Protecting Our Democracy Act

(a) Initial notice.—

(1) In general.— Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104), as amended by section 1309, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(i) Disclosure of reportable foreign contacts.—

(1) Committee obligation to notify.— Not later than 1 week after a reportable foreign contact, each political committee shall notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Commission of the reportable foreign contact and provide a summary of the circumstances with respect to such reportable foreign contact. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, not later than 1 week after receiving a notification from a political committee under this paragraph, shall submit to the political committee, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate written or electronic confirmation of receipt of the notification.

(2) Individual obligation to notify.— Not later than 3 days after a reportable foreign contact—

(A) each candidate and each immediate family member of a candidate shall notify the treasurer or other designated official of the principal campaign committee of such candidate of the reportable foreign contact and provide a summary of the circumstances with respect to such reportable foreign contact; and

(B) each official, employee, or agent of a political committee shall notify the treasurer or other designated official of the committee of the reportable foreign contact and provide a summary of the circumstances with respect to such reportable foreign contact.

(3) Reportable foreign contact.— In this subsection:

(A) In general.— The term “reportable foreign contact” means any direct or indirect contact or communication that—

(i) is between—

(I) a candidate, an immediate family member of the candidate, a political committee, or any official, employee, or agent of such committee; and

(II) an individual that the person described in subclause (I) knows, has reason to know, or reasonably believes is a covered foreign national; and

(ii) the person described in clause (i)(I) knows, has reason to know, or reasonably believes involves—

(I) an offer or other proposal for a contribution, donation, expenditure, disbursement, or solicitation described in section 319; or

(II) coordination or collaboration with, an offer or provision of information or services to or from, or persistent and repeated contact with, a covered foreign national in connection with an election.

(B) Exceptions.—

(i) Contacts in official capacity as elected official.— The term “reportable foreign contact” shall not include any contact or communication with a covered foreign national by an elected official or an employee of an elected official solely in an official capacity as such an official or employee.

(ii) Contacts for purposes of enabling observation of elections by international observers.— The term “reportable foreign contact” shall not include any contact or communication with a covered foreign national by any person which is made for purposes of enabling the observation of elections in the United States by a foreign national or the observation of elections outside of the United States by a candidate, political committee, or any official, employee, or agent of such committee.

(iii) Exceptions not applicable if contacts or communications involve prohibited disbursements.— A contact or communication by an elected official or an employee of an elected official shall not be considered to be made solely in an official capacity for purposes of clause (i), and a contact or communication shall not be considered to be made for purposes of enabling the observation of elections for purposes of clause (ii), if the contact or communication involves a contribution, donation, expenditure, disbursement, or solicitation described in section 319.

(C) Covered foreign national defined.—

(i) In general.— In this paragraph, the term “covered foreign national” means—

(I) a foreign principal (as defined in section 1(b) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611(b))) that is a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party;

(II) any person who acts as an agent, representative, employee, or servant, or any person who acts in any other capacity at the order, request, or under the direction or control, of a foreign principal described in subclause (I) or of a person any of whose activities are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed, or subsidized in whole or in major part by a foreign principal described in subclause (I); or

(III) any person included in the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury pursuant to authorities relating to the imposition of sanctions relating to the conduct of a foreign principal described in subclause (I).

(ii) Clarification regarding application to citizens of the united states.— In the case of a citizen of the United States, subclause (II) of clause (i) applies only to the extent that the person involved acts within the scope of that person’s status as the agent of a foreign principal described in subclause (I) of clause (i).

(4) Immediate family member.— In this subsection, the term “immediate family member” means, with respect to a candidate, a parent, parent-in-law, spouse, adult child, or sibling.”.

(2) Effective date.— The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to reportable foreign contacts which occur on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(b) Information included on report.—

(1) In general.— Section 304(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(b)) is amended—

(A) by striking “and” at the end of paragraph (7);

(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (8) and inserting “; and”; and

(C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

“(9) for any reportable foreign contact (as defined in subsection (i)(3))—

(A) the date, time, and location of the contact;

(B) the date and time of when a designated official of the committee was notified of the contact;

(C) the identity of individuals involved; and

(D) a description of the contact, including the nature of any contribution, donation, expenditure, disbursement, or solicitation involved and the nature of any activity described in subsection (i)(3)(A)(ii)(II) involved.”.

(2) Effective date.— The amendments made by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to reports filed on or after the expiration of the 60-day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.

(a) In general.— Section 302 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30102) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(j) Reportable foreign contacts compliance policy.—

(1) Reporting.— Each political committee shall establish a policy that requires all officials, employees, and agents of such committee to notify the treasurer or other appropriate designated official of the committee of any reportable foreign contact (as defined in section 304(i)) not later than 3 days after such contact was made.

(2) Retention and preservation of records.— Each political committee shall establish a policy that provides for the retention and preservation of records and information related to reportable foreign contacts (as so defined) for a period of not less than 3 years.

(3) Certification.—

(A) In general.— Upon filing its statement of organization under section 303(a), and with each report filed under section 304(a), the treasurer of each political committee (other than an authorized committee) shall certify that—

(i) the committee has in place policies that meet the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2);

(ii) the committee has designated an official to monitor compliance with such policies; and

(iii) not later than 1 week after the beginning of any formal or informal affiliation with the committee, all officials, employees, and agents of such committee will—

(I) receive notice of such policies;

(II) be informed of the prohibitions under section 319; and

(III) sign a certification affirming their understanding of such policies and prohibitions.

(B) Authorized committees.— With respect to an authorized committee, the candidate shall make the certification required under subparagraph (A).”.

(b) Effective date.—

(1) In general.— The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to political committees which file a statement of organization under section 303(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103(a)) on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(2) Transition rule for existing committees.— Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, each political committee under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 shall file a certification with the Federal Election Commission that the committee is in compliance with the requirements of section 302(j) of such Act (as added by subsection (a)).

Section 309(d)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:

“(E) Any person who knowingly and willfully commits a violation of subsection (i) or (b)(9) of section 304 or section 302(j) shall be fined not more than $500,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

(F) Any person who knowingly and willfully conceals or destroys any materials relating to a reportable foreign contact (as defined in section 304(i)) shall be fined not more than $1,000,000, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.”.

(a) In general.— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall submit to the congressional intelligence committees a report relating to notifications received by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under section 304(i)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by section 3101(a) of this Act).

(b) Elements.— Each report under subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, the following with respect to notifications described in subsection (a):

(1) The number of such notifications received from political committees during the year covered by the report.

(2) A description of protocols and procedures developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation relating to receipt and maintenance of records relating to such notifications.

(3) With respect to such notifications received during the year covered by the report, a description of any subsequent actions taken by the Director resulting from the receipt of such notifications.

(c) Congressional intelligence committees defined.— In this section, the term “congressional intelligence committees” has the meaning given that term in section 3 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003).

Nothing in this title or the amendments made by this title shall be construed—

(1) to impede legitimate journalistic activities; or

(2) to impose any additional limitation on the right to express political views or to participate in public discourse of any individual who—

(A) resides in the United States;

(B) is not a citizen of the United States or a national of the United States, as defined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)); and

(C) is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined by section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20)).

(a) Clarification of treatment of provision of certain information as contribution or donation of a thing of value.— Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(c) Clarification of treatment of provision of certain information as contribution or donation of a thing of value.— For purposes of this section, a “contribution or donation of money or other thing of value” includes the provision of opposition research, polling, or other non-public information relating to a candidate for election for a Federal, State, or local office for the purpose of influencing the election, regardless of whether such research, polling, or information has monetary value, except that nothing in this subsection shall be construed to treat the mere provision of an opinion about a candidate as a thing of value for purposes of this section.”.

(b) Clarification of application of foreign money ban to all contributions and donations of things of value and to all solicitations of contributions and donations of things of value.— Section 319(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking “promise to make a contribution or donation” and inserting “promise to make such a contribution or donation”;

(2) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking “donation” and inserting “donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make such a contribution or donation,”; and

(3) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:

“(2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive (directly or indirectly) a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1), or to solicit, accept, or receive (directly or indirectly) an express or implied promise to make such a contribution or donation, from a foreign national.”.

(c) Enhanced penalty for certain violations.—

(1) In general.— Section 309(d)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(d)(1)), as amended by section 3103, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(G)

(i) Any person who knowingly and willfully commits a violation of section 319 which involves a foreign national which is a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party, or which involves a thing of value consisting of the provision of opposition research, polling, or other non-public information relating to a candidate for election for a Federal, State, or local office for the purpose of influencing the election, shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.

(ii) In clause (i), each of the terms “government of a foreign country” and “foreign political party” has the meaning given such term in section 1 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as Amended (22 U.S.C. 611).”.

(2) Effective date.— The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to violations committed on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(a) Provision of information by Federal election commission.— Section 303 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(e) Acknowledgment of foreign money ban.—

(1) Notification by commission.— Not later than 30 days after a political committee files its statement of organization under subsection (a), and biennially thereafter until the committee terminates, the Commission shall provide the committee with a written explanation of section 319.

(2) Acknowledgment by committee.—

(A) In general.— Not later than 30 days after receiving the written explanation of section 319 under paragraph (1), the committee shall transmit to the Commission a signed certification that the committee has received such written explanation and has provided a copy of the explanation to all members, employees, contractors, and volunteers of the committee.

(B) Person responsible for signature.— The certification required under subparagraph (A) shall be signed—

(i) in the case of an authorized committee of a candidate, by the candidate; or

(ii) in the case of any other political committee, by the treasurer of the committee.”.

(b) Effective date; transition for existing committees.—

(1) In general.— The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to political committees which file statements of organization under section 303 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30103) on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(2) Transition for existing committees.—

(A) Notification by Federal election commission.— Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Election Commission shall provide each political committee under such Act with the written explanation of section 319 of such Act, as required under section 303(e)(1) of such Act (as added by subsection (a)).

(B) Acknowledgment by committee.— Not later than 30 days after receiving the written explanation under subparagraph (A), each political committee under such Act shall transmit to the Federal Election Commission the signed certification, as required under section 303(e)(2) of such Act (as added by subsection (a)).

(a) In general.— Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking “State, or local election” and inserting the following: “State, or local election, including a State or local ballot initiative or referendum”.

(b) Effective date.— The amendment made by this section shall apply with respect to elections held in 2026 or any succeeding year.

This title may be cited as the “Honest Ads Act”.

(a) In general.— Paragraph (22) of section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(22)) is amended by striking “or satellite communication” and inserting “satellite, paid internet, or paid digital communication”.

(b) Treatment of contributions and expenditures.— Section 301 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30101) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (8)(B)(v), by striking “on broadcasting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, or similar types of general public political advertising” and inserting “in any public communication”; and

(2) in paragraph (9)(B)—

(A) by amending clause (i) to read as follows:

“(i) any news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station or any print, online, or digital newspaper, magazine, publication, periodical, blog, or platform, unless such broadcasting, print, online, or digital facilities are owned or controlled by any political party, political committee, or candidate;”; and

(B) in clause (iv), by striking “on broadcasting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, or similar types of general public political advertising” and inserting “in any public communication”.

(c) Disclosure and disclaimer statements.— Subsection (a) of section 318 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120) is amended—

(1) by striking “financing any communication through any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any other type of general public political advertising” and inserting “financing any public communication”; and

(2) by striking “solicits any contribution through any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any other type of general public political advertising” and inserting “solicits any contribution through any public communication”.

(d) Effective date.— The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall take effect without regard to whether or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated the final regulations necessary to carry out this part and the amendments made by this part by the deadline set forth in subsection (e).

(e) Regulation.— Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Election Commission shall promulgate regulations on what constitutes a paid internet or paid digital communication for purposes of paragraph (22) of section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(22)), as amended by subsection (a), except that such regulation shall not define a paid internet or paid digital communication to include communications for which the only payment consists of internal resources, such as employee compensation, of the entity paying for the communication.

(a) Expansion to online communications.—

(1) Application to qualified Internet and digital communications.—

(A) In general.— Subparagraph (A) of section 304(f)(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(A)) is amended by striking “or satellite communication” each place it appears in clauses (i) and (ii) and inserting “satellite, or qualified internet or digital communication”.

(B) Qualified internet or digital communication.— Paragraph (3) of section 304(f) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(D) Qualified internet or digital communication.— The term qualified internet or digital communication means any communication which is placed or promoted for a fee on an online platform (as defined in subsection (j)(3)).”.

(2) Nonapplication of relevant electorate to online communications.— Section 304(f)(3)(A)(i)(III) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(A)(i)(III)) is amended by inserting “any broadcast, cable, or satellite” before “communication”.

(3) News exemption.— Section 304(f)(3)(B)(i) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows:

“(i) a communication appearing in a news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station or any online or digital newspaper, magazine, publication, periodical, blog, or platform, unless such broadcasting, online, or digital facilities are owned or controlled by any political party, political committee, or candidate;”.

(b) Effective date.— The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to communications made on or after the date of enactment of this Act, and shall take effect without regard to whether or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated regulations to carry out such amendments.

(a) Clear and conspicuous manner requirement.— Subsection (a) of section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is amended—

(1) by striking “shall clearly state” each place it appears in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and inserting “shall state in a clear and conspicuous manner”; and

(2) by adding at the end the following flush sentence: “For purposes of this section, a communication does not make a statement in a clear and conspicuous manner if it is difficult to read or hear or if the placement is easily overlooked.”.

(b) Special rules for qualified Internet or digital communications.—

(1) In general.— Section 318 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(e) Special rules for qualified internet or digital communications.—

(1) Special rules with respect to statements.— In the case of any qualified internet or digital communication (as defined in section 304(f)(3)(D)) which is disseminated through a medium in which the provision of all of the information specified in this section is not possible, the communication shall, in a clear and conspicuous manner—

(A) state the name of the person who paid for the communication; and

(B) provide a means for the recipient of the communication to obtain the remainder of the information required under this section with minimal effort and without receiving or viewing any additional material other than such required information.

(2) Safe harbor for determining clear and conspicuous manner.— A statement in a qualified internet or digital communication (as defined in section 304(f)(3)(D)) shall be considered to be made in a clear and conspicuous manner as provided in subsection (a) if the communication meets the following requirements:

(A) Text or graphic communications.— In the case of a text or graphic communication, the statement—

(i) appears in letters at least as large as the majority of the text in the communication; and

(ii) meets the requirements of paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c).

(B) Audio communications.— In the case of an audio communication, the statement is spoken in a clearly audible and intelligible manner at the beginning or end of the communication and lasts at least 3 seconds.

(C) Video communications.— In the case of a video communication which also includes audio, the statement—

(i) is included at either the beginning or the end of the communication; and

(ii) is made both in—

(I) a written format that meets the requirements of subparagraph (A) and appears for at least 4 seconds; and

(II) an audible format that meets the requirements of subparagraph (B).

(D) Other communications.— In the case of any other type of communication, the statement is at least as clear and conspicuous as the statement specified in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C).”.

(2) Nonapplication of certain exceptions.— The exceptions provided in section 110.11(f)(1)(i) and (ii) of title 11, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor to such rules, shall have no application to qualified internet or digital communications (as defined in section 304(f)(3)(D) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971).

(c) Modification of additional requirements for certain communications.— Section 318(d) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)) is amended—

(1) in paragraph (1)(A)—

(A) by striking “which is transmitted through radio” and inserting “which is in an audio format”; and

(B) by striking “By radio” in the heading and inserting “Audio format”;

(2) in paragraph (1)(B)—

(A) by striking “which is transmitted through television” and inserting “which is in video format”; and

(B) by striking “By television” in the heading and inserting “Video format”; and

(3) in paragraph (2)—

(A) by striking “transmitted through radio or television” and inserting “made in audio or video format”; and

(B) by striking “through television” in the second sentence and inserting “in video format”.

(d) Effective date.— The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall take effect without regard to whether or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated regulations to carry out such amendments.

(a) In general.— Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104), as amended by sections 1309 and 3101, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(j) Disclosure of certain online advertisements.—

(1) In general.—

(A) Requirements for online platforms.—

(i) In general.— An online platform shall maintain, and make available for online public inspection in machine readable format, a complete record of any qualified political advertisement which is purchased by a person whose aggregate purchases of qualified political advertisements on such online platform during the calendar year exceeds $500.

(ii) Requirement relating to political ads sold by third-party advertising vendors.— An online platform that displays a qualified political advertisement sold by a third-party advertising vendor shall include on its own platform—

(I) an easily accessible and identifiable link to the records maintained by the third-party advertising vendor under clause (i) regarding such qualified political advertisement; or

(II) in any case in which the third-party advertising vendor does not make such records available, a statement that no records from the third-party advertising vendors records are available.

(B) Requirements for advertisers.— Any person who purchases a qualified political advertisement on an online platform shall provide the online platform with such information as is necessary for the online platform to comply with the requirements of subparagraph (A).

(2) Contents of record.— A record maintained under paragraph (1)(A) shall contain—

(A) a digital copy of the qualified political advertisement;

(B) a description of the audience that received the advertisement, the number of views generated from the advertisement, and the date and time that the advertisement is first displayed and last displayed; and

(C) information regarding—

(i) the total cost of the advertisement (which may be rounded to the nearest $100);

(ii) the name of the candidate to which the advertisement refers and the office to which the candidate is seeking election, the election to which the advertisement refers, or the national legislative issue to which the advertisement refers (as applicable);

(iii) in the case of a request made by, or on behalf of, a candidate, the name of the candidate, the authorized committee of the candidate, and the treasurer of such committee; and

(iv) in the case of any request not described in clause (iii), the name of the person purchasing the advertisement, the name and address of a contact person for such person, and a list of the chief executive officers or members of the executive committee or of the board of directors of such person.

(3) Online platform.—

(A) In general.— For purposes of this subsection, subject to subparagraph (B), the term online platform means any public-facing website, web application, or digital application (including a social network, ad network, or search engine) which—

(i)

(I) sells qualified political advertisements; and

(II) has 50,000,000 or more unique monthly United States visitors or users for a majority of months during the preceding 12 months; or

(ii) is a third-party advertising vendor that has 50,000,000 or more unique monthly United States visitors in the aggregate on any advertisement space that it has sold or bought for a majority of months during the preceding 12 months, as measured by an independent digital ratings service accredited by the Media Ratings Council (or its successor).

(B) Exemption.— Such term shall not include any online platform that is a distribution facility of any broadcasting station or newspaper, magazine, blog, publication, or periodical.

(C) Third-party advertising vendor defined.— For purposes of this subsection, the term third-party advertising vendor includes any third-party advertising vendor network, advertising agency, advertiser, or third-party advertisement serving company that buys and sells advertisement space on behalf of unaffiliated third-party websites, search engines, digital applications, or social media sites.

(4) Qualified political advertisement.— For purposes of this subsection, the term qualified political advertisement means any advertisement (including search engine marketing, display advertisements, video advertisements, native advertisements, and sponsorships) that—

(A) is made by or on behalf of a candidate; or

(B) communicates a message relating to any political matter of national importance, including—

(i) a candidate;

(ii) any election to Federal office; or

(iii) a national legislative issue of public importance.

(5) Time to maintain file.— The information required under this subsection shall be made available as soon as possible and shall be retained by the online platform for a period of not less than 4 years.

(6) Special rule.— For purposes of this subsection, multiple versions of an advertisement that contain no material differences (such as versions that differ only because they contain a recipient’s name, or differ only in size, color, font, or layout) may be treated as a single qualified political advertisement.

(7) Penalties.— For penalties for failure by online platforms, and persons requesting to purchase a qualified political advertisement on online platforms, to comply with the requirements of this subsection, see section 309.”.

(b) Effective date.— The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall take effect without regard to whether or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated the final regulations necessary to carry out this part and the amendments made by this part by the deadline set forth in subsection (c).

(c) Rulemaking.— Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Election Commission shall establish rules—

(1) for determining whether an advertisement communicates a national legislative issue for purposes of section 304(j) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by subsection (a));

(2) requiring common data formats for the record required to be maintained under such section 304(j) so that all online platforms submit and maintain data online in a common, machine-readable and publicly accessible format; and

(3) establishing search interface requirements relating to such record, including searches by candidate name, issue, purchaser, and date.

(d) Reporting.— Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and biannually thereafter, the Chairman of the Federal Election Commission shall submit a report to Congress on—

(1) matters relating to compliance with and the enforcement of the requirements of section 304(j) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as added by subsection (a);

(2) recommendations for any modifications to such section to assist in carrying out its purposes; and

(3) identifying ways to bring transparency and accountability to political advertisements distributed online for free.

Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121), as amended by section 3201, is amended by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections (c) and (d), respectively, and by inserting after subsection (a) the following new subsection:

“(b) Responsibilities of broadcast stations, providers of cable and satellite television, and online platforms.—

(1) In general.— Each television or radio broadcast station, provider of cable or satellite television, or online platform (as defined in section 304(j)(3)) shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that communications described in section 318(a) and made available by such station, provider, or platform are not purchased by a foreign national, directly or indirectly.

(2) Regulations.— Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall promulgate regulations on what constitutes reasonable efforts under paragraph (1).”.

(a) In general.— Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104), as amended by sections 1309, 3101, and 3305(a), is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(k) Ensuring display and sharing of sponsor identification in online political advertisements.—

(1) Requirement.— Any online platform that displays a qualified political advertisement (regardless of whether such qualified political advertisement was purchased directly from the online platform) shall—

(A) display with the advertisement a visible notice identifying the sponsor of the advertisement (or, if it is not practical for the platform to display such a notice, a notice that the advertisement is sponsored by a person other than the platform); and

(B) ensure that the notice will continue to be displayed if a viewer of the advertisement shares the advertisement with others on that platform.

(2) Safe harbor.— An online platform shall not be treated as having failed to comply with the requirements of paragraph (1)(A) for the misidentification of a person as the sponsor of the advertisement if—

(A) the person placing the online advertisement designated the person displayed in the advertisement as the sponsor; and

(B) the online platform relied on such designation in good faith.

(3) Definitions.— In this subsection—

(A) the term online platform has the meaning given such term in subsection (j)(3);

(B) the term ‘qualified political advertisement has the meaning given such term in subsection (j)(4); and

(C) the term sponsor means the person purchasing the advertisement.”.

(b) Effective date.— The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to advertisements displayed on or after the 120-day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall take effect without regard to whether or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated regulations to carry out such amendments.

This title may be cited as the “Saving the Civil Service Act”.

(a) In general.— A position in the competitive service may not be excepted from the competitive service unless that position is placed—

(1) in any of schedules A through E, as described in section 6.2 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on September 30, 2020; and

(2) under the terms and conditions under part 6 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on September 30, 2020.

(b) Transfers.—

(1) Within excepted service.— A position in the excepted service may not be transferred to any schedule other than a schedule described in subsection (a)(1).

(2) OPM consent required.— An agency may not transfer any occupied position from the competitive service or excepted service into schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, without the prior consent of the Director.

(3) Limit during presidential term.— During any 4-year presidential term, an agency may not transfer from the competitive service into the excepted service a total number of employees that is more than 1 percent of the total number of employees at that agency, as of the first day of that term, or 5 employees, whichever is greater.

(4) Employee consent required.— Notwithstanding any other provision of this section—

(A) an employee who occupies a position in the excepted service may not be transferred to an excepted service schedule other than the schedule in which that position is located without the prior written consent of the employee; and

(B) an employee who occupies a position in the competitive service may not be transferred to the excepted service without the prior written consent of the employee.

(c) Other matters.—

(1) Application.— Notwithstanding section 7425(b) of title 38, United States Code, this section shall apply to positions under chapters 73 and 74 of that title.

(2) Regulations.— The Director shall issue regulations to implement this section.

(d) Definitions.— In this section—

(1) the term agency means any department, agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Government;

(2) the term competitive service has the meaning given that term in section 2102 of title 5, United States Code;

(3) the term Director means the Director of the Office of Personnel Management; and

(4) the term excepted service has the meaning given that term in section 2103 of title 5, United States Code.

(a) In general.— Chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 611 the following:

“612. Prohibition on use of Federal property for certain political activities.—

(a) A convention of a national political party held to nominate a candidate for the office of President or Vice President may not be held on or in any Federal property.

(b) Any candidate or the authorized committee of the candidate under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 which was responsible for a convention in violation of subsection (a) shall be subject to an assessment of a civil penalty equal to the fair market value of the cost of the convention or $50,000, whichever is greater, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(c) In this section, the term “Federal property” means any building, land, or other real property owned, leased, or occupied by any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States, including the White House grounds and the White House (including the Old Executive Office Building, the West Wing, the East Wing, the Rose Garden, and the Executive Residence, but not including the second floor of the Executive Residence).”.

(b) Clerical amendment.— The table of sections for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 611 the following:

(c) Application.—

(1) In general.— This section and the amendments made by this section shall apply to any convention described in section 612(a) of title 18, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), occurring on or after the date of enactment of this Act.

(2) Travel.— Nothing in this section or the amendments made by this section shall be construed to limit or otherwise prevent the President or Vice President from using vehicles (including aircraft) owned or leased by the Government for travel to or from any such convention.

(a) Definitions.— In this section:

(1) Covered location.— The term “covered location” means—

(A) the White House;

(B) the residence of the Vice President; and

(C) any other location at which the President or the Vice President regularly conducts official business.

(2) Covered records.— The term “covered records” means information relating to a visit at a covered location, which shall include—

(A) the name of each visitor at the covered location;

(B) the name of each individual with whom each visitor described in subparagraph (A) met at the covered location; and

(C) the purpose of the visit.

(b) Requirement.— Except as provided in subsection (c), not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall establish and update, every 90 days thereafter, a publicly available database that contains covered records for the preceding 90-day period, on a publicly available website in an easily searchable and downloadable format.

(c) Exceptions.—

(1) In general.— The President shall not include in the database established under subsection (b) any covered record—

(A) the posting of which would implicate personal privacy or law enforcement concerns or threaten national security;

(B) relating to a purely personal guest at a covered location; or

(C) that reveals the social security number, taxpayer identification number, birth date, home address, or personal phone number of an individual, the name of an individual who is less than 18 years old, or a financial account number.

(2) Sensitive meetings.— With respect to a particularly sensitive meeting at a covered location, the President shall—

(A) include the number of visitors at the covered location in the database established under subsection (b);

(B) post the applicable covered records in the database established under subsection (b) when the President determines that release of the covered records is no longer sensitive; and

(C) post any reasonably segregable portion that is not covered by an exception described in subsection (c) of any such excepted record on the website described under subsection (b).

This title may be cited as the “No Corporate Crooks Act”.

(a) Restriction.—

(1) In general.— Any individual who is finally convicted of a covered crime for which any portion of the conduct constituting the covered crime was committed while the individual was serving or employed as the chief executive officer of any public or private non-Federal entity, without regard to whether the conduct was committed in the course of the official duties of the individual as chief executive officer, shall be ineligible for appointment to a position in the executive branch of the Federal Government.

(2) Covered crime defined.— In this subsection, the term covered crime means any of the following:

(A) Any corruption-related offense under Federal law, which includes the following:

(i) Bribery, which includes a violation of section 201 or 666 of title 18, United States Code.

(ii) Copyright infringement, which includes a violation of chapter 5 of title 17, United States Code.

(iii) Cybercrime, which includes a violation of section 1030 of title 18, United States Code.

(iv) Embezzlement, which includes a violation of chapter 31 of title 18, United States Code.

(v) Fraud, which includes a violation of chapter 63 of title 18, United States Code.

(vi) Insider trading, which includes a violation of section 10 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78j).

(vii) Wage theft, which includes a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).

(viii) Tax evasion, which includes a violation of section 7201 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(B) Any offense under the law of a State that is comparable to an offense under Federal law described in subparagraph (A).

(b) Penalty.— Any individual serving in a position in the executive branch of the Federal Government on the date of enactment of this Act who would not be eligible for appointment to such a position under subsection (a) shall removed from service or employment in the executive branch of the Federal Government.

This title may be cited as the “Stop Millionaires Using Service for Kickbacks Act” or the “Stop MUSK Act”.

Section 208(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after “organization in which he is serving as officer, director, trustee, general partner or employee,” the following: “organization for which he, during the 4-year period preceding such participation, served as an officer, director, trustee, general partner, agent, attorney, consultant, contractor, employee, or direct competitor, organization (other than a political organization, as defined in section 527(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) in which he is an active participant,”.

This title may be cited as the “Closing Bribery Loopholes Act”.

Section 201(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

“(3)

(A) the term official act means any act within the range of official duty, and any decision, recommendation, or action on any question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding, or controversy, which may at any time be pending, or which may by law be brought before any public official, in such public official’s official capacity or in such official’s place of trust or profit, including any pardon, commutation, or reprieve, or an offer of any such pardon, commutation, or reprieve; and

(B) for purposes of subparagraph (A), an official act—

(i) may be comprised of a single act, more than one act, or a course of conduct to effect the official act; and

(ii) may occur whether or not it successfully achieves a desired outcome.”.