EXCLUSIVE — Federal government employees could see stronger requirements for reporting foreign gifts under a new bill being introduced by a House Republican this week.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) filed the Gift Accountability, Reporting, and Disclosures Act on Friday that would strengthen federal guidelines as part of an effort to resolve reporting inconsistencies with foreign gifts and “prevent the appearance of undue foreign influence.” The bill comes in response to recent reports of foreign governments seeking to interfere with the November election as well as a growing number of Congress members who have been indicted on foreign bribery charges.
The bill would make a number of changes to federal law by transferring the responsibility of collecting foreign gift disclosures from the State Department to the Office of Government Ethics.
The legislation would then instruct the OGE to use its existing reporting process, which requires federal employees to report the specific descriptions and dispositions within 60 days of receiving a gift. That’s a change from current law, which only requires brief descriptions if they are known.
The bill would also impose a $200 fine for employees who do not file their report more than 30 days after the deadline.
The bill would require disclosing foreign gifts to adult children and relatives of government employees if the gift exceeds $480 value. The legislation would redact personal information of any minor children, students, or disabled dependents, according to the legislation.
The legislation would expand its designation of foreign entities to include foreign individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and more. Federal government employees would be prohibited from accepting gifts from any countries of concern listed by the secretary of state.
The State Department would then be required to publish foreign gift reports in the Federal Register within 30 days of receipt.
The legislation comes in response to foreign gift reporting by the Biden administration, which Donalds’s office claims may have some inconsistencies. The office pointed to President Joe Biden’s 17 trips to 35 countries over the last four years and visits in the United States from 36 foreign leaders.
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However, during that time, Biden has only reported 22 gifts, which Donalds says does not appear to add up. The legislation directly responds to that trend as a way to avoid any appearance of foreign influence on the U.S. government. The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for comment.
The bill has been endorsed by a handful of government accountability groups, including Government Information Watch, Concerned Veterans of America, Public Citizen, and Opportunity Solutions Project. Donalds is also circulating the legislation to fellow House Republicans to sign on as co-sponsors, although it’s unclear how many lawmakers have attached their support so far.