HR1712-119

What This Bill Does

The MEME Act is a government-ethics bill aimed at public officials profiting from financial instruments, including digital assets and meme coins. It states that federal elected officials should not use public office for private financial gain. It adds a new title 5 subchapter covering prohibited financial transactions by public officeholders and adjacent individuals, including certain Senior Executive Service officials, senior military officers, equivalent officials determined by the Special Counsel in consultation with the Office of Government Ethics, and spouses or dependent children. Covered assets include securities, security futures, commodities, digital assets sold for remuneration, cryptocurrencies, meme coins, tokens, and non-fungible tokens. The Attorney General may bring civil actions, courts may impose penalties up to $250,000, violators must disgorge profits to the Treasury, and harmed investors, competitors, or private parties can sue. The bill also creates criminal penalties when covered violations cause at least $1 million in public losses, involve official bribery, or involve corrupt official acts.

Who Benefits and How

Retail investors benefit because officeholders and adjacent family members could not promote covered assets for personal gain while leveraging public trust. Government ethics watchdog organizations benefit from a clear statutory ban on meme-coin and digital-asset self-enrichment by officials. Office of Government Ethics staff benefit from a defined consultation role for equivalent covered positions. U.S. taxpayers benefit because disgorged profits from prohibited transactions go to the Treasury.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Members of Congress and executive branch officials lose the ability to issue, sponsor, or promote covered assets for pecuniary gain. Senior Executive Service officials and senior military officers face civil and criminal exposure for prohibited covered-asset transactions. Spouses and dependent children of covered officials face adjacent-individual restrictions. Department of Justice attorneys must enforce civil penalties, disgorgement, private-action rules, and criminal provisions.

Key Provisions

• Bars covered officeholders and adjacent individuals from issuing, sponsoring, or promoting covered assets for gain.
• Defines covered assets to include securities, commodities, cryptocurrencies, meme coins, tokens, and NFTs.
• Creates civil penalties up to $250,000 and disgorgement of profits to the Treasury.
• Authorizes private lawsuits by harmed investors, competitors, and other private parties.
• Creates criminal penalties for knowing violations involving major public losses, bribery, or corrupt official acts.