To amend title 5, United States Code, to increase the accountability of the Office of Special Counsel in enforcing certain provisions of that title vigorously, consistently, and without regard to the political affiliation, career status, or personal characteristics of individuals subject to those provisions, and for other purposes.
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
The bill adds definitions to Title 5 establishing the distinction between career employees and noncareer employees (political appointees) for purposes of Hatch Act enforcement tracking. Defines covered allegation as allegations, defines codifies definitions of career employee, covered allegation, and noncareer employee in new section 1219a of Title 5. Noncareer employees include presidential appointees, noncareer SES, and similar political, and requires the Special Counsel to submit written reports to Congress every 180 days on Hatch Act complaints referred for disciplinary action, including copies of complaints, names and positions of accused employees. It relies on reporting requirements, definition changes, and compliance mandates. The main policy areas are Agriculture.
Who Benefits and How
Congressional oversight committees would be affected and General public and watchdog organizations would be affected.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Office of Special Counsel would take on compliance duties, Noncareer employees (political appointees) could face increased risk, and Office of Personnel Management would take on compliance duties.
Key Provisions
- Adds definitions to Title 5 establishing the distinction between career employees and noncareer employees (political appointees) for purposes of Hatch Act enforcement tracking. Defines covered allegation as allegations...
- Defines codifies definitions of career employee, covered allegation, and noncareer employee in new section 1219a of Title 5. Noncareer employees include presidential appointees, noncareer SES, and similar political...
- Requires the Special Counsel to submit written reports to Congress every 180 days on Hatch Act complaints referred for disciplinary action, including copies of complaints, names and positions of accused employees...
- Requires the Special Counsel to submit annual reports to Congress specifically on Hatch Act allegations against noncareer employees (political appointees), including the number of allegations received, number...
- Requires the Special Counsel to publish and maintain on its website for at least 10 years detailed enforcement statistics on Hatch Act allegations, broken down by career vs noncareer employees, with demographic data on...
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill adds definitions to Title 5 establishing the distinction between career employees and noncareer employees (political appointees) for purposes of Hatch Act enforcement tracking. Defines covered allegation as allegations, defines codifies definitions of career employee, covered allegation, and noncareer employee in new section 1219a of Title 5. Noncareer employees include presidential appointees, noncareer SES, and similar political, and requires the Special Counsel to submit written reports to Congress every 180 days on Hatch Act complaints referred for disciplinary action, including copies of complaints, names and positions of accused employees.
Key Policy Areas
Agriculture
Primary Purpose
The bill adds definitions to Title 5 establishing the distinction between career employees and noncareer employees (political appointees) for purposes of Hatch Act enforcement tracking. Defines covered allegation as allegations, defines codifies definitions of career employee, covered allegation, and noncareer employee in new section 1219a of Title 5. Noncareer employees include presidential appointees, noncareer SES, and similar political, and requires the Special Counsel to submit written reports to Congress every 180 days on Hatch Act complaints referred for disciplinary action, including copies of complaints, names and positions of accused employees.
Policy Domains
Protecting Americas Agricultural Land from Foreign Harm Act of 2025
Identified Gains
- Congressional oversight committees
- General public and watchdog organizations
Identified Costs
- Office of Special Counsel
- Noncareer employees (political appointees)
- Office of Personnel Management
- Federal employees subject to Hatch Act complaints
- Federal agency heads
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Garcia of California introduced the following bill; which was …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Congressional oversight committees, Federal agency heads, Federal employees subject to Hatch Act complaints
Positive-direction: Congressional oversight committees
Negative-direction: Federal agency heads, Federal employees subject to Hatch Act complaints, Noncareer employees (political appointees), Office of Personnel Management, Office of Special Counsel
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_director"
- → Director of National Intelligence
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_comptroller_general"
- → Comptroller General of the United States
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Has the meaning given in section 9 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978, including land used for ranching purposes
A person owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of the governments of Iran, North Korea, China, or Russia (excludes U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents)
The Secretary of Agriculture
Includes any State, territory, or possession of the United States
Includes a security interest and a lease, without regard to the duration of the lease
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.
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