H.R. 8831 — Protecting Our Democracy Act

This section requires the Attorney General to submit to the chair and ranking member of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees—and, where applicable, the Intelligence Committees—all prosecution, investigative agency, and Department of Justice materials relating to a pardon for a covered offense within 30 days of issuance. Covered offenses include those arising from investigations targeting the President, the President’s relatives, former Presidents, political appointees, or presidential campaign employees, as well as specified false-statement and obstruction offenses tied to congressional proceedings; the requirement applies to commutations as well and overrides grand jury secrecy rules under Rule 6(e).

This section extends the federal bribery statute to cover the President, Vice President, and apparent successful candidates for those offices before they assume office. It also prohibits offering anything of value in exchange for a pardon, commutation, or reprieve.

This section voids any presidential self-pardon and provides that such a pardon shall not deprive courts of jurisdiction or confer legal immunity from investigation or prosecution.

This section tolls the five-year statute of limitations for any federal criminal offense committed by a President or Vice President by excluding the duration of that person’s tenure in office, including offenses committed before taking office. The change applies to offenses committed before enactment if the limitations period had not run as of that date and does not bar indictment or prosecution during tenure.

This section prohibits the President, the Vice President, and individuals serving in positions at level I of the Executive Schedule from undertaking, executing, holding, or benefiting from contracts or agreements made on behalf of the United States. It extends the existing prohibition that applies to Members of Congress.

This section conditions benefits under the Former Presidents Act on a former President not having been impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate. It terminates the monetary allowance and other benefits (except security determined necessary by the Secret Service) for any former President finally convicted of a felony whose elements were satisfied by acts during or after the presidency, requires repayment of allowances received between initial and final conviction, and defines final conviction as one with no further appeals available.

This section provides the short title of the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act and sets forth the table of contents for the title, covering sections 1302 through 1315.

This section defines terms for this title, including emolument as any profit, gain, or advantage from foreign, federal, state, or local governments; payment as the direct or indirect provision of anything of value from commercial transactions; Presidentially-owned entity as one in which the President holds an ownership stake (with exceptions for entities with over 100 owners where the President holds no more than five percent); and covered official as presidential nominees requiring Senate confirmation or individuals in Executive Schedule, noncareer SES, Schedule C, or Executive Office of the President positions.

This section prohibits any person holding an office of profit or trust under the United States from accepting any present, emolument, payment, office, or title from a foreign government or its instrumentality without congressional consent. The ban applies to direct or indirect provision and extends to the officeholder's private business interests, except as otherwise provided in 5 U.S.C. 7342.

This section authorizes the Senate or the House of Representatives to bring a civil action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against any person for violating the foreign emoluments prohibition. Actions must be heard by a three-judge court with expedited procedures and direct appeal to the Supreme Court within 10 days of a final decision. Remedies include injunctions, disgorgement of emoluments (payable only from non-government funds), surrender of items to the Department of State, renunciation or prohibition of offices or titles, and other appropriate relief.

This section prohibits senior Federal officials from receiving, accepting, or retaining any foreign payment without prior congressional consent through a concurrent resolution of approval. It extends the prohibition for two years after an individual leaves office and requires non-incumbent presidential or vice-presidential candidates to report any foreign payments to Congress every 30 days. It mandates written notice to the Director of the Office of Government Ethics (or congressional ethics committees for Members) at least 10 days before any such payment, including details on the foreign government source, value, and business entity involved. It defines senior Federal official to include the President, Vice President, Members of Congress, department heads, and certain White House staff; foreign payment to cover direct or indirect payments from foreign governments or majority-owned enterprises (excluding gifts under section 7342); and business entity to cover entities with an ownership stake held by the official, with exceptions for widely held public companies and certain investment vehicles.

This section requires disclosure of any present, emolument, office, or title received from a government of a foreign country, including the source, date, type, and amount or value, as well as any business interest reasonably expected to produce such items. It also requires the President to disclose emoluments received from the United States or a State, excluding presidential compensation, and extends both sets of requirements to the President’s spouse and dependent children.

This section expands the Director of the Office of Government Ethics’ authority to enforce restrictions on foreign payments and emoluments for senior Federal officials. It authorizes the Director to order corrective actions, require disgorgement and divestiture of unapproved foreign payments, issue administrative fines, mandate recusal, and bring civil actions for violations. It also requires new rules for congressional reporting and adds mandatory disclosures of foreign payments received and business interests expected to generate them.

This section expands the investigative jurisdiction of the Special Counsel to include any violation of section 1303 of the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act, paragraphs (9) through (15) of section 13104(a), or subparagraphs (G) and (H) of section 13104(e)(1). It requires the Special Counsel to complete any such investigation within 120 days of a referral from the Director of the Office of Government Ethics or a credible complaint, and to report the results to the Director and Congress within 7 days after completion.

This section directs the Director of the Office of Government Ethics to finalize within one year of enactment a rule establishing ethics requirements for legal expense funds benefiting the President, the Vice President, or any political appointee. It prohibits such funds from accepting contributions from registered lobbyists or agents of foreign principals and authorizes the Director to assess fines for violations.

This section prohibits inaugural committees from soliciting or accepting donations from non-individuals or foreign nationals, bars donations made in another person's name or converted to personal use, and caps individual donations at $50,000 (indexed for inflation beginning in 2028). It requires disclosure of donations of $1,000 or more within 24 hours and a final report within 90 days after the inaugural ceremony detailing all donations of $200 or more and all disbursements by category and recipient. It also eliminates the prior inaugural committee reporting rules under section 304(h) of the Federal Election Campaign Act.

This section prohibits the President from accepting any payment from Federal or State funds, except for the existing $400,000 annual compensation and $50,000 expense allowance. It requires the President to notify congressional committees within 30 days of learning of a prohibited payment, return the payment within 60 days, and submit sworn certifications of the return; acceptance of a prohibited payment is not an official act.

This section prohibits covered officials and clemency recipients from knowingly making payments exceeding $50 to the President or any Presidentially-owned entity, and bars the President from accepting them. It requires the President to report any such payments to specified congressional committees upon transmitting a nomination requiring Senate confirmation, making an appointment to a covered position, or granting clemency. It directs return of listed payments to the Treasury within 60 days and a follow-up report within 30 days identifying the payor. It also expands presidential financial disclosure reports to include the source, date, type, and amount of any such payments.

This section authorizes the Attorney General to seek civil penalties of up to $5,000 more than the value of a payment made in violation of section 1313(a) or section 102(b) of title 3, United States Code, plus injunctive relief. It permits private civil actions modeled on the False Claims Act with a 120-day limit on extensions and tolls applicable statutes of limitations during a President's term for payments to the President or Presidentially-owned entities.

This section exempts the President's compensation under section 102 of title 3, required Federal or State benefit payments such as health care and pensions, and payments under public programs available without regard to presidential ownership from the restrictions of this title and the cited provisions of titles 5 and 36 and the Federal Election Campaign Act.

This section provides that if any provision of this title or amendment made by this title is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the title and its amendments remain in effect and apply to any person or circumstance.

This section establishes procedures governing dismissal of any criminal prosecution against the President or President-elect. It requires the Attorney General to submit a sworn statement under penalty of perjury stating whether the President directed the dismissal, mandates review by a three-judge court that may deny dismissal or impose sanctions after considering evidence of bad faith or pretext, and directs the Justice Department Inspector General to report relevant findings to Congress while preserving and submitting case materials.

This section establishes a civil cause of action allowing the Senate, House of Representatives, or any committee or subcommittee to sue subpoena recipients in federal district court to compel compliance. It requires expedited judicial review, permits a three-judge court with direct appeal to the Supreme Court upon request, bars use of appropriated funds to pay penalties against agency heads, requires non-government defendants to pay the prevailing party’s legal fees, deems unasserted grounds for noncompliance waived, and directs the Supreme Court and Judicial Conference to issue rules for handling privilege claims within six months.

This section requires any recipient of a subpoena from a congressional committee or subcommittee to appear, testify, produce, or disclose the requested information. It bars withholding responsive information on any ground of privilege or protection unless required by the Constitution or federal statute, and mandates that a recipient withholding any information provide without delay a log stating the asserted ground, type of information, subject matter, date, author, addressee, relationship between author and addressee, custodian, and other descriptive details sufficient for the committee to evaluate the claim.

This section preserves Congress’s inherent authority to enforce compliance with subpoenas and prohibits any interpretation of the title as creating or recognizing grounds for noncompliance.

This section designates existing requirements for Executive agencies to provide information to the House Committee on Government Operations or any seven members, or the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs or any five members, as subsection (a). It applies subpoena enforcement remedies under section 1365a of title 28 and section 105 of the Revised Statutes to failures to comply with such requests.

This section defines terms for the title, including a communications log as the record required under section 2303(a) and a covered communication as any contact relating to a contemplated or ongoing Department of Justice civil or criminal investigation or litigation. It excludes from that definition contacts between the President, Vice President, or their counsel and the Attorney General or deputies, except when the matter involves the President, Vice President, their immediate family, senior Executive Office of the President staff paid at Executive Schedule level II or above, or national campaign officials; contacts on national security matters with the Deputy Counsel for National Security Affairs or National Security Council staff; pardon-related contacts with the Office of the Pardon Attorney; and communications limited to policy, legislation, budgets, appointments, or legal advice. It also defines immediate family, President-elect, and Vice President-elect.

This section requires the Attorney General to maintain logs of covered communications involving Department of Justice or Executive Office of the President personnel. Each log must record the names and titles of participants, the topic, and a statement of purpose and necessity. The Attorney General must submit the logs quarterly to the Department of Justice Inspector General, who must notify the Senate and House Judiciary Committees of any communications found inappropriate from a law enforcement perspective or indicative of improper political interference.

This section revises the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. It requires first assistants to have served at least 30 days in the prior 365-day period (with exceptions for Senate-confirmed first assistants and those starting during presidential transitions), mandates that first assistant positions be designated at least 30 days before a vacancy, and extends the service requirement for other agency employees to one year (from 90 days). It adds a qualifications requirement for certain acting officials, includes removal from office as a vacancy trigger, requires acting officials to testify before the relevant congressional committees at least once every 60 days (waivable by mutual agreement of chairs and ranking members), shortens the acting service limit to 120 days (from 210) for heads of agencies listed in 31 U.S.C. 901(b) and other executive departments, makes certain statutory acting designations exclusive, and adjusts vacancy reporting timelines and committees.

This section requires major party candidates for President or Vice President to submit their income tax returns for the 10 most recent taxable years to the Federal Election Commission within 15 days of becoming a covered candidate, and requires sitting Presidents and Vice Presidents to submit such returns annually. It directs the Commission to make the returns publicly available after redacting information necessary to protect against identity theft, and authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide the returns upon request if not submitted.

This section establishes an Office of Inspector General for the Executive Office of the President and requires the President to appoint the Inspector General within 120 days of enactment. The Inspector General operates under presidential authority, direction, and control for audits, investigations, or subpoenas involving confidential sources, intelligence or counterintelligence matters, or undercover operations, and the President may prohibit such actions with written notice to the Inspector General and to the specified congressional committees within 30 days. The Inspector General must submit semiannual reports to the President by April 30 and October 31 that include additional details on corrective actions, access to information, and recommendations, then transmit the reports to Congress; the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency must conduct annual audits of the office and report findings to Congress.

This section requires political committees, candidates, immediate family members of candidates, and committee officials, employees, or agents to notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Election Commission of any reportable foreign contact within 1 week (or 3 days for individuals), provide a summary of circumstances, and include the contact in campaign finance reports. It defines a reportable foreign contact as any direct or indirect communication with a covered foreign national involving an offer of contributions, expenditures, or election-related coordination or information, with exceptions for contacts made solely in an official capacity or to enable election observation.

This section requires each political committee to adopt policies directing officials, employees, and agents to notify the treasurer of any reportable foreign contact within 3 days and to retain related records for at least 3 years. It further requires the treasurer (or the candidate for an authorized committee) to certify compliance with these policies, including that all affiliated individuals receive notice and sign an affirmation, upon filing the statement of organization and with each report; existing committees must file such a certification within 30 days of enactment.

This section establishes criminal penalties under the Federal Election Campaign Act for violations involving reportable foreign contacts. It imposes fines of up to $500,000, imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both, for knowingly and willfully violating section 304(i), 304(b)(9), or 302(j). It also imposes fines of up to $1,000,000, imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both, for knowingly and willfully concealing or destroying materials relating to a reportable foreign contact.

This section directs the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to submit an annual report to the congressional intelligence committees, beginning one year after enactment, on notifications received from political committees under section 304(i)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Each report must state the number of notifications received in the prior year, describe protocols for record receipt and maintenance, and detail any subsequent actions taken by the Director.

This section provides that nothing in the title shall be construed to impede legitimate journalistic activities or to impose any additional limitation on the right to express political views or participate in public discourse for noncitizens residing in the United States who are neither nationals nor lawful permanent residents.

This section expands the foreign national prohibition on contributions and expenditures in Federal, State, or local elections. (1) It treats the provision of opposition research, polling, or other non-public candidate information as a contribution or donation of value when provided to influence an election, while excluding mere opinions. (2) It applies the ban to indirect solicitations, acceptances, or receipts of such contributions and to express or implied promises to make them. (3) It establishes enhanced penalties of up to 5 years imprisonment for violations involving a foreign government, foreign political party, or such information, effective for violations on or after the date of enactment.

This section requires the Federal Election Commission to provide each political committee with a written explanation of the ban on foreign contributions and solicitations under section 319 no later than 30 days after the committee files its statement of organization and biennially thereafter. Each committee must return a signed certification within 30 days confirming receipt and distribution of the explanation to all members, employees, contractors, and volunteers; the certification must be signed by the candidate for an authorized committee or by the treasurer for any other committee. The requirements apply to committees filing statements on or after the date of enactment, with existing committees receiving initial notification within 90 days.

This section prohibits foreign nationals from making contributions or donations in connection with a State or local ballot initiative or referendum. The prohibition applies to elections held in 2026 or any succeeding year.

This section expands the definition of public communication under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to include paid internet or paid digital communication. It applies contribution, expenditure, disclosure, and disclaimer requirements to such communications, updates the news story exemption to cover online and digital platforms, and requires the Federal Election Commission to issue regulations within one year after enactment, excluding communications paid solely with internal resources.

This section expands the definition of electioneering communications under the Federal Election Campaign Act to include qualified internet or digital communications placed or promoted for a fee on an online platform. It applies the relevant electorate targeting test only to broadcast, cable, or satellite communications. It extends the news exemption to communications appearing in any online or digital newspaper, magazine, publication, periodical, blog, or platform. The changes apply to communications made on or after the date of enactment.

This section requires paid political communications on the internet or other digital media to state the name of the person who paid for the communication in a clear and conspicuous manner and to provide a means for recipients to obtain the full disclaimer information with minimal effort. It establishes safe harbor standards for text, audio, and video formats, including minimum font sizes, 3-second audio statements, and 4-second video displays. It updates terminology from radio and television to audio and video formats and applies the changes upon enactment without requiring new FEC regulations.

This section requires online platforms with 50,000,000 or more unique monthly U.S. visitors to maintain and make publicly available in machine-readable format a complete record of any qualified political advertisement purchased by a person whose aggregate annual purchases on the platform exceed $500. The record must include a digital copy of the ad, audience description, view counts, display dates, total cost (rounded to the nearest $100), candidate or issue referenced, and purchaser details, and must be retained for at least 4 years.

This section requires each television or radio broadcast station, provider of cable or satellite television, or online platform to make reasonable efforts to ensure that communications described in section 318(a) are not purchased by foreign nationals. It directs the Commission to promulgate regulations defining reasonable efforts within one year of enactment.

This section requires online platforms to display visible notices identifying the sponsor of any qualified political advertisement and to ensure those notices remain visible when viewers share the advertisement. It provides a safe harbor if the platform relies in good faith on the advertiser’s designation of the sponsor, and applies to advertisements displayed on or after the 120th day after enactment.

This section limits the excepting of positions from the competitive service to schedules A through E under the terms in effect on September 30, 2020. It (1) requires prior consent from the Director of the Office of Personnel Management for transfers to Schedule C; (2) caps transfers from the competitive service during any presidential term at 1 percent of an agency's employees or 5 employees, whichever is greater; (3) requires employee consent for transfers to the excepted service; and (4) applies these restrictions to positions under chapters 73 and 74 of title 38.

This section prohibits national political party conventions to nominate a candidate for President or Vice President from being held on Federal property, defined to include all buildings, land, and real property owned, leased, or occupied by the United States, including the White House grounds and complex except the second floor of the Executive Residence. It subjects the responsible candidate or authorized committee to a civil penalty equal to the greater of the fair market value of the convention or $50,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both. The prohibition applies to conventions occurring on or after the date of enactment and does not restrict the President or Vice President from using government vehicles for travel to or from such conventions.

This section requires the President to establish and update every 90 days a publicly available, searchable database of visitor records at the White House, Vice President's residence, and other locations where the President or Vice President regularly conducts official business. The records must include each visitor's name, the individuals met, and the visit purpose, with exceptions for personal privacy, law enforcement, national security, purely personal guests, sensitive meetings, and specified personal identifiers.

This section bars from appointment to any executive branch position an individual finally convicted of a covered crime if any portion of the conduct occurred while the individual served as chief executive officer of a non-Federal entity. Covered crimes include bribery, copyright infringement, cybercrime, embezzlement, fraud, insider trading, wage theft, tax evasion, and comparable state offenses. It requires removal of any current executive branch employee who meets the disqualification.

This section expands recusal requirements for executive branch officers and employees under 18 U.S.C. 208(a) to cover matters affecting the financial interests of any organization they served as officer, director, trustee, general partner, agent, attorney, consultant, contractor, employee, or direct competitor during the preceding 4 years, or in which they are an active participant (other than a political organization as defined in section 527(e) of the Internal Revenue Code).

This section expands the definition of official act under federal bribery law to include any act within the range of official duty and any decision, recommendation, or action on a question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding, or controversy that may come before a public official. It expressly covers pardons, commutations, and reprieves, permits a single act or course of conduct, and applies whether or not the act achieves its intended result.

This section provides that if any provision of the Act or amendment made by the Act is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act and its application to any person or circumstance remain in effect.