H.R. 6658 — BASIC Act

This section establishes in 18 U.S.C. §221 a criminal prohibition—subject to penalties under 18 U.S.C. §216—on special government employees (SGEs, i.e., intermittent federal appointees serving no more than 130 days in any 365-day period) knowingly demanding, seeking, receiving, accepting, or agreeing to receive, directly or indirectly, covered federal awards (i.e., contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or similar instruments exceeding $1 million annually) from their employing agency. Indirect receipt includes awards to family members (parent, sibling, spouse, child, dependent relative, or household member) with the SGE's knowledge and acquiescence, or to organizations where the SGE serves as an officer, director, trustee, general partner, or employee (or is negotiating employment) and aids the award process or receives traceable compensation. The prohibition does not apply to SGEs (1) serving only on advisory committees (per 5 U.S.C. §1001), (2) with duties comparable to GS-10 or lower, or (3) in student-designated positions. This section further requires revisions to Federal Acquisition Regulation part 3 and 2 C.F.R. part 200 within 60 days of enactment to prohibit executive branch awards that would violate the prohibition, and directs the Office of Government Ethics to issue related guidance.

This section amends federal requirements for public availability of executive branch position data to include special Government employees (SGEs)—excluding those who (1) only serve as members of advisory committees, (2) have duties comparable to GS-10 of the General Schedule or lower, or (3) hold positions designated exclusively for students. Separately, the section requires executive agencies to make publicly available, using procedures under 5 U.S.C. §13107, any financial disclosure reports filed by SGEs after enactment—excluding reports filed by individuals described in 5 U.S.C. §13107(a)(1) or (2) or by SGEs described in 18 U.S.C. §221(c) (as added by section 2(a)).

This section requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), in coordination with the Office of Government Ethics, to maintain and make publicly available online—without fee, in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable format, kept current to the extent technically practicable—a database of covered special government employees (SGEs). Covered SGEs are those not serving on advisory committees, excluding individuals described in 5 U.S.C. §13107(a)(1) or (2); the database must include for each such individual the name, a rolling tally of days served as an SGE, and a description of why the individual was designated as an SGE rather than a regular employee. (As background, SGEs are temporary federal advisors or experts serving no more than 130 days in any 365-day period.)