ADMIN
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENT 
                               ACT OF 2019

[[Page 134 STAT. 138]]

Public Law 116-121
116th Congress

                                 An Act


 
To amend the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 to improve the orderly 
          transfer of the executive power during Presidential 
            transitions. <<NOTE: Mar. 3, 2020 -  [S. 394]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Presidential 
Transition Enhancement Act of 2019. 3 USC 1 note.>> 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Presidential Transition Enhancement 
Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ENHANCEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 3 of the Presidential Transition Act of 
1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) <<NOTE: Deadline.>>  in the matter preceding 
                paragraph (1), by striking ``upon request,'' and all 
                that follows through ``including'' and inserting ``upon 
                request, to each President-elect, each Vice-President-
                elect, and, for up to 60 days after the date of the 
                inauguration of the President-elect and Vice-President-
                elect, each President and Vice President, for use in 
                connection with the preparations for the assumption of 
                official duties as President or Vice President necessary 
                services and facilities, including''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                          (i) by inserting ``, or an employee of a 
                      committee of either House of Congress, a joint 
                      committee of the Congress, or an individual Member 
                      of Congress,'' after ``any branch of the 
                      Government''; and
                          (ii) by inserting ``, or in the case of an 
                      employee in a position in the legislative branch, 
                      with the consent of the supervising Member of 
                      Congress'' after ``with the consent of the head of 
                      the agency'';
            (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:

    ``(b) The Administrator shall expend funds for the provision of 
services and facilities under this section--
            ``(1) <<NOTE: Time period.>>  in connection with any 
        obligation incurred by the President-elect or Vice-President-
        elect, or after the inauguration of the President-elect as 
        President and the inauguration of the Vice-President-elect as 
        Vice President incurred by the President or Vice President, 
        during the period--
                    ``(A) beginning on the day after the date of the 
                general elections held to determine the electors of the 
                President and Vice President under section 1 or 2 of 
                title 3, United States Code; and

[[Page 134 STAT. 139]]

                    ``(B) ending on the date that is 60 days after the 
                date of such inauguration; and
            ``(2) without regard to whether the President-elect, Vice-
        President-elect, President, or Vice President submits to the 
        Administrator a request for payment regarding services or 
        facilities before the end of such period.'';
            (3) in subsection (h)(2)(B)(ii), by striking ``computers'' 
        and inserting ``information technology''; and
            (4) By adding at the end the following:

    ``(i) Memorandums of Understanding.--
            ``(1) <<NOTE: Deadline.>>  In general.--Not later than 
        September 1 of a year during which a Presidential election 
        occurs, the Administrator shall, to the maximum extent 
        practicable, enter into a memorandum of understanding with each 
        eligible candidate, which shall include, at a minimum, the 
        conditions for the administrative support services and 
        facilities described in subsection (a).
            ``(2) Existing resources.--To the maximum extent 
        practicable, a memorandum of understanding entered into under 
        paragraph (1) shall be based on memorandums of understanding 
        relating to previous Presidential transitions.
            ``(3) Transition representative.--
                    ``(A) Designation of representative for inquiries.--
                Each memorandum of understanding entered into under this 
                subsection shall designate a representative of the 
                eligible candidate to whom the Administrator shall 
                direct any inquiries or legal instruments regarding the 
                records of the eligible candidate that are in the 
                custody of the Administrator.
                    ``(B) Change in transition representative.--The 
                designation of a new individual as the transition 
                representative of an eligible candidate shall not 
                require the execution of a new memorandum of 
                understanding under this subsection.
                    ``(C) Termination of designation.--The designation 
                of a transition representative under a memorandum of 
                understanding shall terminate--
                          ``(i) not later than September 30 of the year 
                      during which the inauguration of the President-
                      elect as President and the inauguration of the 
                      Vice-President-elect as Vice President occurs; or
                          ``(ii) before the date described in clause 
                      (i), upon request of the President-elect or the 
                      Vice-President-elect or, after such inauguration, 
                      upon request of the President or the Vice 
                      President.
            ``(4) Amendments.--Any amendment to a memorandum of 
        understanding entered into under this subsection shall be agreed 
        to in writing.
            ``(5) <<NOTE: Deadline.>>  Prior notification of 
        deviation.--Each party to a memorandum of understanding entered 
        into under this subsection shall provide written notice, except 
        to the extent prohibited under another provision of law, not 
        later than 3 days before taking any action that deviates from 
        the terms and conditions agreed to in the memorandum of 
        understanding.
            ``(6) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `eligible 
        candidate' has the meaning given that term in subsection 
        (h)(4).''.

    (b) Agency Transitions.--Section 4 of the Presidential Transition 
Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 102 note) is amended--

[[Page 134 STAT. 140]]

            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); 
                and
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) the term `nonpublic information'--
                    ``(A) means information from the Federal Government 
                that a member of a transition team obtains as part of 
                the employment of the member that such member knows or 
                reasonably should know has not been made available to 
                the general public; and
                    ``(B) includes information that a member of the 
                transition team knows or reasonably should know--
                          ``(i) is exempt from disclosure under section 
                      552 of title 5, United States Code, or otherwise 
                      protected from disclosure by law; and
                          ``(ii) is not authorized by the appropriate 
                      government agency or officials to be released to 
                      the public; and'';
            (2) in subparagraphs (C) and (D) of subsection (e)(3), by 
        inserting ``serving in a career position'' after ``senior 
        representative'';
            (3) by striking subsection (f)(2) and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(2) <<NOTE: Deadline. Succession plan.>>  Acting 
        officers.--Not later than September 15 of a year during which a 
        Presidential election occurs, and in accordance with subchapter 
        III of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, the head of 
        each agency shall ensure that a succession plan is in place for 
        each senior noncareer position in the agency.''; and
            (4) in subsection (g)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``November 1'' and 
                inserting ``October 1''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Ethics plan.--
                    ``(A) <<NOTE: Effective date.>>  In general.--Each 
                memorandum of understanding under paragraph (1) shall 
                include an agreement that the eligible candidate will 
                implement and enforce an ethics plan to guide the 
                conduct of the transition beginning on the date on which 
                the eligible candidate becomes the President-elect.
                    ``(B) Contents.--The ethics plan shall include, at a 
                minimum--
                          ``(i) <<NOTE: Applicability.>>  a description 
                      of the ethics requirements that will apply to all 
                      members of the transition team, including any 
                      specific requirement for transition team members 
                      who will have access to nonpublic or classified 
                      information;
                          ``(ii) a description of how the transition 
                      team will--
                                    ``(I) address the role on the 
                                transition team of--
                                            ``(aa) lobbyists registered 
                                        under the Lobbying Disclosure 
                                        Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 
                                        seq.) and individuals who were 
                                        former lobbyists registered 
                                        under that Act; and
                                            ``(bb) persons registered 
                                        under the Foreign Agents 
                                        Registration Act of 1938 (22 
                                        U.S.C.

[[Page 134 STAT. 141]]

                                        611 et seq.), foreign nationals, 
                                        and other foreign agents;
                                    ``(II) prohibit a transition team 
                                member with conflicts of interest 
                                similar to those applicable to Federal 
                                employees under section 2635.402(a) and 
                                section 2635.502(a) of title 5, Code of 
                                Federal Regulations, related to current 
                                or former employment, affiliations, 
                                clients, or investments, from working on 
                                particular matters involving specific 
                                parties that affect the interests of 
                                such member; and
                                    ``(III) address how the covered 
                                eligible candidate will address his or 
                                her own conflicts of interest during a 
                                Presidential term if the covered 
                                eligible candidate becomes the 
                                President-elect;
                          ``(iii) a Code of Ethical Conduct, which each 
                      member of the transition team will sign and be 
                      subject to, that reflects the content of the 
                      ethics plans under this paragraph and at a minimum 
                      requires transition team members to--
                                    ``(I) seek authorization from 
                                transition team leaders or their 
                                designees before seeking, on behalf of 
                                the transition, access to any nonpublic 
                                information;
                                    ``(II) keep confidential any 
                                nonpublic information provided in the 
                                course of the duties of the member with 
                                the transition and exclusively use such 
                                information for the purposes of the 
                                transition; and
                                    ``(III) not use any nonpublic 
                                information provided in the course of 
                                transition duties, in any manner, for 
                                personal or private gain for the member 
                                or any other party at any time during or 
                                after the transition; and
                          ``(iv) a description of how the transition 
                      team will enforce the Code of Ethical Conduct, 
                      including the names of the members of the 
                      transition team responsible for enforcement, 
                      oversight, and compliance.
                    ``(C) <<NOTE: Web posting.>>  Publicly available.--
                The transition team shall make the ethics plan described 
                in this paragraph publicly available on the internet 
                website of the General Services-

[[Page 134 STAT. 142]]

                Administration the earlier of--
                          ``(i) the day on which the memorandum of 
                      understanding is completed; or
                          ``(ii) October 1.''.

    Approved March 3, 2020.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 394:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

SENATE REPORTS: No. 116-13 (Comm. on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
                                                        Vol. 165 (2019):
                                    Aug. 1, considered and passed 
                                        Senate.
                                                        Vol. 166 (2020):
                                    Feb. 5, considered and passed House.

                                  <all>

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  • The presstitute media will simply state that the election is Bidens "Get out of Jail Free" card.

    The presstitute media will say the public support in an election victory negates any complications, unless impeached. 

    The presstitute media is introducing us to a bought and paid for influence peddler for graft, as our brand new President, and his Marxist Vice President with a blank slate of ethics, that their own party wanted nothing to do with.

    Isn't this special.......

  • Gentle readers, I am a very nasty seventy-three year old retired federal law enforcement officer from Pennsylvania how some ever do not mistake age for senility I still remember seeing and hearing and seeing with my own eyes and ears former Vice President Joseph Robinette “Joe” Biden bragging about committing a crime on television to wit having a Ukrainian investigative prosecutor who was investigating the extremely corrupt Burisma Holdings Limited is a holding company for a group of energy exploration and production companies. What would be even funnier would be seeing the current Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Christopher Asher Wray wearing metaphorical sackcloth and ashes and pounding his chest and chanting “I screwed up! I screwed up! I really screwed up!” I suggest you look up Frank Forrester Church (Born July 25, 1924 Died April 7, 1984) and the Church Committee he ran. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1956, Frank Church spent twenty-four years in Congress as an advocate for progressive causes, including civil rights, equal rights for women, wilderness preservation, and opposition to the Vietnam War. In the mid-1970s he gained notoriety for overseeing a Senate investigation that exposed some of the CIA and FBI's more controversial activities. Church's inquiry paved the way for passage of the Intelligence Oversight Act of 1980, which requires the agencies to report covert activities to an oversight committee in an effort to curb abuses of power. It quite frankly did not work too well because the nonsense is still going on today. Frank Forrester Church was one of the most honorable men I ever observed in my life. By the way he was a Democrat and had served in World War Two as an intelligence officer they were so afraid of him that the National Security Agency was conducting “electronic surveillance” of his personal communications I never accused them of spying on him!!!!

    • I'm right there with you brother.

  • Bad people will discard this like they do other things. Bad people do not want to obey. America is only for good willing to do the right thing.

  • too little too late.  deep state TRAITORS in the gop should have done this last spring not now when it means nothing but that is the idea, mean nothing!!!!!

  • If i were biden and i read this i would congradulate trump on his victory.

    • Oh yes, immediately, if not sooner!   But being a Democrat, he would ignore it because after all, he is above it all!

    • The great British courtier, wit and general observer of the human condition Sir John Harington (baptized 4 August 1560 – died 20 November 1612), once observed   "Treason doth never prosper. What's the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason."  I guess he had a crystal ball to see the future how else would he know about the Clintons? They sure prospered off treason!!! By the way how much did the Clinton Foundation make from the sale from the Uranium One sale of 20% of America’s uranium supply, the $14,000,000 that Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton received advance that she received for her book “Hard Choices” Which she now says she cannot remember anything about back home we call that “Chicago Amnesia”! Does anyone really need an explanation for that one and the $15,000,000 that The Honorable William Jefferson “Bubba” Clinton also known Her Majesty’s Police Service as “The Rhodes Scholar Rapist for his book “My Life,” besides $500,000 speaking honorarium “Bubba” Clinton received for speaking in Moscow. But as a paranoid old retired Treasury law enforcement officer with a really warped sense of humor I would love to watch sixty I.R.S. Criminal Investigation Division Special Agents auditing the Clinton foundations books. After all they have not be audited in over twenty years. I will know they found something when they start giggling and when they dissolve into gales of laughter I will know for sure the Clinton crime family gooses are cooked!! Especially if they are people I trained because it will be fun!!!

    • and please have that televised, because it would be fun to watch Clintons goose roasted to ashes.

    • I would be dancing in the street to see gooses cooked, really, really, well=done. Burned, preferably. Crispy critters. Then shredded....

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