To protect our democracy by preventing abuses of Presidential power, restoring checks and balances and accountability and transparency in government, and defending elections against foreign interference, and for other purposes.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · July 28, 2023
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
# Summary of H.R. 5048: Protecting Our Democracy Act
This sweeping 118th Congress bill seeks to strengthen government accountability, election security, and presidential oversight through multiple major reforms. The legislation establishes new restrictions on presidential power, including prohibitions on presidential self-pardons and requirements for congressional notification when the president pardons individuals connected to themselves or their campaign. It expands the statute of limitations for crimes committed while serving as president or vice president, ensuring these officials cannot evade prosecution through extended tenure, and creates penalties stripping former presidents convicted of felonies of their retirement benefits.
The bill significantly strengthens Congress's investigative authority by creating new civil remedies to enforce congressional subpoenas in federal court with expedited procedures, while protecting federal whistleblowers through expanded retaliation protections and easier access to courts for relief. It reinforces congressional budget control by requiring advance notification of impoundments and improving presidential compliance with appropriations laws, and establishes stronger barriers to foreign interference in elections by requiring campaigns to report foreign contacts and imposing criminal penalties for accepting foreign donations including opposition research.
Additional provisions modernize campaign finance rules for the digital age by requiring political advertisers to disclose online ad purchases and sponsors, strengthen ethics requirements for appointed officials through binding pledges, require presidential and vice presidential tax return disclosure, enhance Hatch Act enforcement including criminal penalties, limit the president's ability to declare and exercise emergency powers without congressional approval within specified timeframes, and protect civil service protections against politicization. The bill applies broadly across the executive branch and federal agencies with implementation requirements distributed among multiple offices including the Office of Government Ethics, Special Counsel, and Federal Election Commission, with most provisions taking effect upon enactment or within one to two years thereafter.
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