In committee
Protecting Our Democracy Act
People affected—The text targets the President, Vice President, presidential appointees, senior White House staff, and federal employees rather than a stated population count; the number of affected officials and civil servants is not quantified in the text.
Fiscal magnitude—No appropriation or aggregate dollar figure is stated; the only dollar amounts are per-violation thresholds (a $50 payment floor and civil penalties up to $5,000 above a payment's value), not a program cost.
Reach82rigor: heuristic llm
What this bill touches.
Spending vs. restraintWorkplace standards+55Sentencing & corrections−30Role of government+75Regulation (cross-sector)+55Money in politics+70Federal vs. state/local+25Ethics & oversight+90
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- CongressGains tools to enforce subpoenas in court, to approve or end national emergencies, to obtain agency records and emergency-action documents, and to receive pardon, payment, and tax-return information about the President.
- federal whistleblowers and civil servantsGain broader protected-disclosure coverage, made-whole remedies including restored seniority and promotions, a route to sue in district court, and protection of competitive civil-service jobs from at-will conversion.
- the general public and journalistsGain public access to OLC legal opinions, White House visitor logs, presidential tax returns, and digital-ad disclosures, with protections for legitimate journalistic activity.
Who it burdens
- the President and Vice PresidentSubjected to new criminal-law coverage for bribery and contract profiteering, a ban on self-pardons, foreign- and domestic-payment prohibitions enforceable by disgorgement, mandatory tax-return and visitor-log disclosure, and a duty to spend appropriated funds.
- presidential and senior White House appointeesMust sign a binding ethics pledge with a lobbyist-gift ban, recusal duties, and a multi-year revolving-door lobbying ban, file public financial disclosures, report payments made to the President, and face new conflict-of-interest recusal rules.
- the Department of Justice and the Attorney GeneralMust turn over pardon-related prosecution materials to Congress, keep and report a quarterly log of White House contacts about investigations, publish OLC legal opinions, and bring civil enforcement actions for illegal payments to the President.
- acting officials and agencies filling vacanciesFace new limits on who may serve in an acting capacity in Senate-confirmed jobs and for how long, plus faster public reporting of vacancies.
- White House and Executive Office of the President staffNewly brought under the Hatch Act ban on partisan political activity and subject to oversight by a new Inspector General for the Executive Office of the President.
- registered lobbyists and foreign agentsBarred from contributing to legal-expense funds for the President, Vice President, or political appointees, with fines for prohibited contributions.
- online platforms and digital political advertisersMust apply disclaimer and disclosure rules to paid internet and digital political ads and maintain searchable public databases of political-issue advertising.
Who backs it
- the U.S. TreasuryReceives disgorged foreign emoluments, returned illegal payments to the President, and civil penalties collected under the Act's enforcement provisions.