CLEAR Path Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The CLEAR Path Act adds extended post-employment restrictions for officials in Senate-confirmed executive-branch positions. It targets representation of foreign governmental entities from countries of concern after those officials leave government service.
The bill defines country of concern, foreign governmental entity, represent, and Senate-confirmed position. It also creates a process for the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General, to propose adding or removing countries from the country-of-concern definition, with changes taking effect only after Congress approves a joint resolution.
Who Benefits and How
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, House Judiciary Committee, federal ethics officials, Department of State, Department of Justice, and public watchdog organizations benefit because the bill creates a clearer cooling-off rule for senior officials who might otherwise represent foreign governments after leaving office. U.S. foreign-policy agencies benefit from reduced conflict-of-interest risk involving countries of concern.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Former Senate-confirmed officials must comply with broader post-employment limits when representing foreign governmental entities. Foreign governments from countries of concern lose access to some former U.S. officials as representatives.
The Secretary of State, Attorney General, Department of State, and Department of Justice must administer the country-list modification process, and Congress must process any joint resolution of approval.
Key Provisions
- Adds an extended post-employment restriction for officials who held Senate-confirmed executive-branch positions.
- Adds definitions for country of concern, foreign governmental entity, represent, and Senate-confirmed position.
- Excludes licensed attorneys providing legal representation or legal advice from the represent definition.
- Requires State Department consultation with the Attorney General before proposing country-list changes.
- Requires congressional approval through a joint resolution before a country-of-concern modification takes effect.
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
Restricts former Senate-confirmed executive officials from representing foreign governmental entities from countries of concern and creates a congressional approval process for changing that country list.
Key Policy Areas
Government Ethics, Foreign Affairs, National Security
Primary Purpose
Restricts former Senate-confirmed executive officials from representing foreign governmental entities from countries of concern and creates a congressional approval process for changing that country list.
Policy Domains
Whole bill
Identified Gains
- Senate Foreign Relations Committee
- House Judiciary Committee
- Federal ethics officials
- Department of State
- Department of Justice
- Public watchdog organizations
Identified Costs
- Former Senate-confirmed officials
- Foreign governments from countries of concern
- Secretary of State
- Attorney General
- Department of State
- Department of Justice
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed SenateHeld at the desk.
Received in the House.
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by …
Passed Senate with an amendment by Voice Vote. (consideration: CR …
Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Grassley with an …
Reported by Mr. Grassley, with an amendment
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. …
Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Federal agencies and affected program participants, Foreign governmental entities of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea seeking to hire former US officials, Secretary of State and Attorney General who gain authority to propose changes to the countries of concern list
Positive-direction: Federal agencies and affected program participants
Negative-direction: Foreign governmental entities of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea seeking to hire former US officials
Former Senate-confirmed executive branch officials who currently or could lobby for adversarial foreign governments, Licensed attorneys exempt from the ban who can still represent foreign governmental entities in legal capacity, Lobbying and consulting firms that represent foreign governmental entities of countries of concern
Positive-direction: Licensed attorneys exempt from the ban who can still represent foreign governmental entities in legal capacity
Negative-direction: Former Senate-confirmed executive branch officials who currently or could lobby for adversarial foreign governments, Lobbying and consulting firms that represent foreign governmental entities of countries of concern, Lobbying and consulting firms whose business could be affected by expansion or contraction of the countries list
Federal employees, applicants, and workforce managers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
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