STOP the SWAMP Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5228 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5228

 To amend the Revised Statutes to provide that a person who refuses to
  answer certain questions or is finally convicted of perjury before
either House of Congress shall be debarred from Federal employment, and
                          for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 4, 2026

 Mr. Marshall introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To amend the Revised Statutes to provide that a person who refuses to
  answer certain questions or is finally convicted of perjury before
either House of Congress shall be debarred from Federal employment, and
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Safeguarding Transparency and
Oversight to Prevent the Spread of Washington's Administrative
Misconduct and Partisanship Act'' or the ``STOP the SWAMP Act''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL AND COMMITTEE PROCEDURES; INVESTIGATIONS.

    (a) Debarment of Certain Witnesses From Federal Employment.--
Section 102 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 192)
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Every'' at the beginning and inserting
        the following:
    ``(a) Every'';
            (2) by striking ``, or who, having appeared, refuses to
        answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry,'';
        and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Every person who having been summoned as a witness pursuant
to subsection (a), having appeared, refuses to answer any question
pertinent to the question under inquiry, shall, in addition to any
other penalties provided by law, be--
            ``(1) deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine
        of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100 and imprisonment in
        a common jail for not less than one month nor more than twelve
        months; and
            ``(2) debarred from Federal employment.
    ``(c)(1) In this subsection, the term `finally convicted' means a
conviction that--
            ``(A) has not been appealed and is no longer appealable
        because the time for taking an appeal has expired; or
            ``(B) has been appealed and the appeals process for which
        is completed.
    ``(2) Every person who having been summoned as a witness pursuant
to subsection (a), having appeared, is finally convicted of perjury
under section 1621 of title 18, United States Code, or an offense under
section 1001 of that title, shall, in addition to any other penalties
provided by law, be debarred from Federal employment.
    ``(d) A person who is found in violation of subsection (b) or (c)
who is a Federal employee shall, in addition to any other penalties
provided by law, be removed from the civil service, as such term is
defined in section 2101 of title 5, United States Code.
    ``(e) Any debarment from Federal employment pursuant to this
section shall be subject to judicial review.''.
    (b) Procedures for Rescinding Salary Funds.--Section 104 of the
Revised Statutes (2 U.S.C. 194) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Whenever'' at the beginning and inserting
        the following:
    ``(a) Whenever'';
            (2) by striking ``filed with the President of the Senate or
        the Speaker of the House, it shall be the duty of the said
        President of the Senate or Speaker of the House, as the case
        may be,'' and inserting ``filed with an appropriate Member of
        Congress, it shall be the duty of the said appropriate Member
        of Congress,''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Not later than 180 days after the date of certification of a
statement of facts to a United States attorney pursuant to subsection
(a), any Member of either House may introduce a joint resolution to
rescind funds appropriated or otherwise made available for the salary
and expenses of a witness who is a Federal employee from the employing
entity of the witness for the fiscal year. Such joint resolution shall
be privileged, subject to judicial review, and further subject to the
following procedures:
            ``(1) A joint resolution shall be referred to the Committee
        on Appropriations of the House of Representatives or the
        Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, as the case may be,
        and one such joint resolution shall be reported out by such
        committee together with its recommendations within 15 calendar
        days, unless such House shall otherwise determine by the yeas
        and nays.
            ``(2) A joint resolution so reported shall become the
        pending business of the House in question (in the case of the
        Senate the time for debate shall be equally divided between the
        proponents and the opponents) and shall be voted on within 20
        calendar days thereafter, unless such House shall otherwise
        determine by yeas and nays.
            ``(3) A joint resolution passed by 1 House shall be
        referred to the committee of the other House named in
        subsection (a) and shall be reported out by such committee
        together with its recommendations within 15 calendar days and
        shall thereupon become the pending business of such House and
        shall be voted upon within 3 calendar days, unless such House
        shall otherwise determine by yeas and nays.
            ``(4) In the case of any disagreement between the 2 Houses
        of Congress with respect to a joint resolution passed by both
        Houses, conferees shall be promptly appointed and the committee
        of conference shall make and file a report with respect to such
        joint resolution within 6 calendar days after the legislation
        is referred to the committee of conference. Notwithstanding any
        rule in either House concerning the printing of conference
        reports in the Congressional Record or concerning any delay in
        the consideration of such reports, such report shall be acted
        on by both Houses not later than 6 calendar days after the
        conference report is filed. In the event the conferees are
        unable to agree within 15 days, the conferees shall report back
        to their respective Houses in disagreement.
    ``(c) In this section, the term `appropriate Member of Congress'
means--
            ``(1) the President of the Senate;
            ``(2) the Speaker of the House;
            ``(3) the chair or ranking member of the committee of the
        House of Congress in which the witness appeared pursuant to
        section 102; or
            ``(4) the chair or ranking member of the Committee on
        Oversight and Government Reform of the House of
        Representatives.''.
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