Protecting Our Democracy Act

This title requires the Attorney General to submit materials related to pardons for "covered offenses" (those involving the President, relatives, political appointees, campaign staff, or specific obstruction/perjury offenses) to Congress. It expands bribery statutes to include pardons and pre-presidency candidates, explicitly prohibits presidential self-pardons, and requires financial disclosure reports from pardon recipients who gave gifts to the President.

This title tolls the statute of limitations for federal criminal offenses committed by a person while serving as President or Vice President, or prior to their tenure, for the duration of their time in office. It also amends the Former Presidents Act of 1958 to forfeit certain benefits (monetary allowance, office funds) for former Presidents convicted of a felony committed during or after their presidency.

This title codifies prohibitions on the President and other federal officials accepting foreign or domestic emoluments without congressional consent, applying to both direct and indirect benefits, including those to private business interests. It creates a civil cause of action for Congress to enforce foreign emoluments violations, expands financial disclosure requirements for emoluments, grants enforcement authority to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), and imposes limitations and disclosure requirements on inaugural committee donations.

This title establishes a process for judicial review if the Government seeks dismissal of a criminal prosecution against the President or President-elect. The Attorney General must submit a sworn statement on whether the dismissal was ordered by the President, and the court must consider this, along with evidence of bad faith or pretext, before granting dismissal. It also requires the DOJ Inspector General to report such findings to Congress.

This title creates a civil cause of action for the Senate, House, or their committees to enforce compliance with subpoenas in federal district court, with expedited judicial review. It allows for monetary penalties against agency heads who knowingly fail to comply (unless instructed by the President with a written basis) and requires non-governmental defendants to pay legal fees for willful non-compliance. It also codifies requirements for subpoena recipients to provide privilege logs and applies enforcement mechanisms to requests for information from certain committees.

This extensive title strengthens the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 by requiring prudent obligation of budget authority, prohibiting deferrals 90 days before expiration, and mandating agency reporting on apportionments. It enhances the Comptroller General's (GAO) authority to review compliance and bring civil actions for non-compliance, imposing administrative penalties for violations. It also mandates detailed reporting in the President's budget on expired/cancelled balances, lapse in appropriations, and transfer authorities. Furthermore, it significantly reforms the National Emergencies Act, requiring congressional approval for national emergency declarations and renewals, limiting emergency powers to address the specific emergency, and excluding the imposition of duties/quotas under IEEPA. It also requires disclosure of Presidential Emergency Action Documents (PEADs) to Congress.

This title requires the Attorney General to maintain a log of "covered communications" (those relating to contemplated or ongoing DOJ investigations or litigation) between DOJ and the Executive Office of the President. Exceptions apply, but communications concerning the President, Vice President, their family, high-level EOP staff, or national campaign committee officials are generally not exempt. The logs are periodically disclosed to the DOJ Inspector General, who must notify Congress of inappropriate communications.

This title significantly expands whistleblower protections across the federal government and intelligence community. It classifies investigations and referrals to Inspectors General as "personnel actions" subject to reprisal claims, codifies the right to petition Congress, prohibits willful disclosure of whistleblower identity, and strengthens remedies for whistleblowers (e.g., expedited stays, access to district court with jury trials after 180 days of Board inaction, attorney fees). It also extends protections to fellows, interns, commissioned officers, and noncareer SES appointees, and codifies protections for disclosures of censorship related to research. For the intelligence community, it limits sharing whistleblower complaints with named subjects and enhances procedures for disclosures to Congress.

This title amends the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 to impose stricter eligibility requirements for acting officials, including a 30-day prior service requirement for first assistants and a 1-year prior service requirement for other employees. It clarifies that positions must be formally designated as "first assistant" 30 days prior to a vacancy. It also requires acting officials to possess the qualifications of the permanent office, applies the Act to officials removed from office, shortens the time limit for acting heads of major agencies to 120 days, and mandates acting officials to appear before Congress every 60 days.

This title strengthens Hatch Act enforcement by granting the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) explicit authority to investigate and seek penalties against political appointees for violations, including civil penalties up to $50,000 and a new criminal penalty ($50,000 fine, 1 year imprisonment, or both) for knowing and willful violations. It includes EOP/OVP employees under nepotism limitations and Hatch Act provisions, requires disclosure of Hatch Act investigations for political employees, and applies Hatch Act political activity limitations to the President and Vice President while on regularly used White House grounds. It also mandates an ethics pledge for appointees (post-Jan 20, 2025) with revolving door bans, lobbyist gift bans, and golden parachute bans, enforceable by the US government.

This title requires major party candidates for President and Vice President to submit their income tax returns for the 10 most recent taxable years to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) within 15 days of becoming a covered candidate. Sitting Presidents and Vice Presidents must submit their returns annually. If not submitted, the FEC Chairman must request them from the Secretary of the Treasury, who is then required to provide them. The FEC must make these returns publicly available, with redactions for identity theft protection.

This title establishes an Inspector General (IG) for the Executive Office of the President (EOP), to be appointed by the President. It grants the IG authority to conduct audits and investigations, with special provisions allowing the President to prohibit certain actions (e.g., those requiring access to confidential sources or intelligence matters) but requiring written notification to the IG and Congress. The IG must submit semiannual reports to the President and Congress, including information on any presidential prohibitions. It also mandates annual audits of the EOP IG's office by the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency and requires over-classification audits.

This title requires political committees to notify the FBI and FEC within one week of a "reportable foreign contact" (direct/indirect contact with a known/believed covered foreign national involving a prohibited contribution/donation or coordination with an election). Candidates and immediate family members must notify their campaign treasurer within 3 days. It expands campaign finance reports to include details of such contacts and mandates compliance policies for political committees, including training and certifications. It also establishes criminal penalties for knowing and willful violations or concealment of materials.

This title clarifies that the foreign money ban (52 U.S.C. 30121) includes the provision of "opposition research, polling, or other non-public information" as a "thing of value" for influencing an election, regardless of monetary value. It also applies the foreign money ban to all contributions/donations of things of value and all solicitations. It creates enhanced criminal penalties for violations involving foreign governments/political parties or opposition research. Additionally, it explicitly prohibits contributions and donations by foreign nationals in connection with state or local ballot initiatives and referenda.

This title expands the definition of "public communication" and "electioneering communication" to include "paid internet or paid digital communication," bringing online political advertising under federal campaign finance regulations. It requires online platforms (with 50M+ monthly US users) to maintain and make publicly available a record of qualified political advertisements purchased for over $500, including details on cost, audience, and sponsor. It also applies disclaimer statements to online communications, requires online platforms to make "reasonable efforts" to ensure foreign nationals don't purchase ads, and mandates visible sponsor identification notices on online ads, which must persist if the ad is shared.

This title limits the ability to except positions from the competitive service to existing schedules A through E as they existed on September 30, 2020. It prohibits transferring excepted service positions to other schedules (except those in subsection (a)(1)) and requires OPM consent for transferring occupied positions into Schedule C. It also limits agencies to transferring no more than 1% of employees (or 5 employees, whichever is greater) from competitive to excepted service during a presidential term and requires employee consent for such transfers.

This title prohibits national political party conventions to nominate presidential/vice presidential candidates from being held on federal property (including most of the White House grounds), imposing civil penalties or imprisonment for violations. It also requires the President to establish and regularly update a publicly available database of visitor records for covered locations (White House, VP residence, other official business sites), including visitor names, meeting contacts, and purpose, with exceptions for personal privacy, national security, and purely personal guests.

This title makes any individual finally convicted of a "covered crime" (corruption, copyright infringement, cybercrime, embezzlement, fraud, insider trading, wage theft, tax evasion, or comparable state offenses) while serving as a chief executive officer of a non-federal entity ineligible for appointment to a position in the executive branch. Individuals already serving who meet this criteria must be removed.

This title amends 18 U.S.C. 208(a) to expand recusal requirements for executive branch officers and employees. It requires recusal from matters affecting the financial interests of any organization for which the individual, during the 4-year period preceding such participation, served as an officer, director, trustee, general partner, agent, attorney, consultant, contractor, employee, or direct competitor. It also includes organizations in which the individual is an "active participant" (excluding political organizations).

This title amends the definition of "official act" in 18 U.S.C. 201(a)(3) (bribery statute) to explicitly include "any act within the range of official duty, and any decision, recommendation, or action on any question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding, or controversy... including any pardon, commutation, or reprieve, or an offer of any such pardon, commutation, or reprieve." It further clarifies that an official act "may be comprised of a single act, more than one act, or a course of conduct to effect the official act; and may occur whether or not it successfully achieves a desired outcome."