S. 5183 — Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act

This section states findings that President Trump, his family, Elon Musk, and Peter Thiel have obtained billions in gains from cryptocurrency ventures, defense contracts, mining deals, and other business activities tied to the presidency and federal spending. It sets the purpose of authorizing private persons and state attorneys general to bring civil actions in the name of the United States to recover funds from corruption-related violations.

This section defines terms for the title. It establishes “adult child” as a person who has attained 18 years of age and “covered person” as the President, Vice President, their spouses and adult children, Cabinet-level officials, senior Executive Office and Department of Justice employees, special government employees, the Director of Central Intelligence, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, certain campaign officials, contractors, and any individual who held such positions within the prior year. It also defines “covered violation” as a violation of section 103(a) and “personal enrichment” as any money or thing of value benefiting a covered person.

This section prohibits covered persons from corruptly using their office or position in connection with public funds, property, or authority to obtain personal enrichment exceeding $50,000. It imposes a civil penalty of at least $50,000 per violation (inflation-adjusted), disgorgement of enrichment with prejudgment interest, and treble damages for government losses, with each transaction or course of conduct constituting a separate violation.

This section establishes a private right of action for covered violations, authorizing any person, including a state attorney general acting as parens patriae, to sue in the name of the United States Government. It requires complaints to be filed under seal for at least 60 days, permits the Government to intervene and take over the case, authorizes equitable remedies including constructive trusts and rescission of contracts obtained through violations, imposes a 10-year statute of limitations applicable to violations on or after January 20, 2025, and allows fee awards against clearly frivolous claims if the Government declines to proceed.

This section awards plaintiffs 15 to 25 percent of the proceeds of an action or settlement brought under section 104 when the Government proceeds, and 25 to 30 percent when it does not. It also requires payment of the plaintiff's reasonable attorneys' fees, expenses, and costs from the proceeds before any distribution to the Government, and defines the Government as the Bureau acting through its general counsel.

This section provides that if any provision of this title is held invalid, the remainder of the title and its application to other persons or circumstances remain in effect.

This section establishes a 7-member Bureau appointed by the President with Senate confirmation. It requires initial appointments within 180 days after enactment and authorizes a special division of the court to fill vacancies if the President fails to nominate. It limits membership to no more than 3 members affiliated with the same party, requires at least 1 unaffiliated member, mandates expertise in election law, ethics, criminal law, or related fields, and bars members from outside employment or other federal positions. It sets a quorum of 3 members but prohibits action when more than half of those present share the same party affiliation due to a vacancy.

This section establishes 6-year terms for Bureau members. It staggers initial terms so that two expire after 2 years, two after 4 years, and three after 6 years. It permits reappointment to one additional 6-year term only for members whose initial term was shorter than 6 years. It limits service after term expiration to the earlier of 60 days or the date a successor takes office. It requires the designated division of the court to appoint retired U.S. judges as temporary members within 14 days of any vacancy. It sets annual compensation at Executive Schedule level II and requires recusal from matters creating a conflict of interest.

This section designates one of the Bureau's initial members, selected by the President, to serve as Chair, with successors appointed to that role. It requires the Bureau to select a Vice Chair by majority vote who acts in the Chair's absence or disability and must be unaffiliated with any party if the Chair is partisan. The Chair serves as chief administrative officer with authority to appoint and remove staff and the general counsel, request agency assistance, prepare the budget, issue subpoenas, administer oaths, take depositions, and pay witness fees.

This section establishes a Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel of 11 members appointed by the President in consultation with the Senate majority and minority leaders to recommend nominees for the Bureau. The President must convene the Panel within 14 days of enactment for initial appointments and before each term expiration or vacancy, with recommendations and qualification reports due within 90 days and made public; any presidential nomination outside the Panel's list requires a written explanation to the Senate.

This section requires the President to submit a written statement of reasons for removing a member of the Bureau to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, House Committee on House Administration, and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform within 5 days of the removal. It directs those committees to hold joint oversight hearings within 60 days if the statement is untimely or lacks specific, detailed reasons, and requires the removed member to appear as a witness.

This section establishes a Bureau to administer, enforce, and set policy for federal campaign finance, ethics, conflicts of interest, financial disclosure, and whistleblower protection laws. It grants the Bureau exclusive civil enforcement jurisdiction over the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.), chapters 95 and 96 of the Internal Revenue Code, and specified ethics statutes; authorizes civil actions, advisory opinions, rulemaking, investigations, and annual reports to Congress; creates procedures for staff-initiated investigations; and prohibits executive branch influence over Bureau activities.

This section transfers all functions, personnel, assets, and obligations of the Federal Election Commission to the Office of Campaign Finance of the Bureau, of the Office of Government Ethics to the Office of Government Ethics of the Bureau, and of the Office of Special Counsel to the Bureau. It authorizes the Bureau to exercise the transferred authorities with the same legal effect and preserves all existing orders, rules, contracts, and pending proceedings.

This section sets the annual pay for the Bureau’s staff director and general counsel at the rate for level III of the Executive Schedule under 5 U.S.C. 5314 and allows designated senior staff to be paid at level IV. It caps other staff compensation at the GS-15 rate. The section establishes an Office of Campaign Finance and an Office of Government Ethics within the Bureau, transfers employees from the Federal Election Commission, Office of Government Ethics, and Office of Special Counsel within 60 days (with specified exceptions and 4-year pay protections), prohibits mission changes except by the Chair, and subjects the Bureau to Inspector General Act coverage effective 180 days after initial appointments, with the IG required to investigate allegations of political or partisan animus in the exercise of the Bureau’s section 301(b) powers.

This section establishes a three-judge division of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, beginning with the two-year period starting on the date of enactment and continuing for successive two-year periods. The division appoints temporary members of the Anti-Corruption Bureau under section 203(f) of the Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act and fills vacancies if the President fails to appoint initial members under section 202(b)(1) of that Act. The Chief Judge of the D.C. Circuit designates the judges, with one required from that circuit and no more than one judge (including senior or retired) from any single court.

This section establishes the Freedom From Influence Fund in the Treasury of the United States. It expresses the sense of the Senate that the Fund should receive assessments on fines, penalties, and settlements from corporate malfeasance and specified legal violations, plus interest and proceeds from investments in interest-bearing United States obligations.

This section deems all references in federal law, regulations, documents, and other records to the Federal Election Commission, the Office of Government Ethics, or the Office of Special Counsel to refer instead to the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

This section directs the Bureau to promulgate rules and regulations within 180 days after enactment as the Bureau considers necessary to carry out its duties under the Act and its amendments.

This section replaces references to the Office of Special Counsel, Federal Election Commission, Director of the Office of Government Ethics, and related terms with the Anti-Corruption Bureau in specified provisions across more than a dozen statutes, including the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998, Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, and Doctor Chris Kirkpatrick Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017.