Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Halt Unchecked Member Benefits with Lobbying Elimination Act” or the “HUMBLE Act”.
Halt Unchecked Member Benefits with Lobbying Elimination Act
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit former Members and elected officers of Congress from lobbying Congress at any time after leaving office, to prohibit the use of funds for official travel expenses of Members of Congress and legislative branch employees for airline accommodations other than coach class, to reduce the pay of Members of the House of Representatives if a Speaker is not elected on the first day of a Congress, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Prohibiting former Members and officers of Congress from lobbying Congress
Prohibition— Section 207(e)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
“(1) Members and elected officers of Congress—Any person who is a Senator, a Member of the House of Representatives, or an elected officer of the Senate or the House of Representatives and who, after that person leaves office, knowingly makes, with the intent to influence, any communication to or appearance before any Member, officer, or employee of either House of Congress or any employee of any other legislative office of the Congress, on behalf of any other person (except the United States) in connection with any matter on which such former Senator, Member, or elected official seeks action by a Member, officer, or employee of either House of Congress, in his or her official capacity, shall be punished as provided in section 216 of this title.”
Conforming amendments— Section 207(e)(2) of such title is amended—
in the heading, by striking “Officers and staff” and inserting “Staff”;
by striking “an elected officer of the Senate, or”;
by striking “leaves office or employment” and inserting “leaves employment”; and
by striking “former elected officer or”.
Effective date— The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to an individual who leaves office on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Sec. 3 Prohibiting use of funds for official travel expenses of Members of Congress and legislative branch employees for airline accommodations other than coach class
Prohibition— Except as provided in subsection (b), no funds appropriated or otherwise made available for the official travel expenses of a Member of Congress or other officer or employee of any office in the legislative branch may be used for airline accommodations which are not coach-class accommodations.
Exceptions— Funds described in subsection (a) may be used for airline accommodations which are not coach-class accommodations for an individual described in subsection (a) if the use of the funds for such accommodations would be permitted under sections 301–10.121 through 301–10.125 of title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations if the individual were an employee of an agency which is subject to chapter 301 of such title.
Rule of Construction— Nothing in this Act may be construed to affect any officer or employee of an office of the legislative branch which, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, is subject to chapter 301 of title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Definitions—
Coach-class accommodations— In this Act, the term coach-class accommodations means the basic class of accommodation by airlines that is normally the lowest fare offered regardless of airline terminology used, and (as referred to by airlines) may include tourist class or economy class, as well as single class when the airline offers only one class of accommodations to all travelers.
Member of Congress— In this Act, the term Member of Congress means a Senator or a Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.
Effective date— This section shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2024 and each succeeding fiscal year.
Sec. 4 Benefits and services provided to former Members of the House of Representatives
Benefits and services described— The House of Representatives may not make any of the following benefits and services available to an individual who becomes a former Member of the House (except to the extent such benefits and services are made available to members of the public):
Access to the Hall of the House.
Access to athletic facilities and other facilities available for the use of Members of the House.
Access to the Members’ Dining Room located in the House of Representatives wing of the United States Capitol.
Access to parking spaces.
Access to material from the House document room.
Use of the collections in the House Legislative Resource Center without borrowing privileges.
Waiver authority—
Authority to waive elimination of benefit or service— The Speaker and the minority leader of the House of Representatives may jointly, on a case-by-case basis, grant a waiver of subsection (a) with respect to a former Member of the House and a benefit or service described in such subsection.
Publication in Congressional Record— If the Speaker and the minority leader jointly grant a waiver under paragraph (1) to make a benefit or service available to a former Member, the Speaker and minority leader shall, not later than 24 hours after the waiver is granted, cause to have published in the Congressional Record a statement identifying the former Member and the benefit or service involved.
Sec. 5 Prohibiting Members of House of Representatives from owning individual stocks
Sec. 6 Reduction of pay of Members of House if Speaker is not elected
Reduction of pay—
Reduction— If, by the end of the first day of a Congress, the House of Representatives has not elected a Speaker, the annual rate of pay applicable under section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501) with respect to each Member of the House of Representatives for the year shall be reduced by an amount equal to the product of—
an amount equal to one day’s worth of pay under such annual rate; and
the number of 24-hour periods occurring during the Congress during which no Speaker has been elected for the Congress.
Effective date— This subsection shall apply with respect to the One Hundred Nineteenth Congress and each succeeding Congress.
Rule for One Hundred Eighteenth Congress—
Holding salaries in escrow— If, by the end of the first day of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, the House of Representatives has not elected a Speaker, the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this Act, shall—
deposit in an escrow account and exclude from the payments otherwise required to be made for the compensation of each Member of the House of Representatives with respect to a pay period during which the House has not elected a Speaker an amount equal to the product of—
the daily rate of pay of the Member under section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501); and
the number of 24-hour periods during which no Speaker has been elected for the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress; and
release amounts deposited in an escrow account under subparagraph (A) to such Member of the House of Representatives only upon the expiration of the period described in paragraph (2).
Period described— The period described in this paragraph is the period that—
begins on the first day of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress; and
ends on the earlier of—
the date on which the House elects a Speaker for the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress; or
the last day of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.
Withholding and remittance of amounts from payments held in escrow— The Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this Act, shall provide for the same withholding and remittance with respect to a payment deposited in an escrow account under paragraph (1) that would apply to the payment if the payment were not subject to paragraph (1).
Release of amounts at end of the congress— In order to ensure that this subsection is carried out in a manner that shall not vary the compensation of Representatives in violation of the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, or an employee of the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer who is designated by the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out this Act, shall release for payment to Members of the House of Representatives any amounts remaining in any escrow account under this section on the last day of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.
Member defined— In this section, the term Member of the House of Representatives means an individual serving in a position in the House of Representatives which is covered under subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of section 601(a)(1) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4501(1)).