HR140-118

Reported

To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit Federal employees from advocating for censorship of viewpoints in their official capacity, and for other purposes.

118th Congress Introduced Mar 14, 2023

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

What This Bill Does

This bill amends title 5 to bar Federal employees from using official authority or influence to censor private speech or to pressure private entities to censor speech. It also requires inspector-general style public reporting on complaints, investigations, and disciplinary actions related to the prohibition.

Who Benefits and How

Private speakers, media platforms, and other private entities benefit from reduced risk of Federal pressure to remove or suppress lawful speech. Congress and the public benefit from oversight reporting.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Federal employees and agencies face new conduct limits, compliance exposure, and reporting duties. Inspectors general face recurring reporting work.

Key Provisions

  • States congressional policy against Federal employee censorship
  • Prohibits Federal employees from using official authority to censor private entities or speech
  • Adds recurring public reporting on complaints, investigations, discipline, and referrals

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Prohibits Federal employees from using official authority to censor private speech or pressure third parties to censor speech, and adds oversight reporting on complaints and investigations.

Key Policy Areas

Civil Rights, Government Operations, Technology, Oversight

Primary Purpose

Prohibits Federal employees from using official authority to censor private speech or pressure third parties to censor speech, and adds oversight reporting on complaints and investigations.

Policy Domains

Civil Rights Government Operations Technology Oversight

Federal employee censorship prohibition

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Private speakers
  • Private online platforms
  • Civil liberties advocates
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: eh

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Federal employees
  • Federal agencies
  • Inspectors general
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: eh

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Legislative Progress

Reported
Introduced Committee Passed
Mar 14, 2023

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland …

Mar 2, 2023

Additional sponsors: Mr. Grothman, Mr. Biggs, Mr. Langworthy, Ms. Mace, …

Mar 2, 2023

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …

Jan 9, 2023

Mr. Comer (for himself, Mr. Jordan, and Mrs. Rodgers of …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Advocacy Groups
15 mentions across 15 clauses
+9 positive -6 negative

Private speakers and civil liberties advocates, Private speakers and media platforms

Private speakers and civil liberties advocates, Private speakers and media platforms face effects in multiple directions

Government
12 mentions across 12 clauses
+4 positive -8 negative

Federal employees and agencies, Inspectors general and Federal oversight offices

Federal employees and agencies faces effects in multiple directions

Technology
11 mentions across 11 clauses
+7 positive -4 negative

Private entities subject to Federal pressure

Private entities subject to Federal pressure faces effects in multiple directions

5/5
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Civil Rights Government Operations Oversight
Actor Mappings
"employee"
→ Federal employee acting in an official capacity
"inspectors_general"
→ Agency inspectors general or oversight offices

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology