H.R.8831

Protecting Our Democracy Act

Introduced

H. R. 8831

Introduced in House · June 5, 2026

May 14, 2026

Mr. Raskin (for himself, Mr. Garcia of California, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Amo, Ms. Ansari, Ms. Balint, Ms. Barragán, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Bell, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Carson, Mr. Case, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Courtney, Ms. Craig, Ms. Crockett, Mr. Crow, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. DeGette, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Deluzio, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. Dexter, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Doggett, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Foster, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Mr. Frost, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. García of Illinois, Mr. Green of Texas, Mrs. Grijalva, Mr. Harder of California, Mr. Hoyer, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Ivey, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Kennedy of New York, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Latimer, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. Mannion, Mrs. McClain Delaney, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Mejia, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Min, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Norton, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Quigley, Ms. Randall, Ms. Ross, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Simon, Ms. Stansbury, Mr. Stanton, Ms. Stevens, Mr. Subramanyam, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Velázquez, Mr. Walkinshaw, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mrs. McIver, Ms. Houlahan, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Chu, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, and Ms. Waters) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, House Administration, the Budget, Transportation and Infrastructure, Rules, Foreign Affairs, Ways and Means, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

HR8831 U.S. House: Protecting Our Democracy Act

1. Short title; 2. Organization of Act into divisions; table of contents; DIVISION A—PREVENTING ABUSES OF PRESIDENTIAL POWER; TITLE XI—ABUSE OF THE PARDON POWER PREVENTION; 1101. Short title; 1102. Congressional oversight relating to certain pardons; 1103. Bribery in connection with pardons and commutations; 1104. Prohibition on presidential self-pardon; TITLE XII—ENSURING NO PRESIDENT IS ABOVE THE LAW; 1201. Short title; 1202. Tolling of statute of limitations; 1203. Contracts by the President, the Vice President, or a cabinet member; 1204. Forfeiture of benefits for former Presidents convicted of a felony; TITLE XIII—ENFORCEMENT OF THE EMOLUMENTS CLAUSES OF THE CONSTITUTION; 1301. Short title; 1302. Definitions; 1303. Prohibition on acceptance of foreign emoluments; 1304. Civil actions by Congress concerning foreign emoluments; 1305. Prohibiting senior Federal officials from accepting foreign payments; 1306. Disclosures concerning foreign and domestic emoluments; 1307. Enforcement authority for Office of Government Ethics and financial disclosures; 1308. Jurisdiction of the Office of Special Counsel; 1309. Rulemaking for ethics requirements for legal expense funds; 1310. Limitations and disclosure of certain donations to, and disbursements by, inaugural committees; 1311. Prohibition on payments to the President of Federal or State government funds; 1312. Prohibition on payments to the President from individuals receiving government positions or grants of clemency from the President; 1313. Penalties; 1314. Exceptions; 1315. Severability; TITLE XIV—INVESTIGATIVE INTEGRITY PROTECTION; 1401. Short title; 1402. Presidential oversight of Attorney General; DIVISION B—RESTORING CHECKS AND BALANCES, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND TRANSPARENCY; TITLE XXI—ENFORCEMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL SUBPOENAS; 2101. Short title; 2102. Enforcement of congressional subpoenas; 2103. Compliance with congressional subpoenas; 2104. Rule of construction; 2105. Enforcement of requests for information from certain committees of Congress; TITLE XXII—REASSERTING CONGRESSIONAL POWER OF THE PURSE; 2201. Short title; 2221. Strengthening congressional control; 2222. Strengthening congressional review; 2223. Updated authorities for and reporting by the Comptroller General; 2224. Advance congressional notification and litigation; 2225. Penalties for failure to comply with the Impoundment Control Act of 1974; PART 1—FUNDS MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING TO THE CONGRESS; 2241. Expired balance reporting in the President’s budget; 2242. Cancelled balance reporting in the President’s budget; 2243. Lapse in appropriations—reporting in the President’s budget; 2244. Transfer and other repurposing authority reporting in the President’s budget; PART 2—EMPOWERING CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW THROUGH NONPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL AGENCIES AND TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVES; 2251. Requirement to respond to requests for information from the Comptroller General for budget and appropriations law decisions; 2252. Reporting requirements for Antideficiency Act violations; 2253. Department of Justice reporting to Congress for Antideficiency Act violations; 2254. Publication of budget or appropriations law opinions of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel; 2255. Treatment of requests for information from Members of Congress; 2261. Improving checks and balances on the use of the National Emergencies Act; 2262. National Emergencies Act declaration spending reporting in the President’s budget; 2263. Disclosure to Congress of presidential emergency action documents; 2264. Congressional designations; TITLE XXIII—SECURITY FROM POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN JUSTICE; 2301. Short title; 2302. Definitions; 2303. Communications logs; 2304. Rule of construction; TITLE XXIV—PROTECTING WHISTLEBLOWERS; 2401. Short title; 2421. Additional whistleblower protections; 2422. Enhancement of whistleblower protections; 2423. Classifying certain furloughs as adverse personnel actions; 2424. Codification of protections for disclosures of censorship related to research, analysis, or technical information; 2425. Title 5 technical and conforming amendments; 2441. Limitation on sharing of intelligence community whistleblower complaints with persons named in such complaints; 2442. Disclosures to Congress; 2443. Prohibition against disclosure of whistleblower identity as reprisal against whistleblower disclosure by employees and contractors in intelligence community; TITLE XXV—ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ACTING OFFICIALS; 2501. Short title; 2502. Clarification of Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998; TITLE XXVI—STRENGTHENING HATCH ACT ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES; 2601. Short title; 2621. Strengthening Hatch Act enforcement and penalties against political appointees; 2622. Including Executive Office of the President under limitation on nepotism in the civil service; 2623. Disclosure of Hatch Act investigations for certain political employees; 2624. Clarification on candidates visiting Federal property; 2625. Applying Hatch Act to President and Vice President while on Federal property; 2626. Granting the Office of Special Counsel rulemaking authority; 2627. Greater accountability for political appointees; 2628. Investigating former political employees; 2629. GAO review of reimbursable political events; 2641. Definitions; 2642. Ethics pledge; 2643. Waivers; 2644. Administration; 2645. Enforcement; 2646. General provisions; TITLE XXVII—PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE PRESIDENTIAL TAX TRANSPARENCY; 2701. Presidential and vice presidential tax transparency; TITLE XXVIII—BRINGING EXECUTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY, CLARITY, AND OVERSIGHT; 2801. Short title; 2802. Office of Inspector General in the Executive Office of the President; DIVISION C—MISCELLANEOUS; TITLE XXXI—REPORTING FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS; 3101. Federal campaign reporting of foreign contacts; 3102. Federal campaign foreign contact reporting compliance system; 3103. Criminal penalties; 3104. Report to congressional intelligence committees; 3105. Rule of construction; TITLE XXXII—ELIMINATING FOREIGN INTERFERENCE IN ELECTIONS; 3201. Clarification of application of foreign money ban; 3202. Requiring acknowledgment of foreign money ban by political committees; 3203. Prohibition on contributions and donations by foreign nationals in connections with ballot initiatives and referenda; TITLE XXXIII—HONEST ADS; 3301. Short title; 3302. Expansion of definition of public communication; 3303. Expansion of definition of electioneering communication; 3304. Application of disclaimer statements to online communications; 3305. Political record requirements for online platforms; 3306. Preventing contributions, expenditures, independent expenditures, and disbursements for electioneering communications by foreign nationals in the form of online advertising; 3307. Requiring online platforms to display notices identifying sponsors of political advertisements and to ensure notices continue to be present when advertisements are shared; TITLE XXXIV—PREVENTING A PATRONAGE SYSTEM; 3401. Short title; 3402. Limitations on excepting positions from competitive service and transferring positions; TITLE XXXV—USE OF FEDERAL PROPERTY; VISITOR RECORDS; 3501. Prohibition on use of Federal property for political conventions; 3502. Improving access to influential visitor access records; TITLE XXXVI—NO CORPORATE CROOKS; 3601. Short title; 3602. Restriction on service in the executive branch; TITLE XXXVII—RECUSAL OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES; 3701. Short title; 3702. Recusal of executive branch officers and employees in matters affecting financial interests of previous employers; TITLE XXXVIII—CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF OFFICIAL ACT; 3801. Short title; 3802. Clarification of definition of official act; DIVISION D—SEVERABILITY; TITLE XLI—SEVERABILITY; 4101. Severability; 1301. Short title; 1302. Definitions; 1303. Prohibition on acceptance of foreign emoluments; 1304. Civil actions by Congress concerning foreign emoluments; 1305. Prohibiting senior Federal officials from accepting foreign payments; 1306. Disclosures concerning foreign and domestic emoluments; 1307. Enforcement authority for Office of Government Ethics and financial disclosures; 1308. Jurisdiction of the Office of Special Counsel; 1309. Rulemaking for ethics requirements for legal expense funds; 1310. Limitations and disclosure of certain donations to, and disbursements by, inaugural committees; 1311. Prohibition on payments to the President of Federal or State government funds; 1312. Prohibition on payments to the President from individuals receiving government positions or grants of clemency from the President; 1313. Penalties; 1314. Exceptions; 1315. Severability