Protecting Our Democracy Act
This bill, titled the Protecting Our Democracy Act, is a broad, cross-cutting package designed to curb abuses of presidential power, strengthen checks and balances, increase government accountability and transparency, and defend elections from foreign interference. It creates new or expanded rules around presidential pardons, executive accountability, emoluments (foreign and domestic), and investigative integrity, while also beefing up Congress’s oversight powers (subpoena authority, budget control) and boosting protections and transparency in ethics, whistleblower protections, and political influence rules. It also adds concrete protections for elections (Honest Ads, foreign interference reporting, limitations on inaugural fundraising), tightens Hatch Act enforcement, and expands inspector general oversight. Taken together, the bill aims to reduce opportunities for self-dealing, impropriety, or foreign influence to shape U.S. policy or elections, and to make government actions more transparent and accountable to the public and to Congress. Potential impact includes stronger congressional oversight of executive actions, clearer prohibitions and remedies related to pardons and emoluments, tighter ethics rules for the President and top officials, and enhanced election integrity measures. Critics might view some provisions as aggressive or procedurally complex, potentially increasing political and legal friction between the executive branch and Congress, and requiring new administrative systems to enforce disclosed data and enforce penalties.
Key Points
- 1Abuses of the pardon power and presidential legality
- 2- Requires the Attorney General to promptly provide Congress with materials related to pardons for covered offenses, and narrows protections that could shield pardon information from disclosure.
- 3- Broadens bribery and misconduct provisions to cover pardons and to include presidential/vice-presidential candidates; prohibits self-pardons by the President.
- 4- Establishes new financial disclosure requirements for pardon recipients and strengthens oversight of pardons.
- 5No one is above the law; stronger accountability for the Presidency
- 6- Adds tolling of statutes of limitations for offenses committed by the President or Vice President, clarifying that presidential tenure does not erase exposure to criminal prosecution after leaving office.
- 7- Expands penalties and scope for contracts involving the President, Vice President, or Cabinet members, and revises related statutory text to reflect this expanded scope.
- 8- Allows for forfeiture and other sanctions against former Presidents convicted of felonies (with conditions), including potential loss of benefits and required repayments.
- 9Enforcement of foreign and domestic emoluments rules
- 10- Creates a single, enforceable framework (Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Enforcement Act) prohibiting accepting foreign emoluments without Congress’ consent and limiting domestic emoluments beyond presidential compensation.
- 11- Allows civil actions by Congress in a specialized court process (three-judge panel in DC, expedited, with Supreme Court review) to address violations; outlines disgorgement, surrender, or other relief, with restrictions on using government funds for disgorgement.
- 12- Expands disclosure requirements in federal ethics reports to cover foreign emoluments and related business interests, including reporting by spouses and dependents.
- 13Strengthened ethics, oversight, and enforcement mechanisms
- 14- Expands the authority of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics to issue fines, order corrective actions, and bring civil actions; directs new rulemaking for ethics requirements including for legal expense funds and campaign-related entities.
- 15- Extends OSC jurisdiction to cover certain emolument violations; accelerates investigations and requires timely reporting of results to Congress.
- 16- Tightens compliance standards for ethics and donations, including limits on legal expense funds and requirements for disclosures.
- 17Inaugural fundraising transparency and limits
- 18- Prohibits in-kind or foreign-national donations to inaugural committees and tightens rules around donor identity and use of funds.
- 19- Establishes a $50,000 cap on individual donations to inaugural committees (indexed for inflation in future presidential years) and requires rapid reporting of large donations; imposes a detailed final reporting regime within 90 days after the inauguration.
- 20- Enables proper disposition of unused funds to qualified nonprofit organizations, while ensuring transparency of donor and expenditure information.
- 21Division B and related governance safeguards
- 22- Strengthens congressional subpoena enforcement, increases transparency and reporting requirements for budget and appropriations, and enhances nonpartisan, independent budget/legal opinions reporting.
- 23- Enhances congressional oversight over emergencies and designations (National Emergencies Act) with new disclosures and designation processes.
- 24- Expands whistleblower protections and integrity safeguards, including for intelligence and executive branch employees.
- 25Election integrity and anti-foreign interference measures
- 26- Requires reporting of foreign contacts in federal campaigns, strengthens compliance systems, and imposes criminal penalties for violations.
- 27- Expands restrictions on foreign influence in elections, clarifies foreign money prohibitions, and imposes stricter disclosures and disclosures-by-platform requirements (honest ads) to identify sponsors and ensure notices persist online.
- 28Other governance reforms
- 29- Introduces stricter recusal rules for executives, tightens rules around conflicts of interest tied to prior employment, clarifies the definition of official acts, and adds severability provisions to preserve enforceability of the act’s provisions where possible.