered investments by Members of Congress effective on the date of enactment (with an additional prohibition effective 90 days after enactment).

This section establishes a $500 fine, assessed by the applicable supervising ethics office pursuant to regulations, for each failure by a reporting individual to file a transaction report required under the STOCK Act (i.e., the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, which requires Members of Congress, senior executive branch officials, and certain judicial officers to disclose certain securities transactions). The fine provision takes effect on the date a Member of Congress commences a new term on or after January 31, 2023; collected fines are deposited as miscellaneous receipts in the Treasury; and supervising ethics offices must issue conforming rules, regulations, and guidance within one year of enactment.

This section amends sec. 8(b)(1) of the STOCK Act to require databases on the official House and Senate websites—pursuant to Ethics in Government Act financial disclosure requirements—to enable public access to financial disclosure reports, transaction reports under STOCK Act sec. 8(l), and notices of extension, amendment, or blind trust filed by Members of Congress or candidates for Congress. Public access must allow searching, sorting, and downloading of data by filer name, asset, transaction type, ticker symbol, notification date, transaction amount, and transaction date; provide application programming interface access; and fully comply with sec. 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (i.e., standards ensuring federal electronic and information technology accessibility for individuals with disabilities) and the most recent Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (or successor guidelines). The amendments take effect 18 months after enactment.

This section establishes a severability clause, providing that if any provision of the Act or its amendments, or its application to any person or circumstance, is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act and its amendments, and their application to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected.