[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7934 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7934
To amend chapter 3 of title 5, United States Code, to require the
publication of settlement agreements, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 16, 2026
Mr. Palmer (for himself and Mr. Mfume) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend chapter 3 of title 5, United States Code, to require the
publication of settlement agreements, 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 ``Settlement Agreement Information
Database Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. INFORMATION REGARDING SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS ENTERED INTO BY
AGENCIES.
(a) Requirements for Settlement Agreements.--Subchapter I of
chapter 3 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``Sec. 307. Information regarding settlement agreements
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Agency.--The term `agency' has the meaning given the
term in section 3502 of title 44.
``(2) Covered settlement agreement.--
``(A) In general.--The term `covered settlement
agreement' means a settlement agreement or deferred
prosecution agreement that meets 1 or more of the
following requirements:
``(i) Requires not less than $10,000,000 in
total explicitly obligated payments of a
settling party on the date on which the
settlement agreement is executed.
``(ii) Involves the appointment of a
special master or monitor.
``(iii) Involves a party that is a State,
metropolitan city, local government, county, or
other unit of government that is not the
Federal Government.
``(iv) Is designated as a covered
settlement agreement by the Director as a
result of meeting additional criteria
determined by the Director as described in
subsection (b)(2)(C).
``(B) Exclusions.--The term `covered settlement
agreement' does not include a settlement agreement that
relates to any of the following:
``(i) The United States Trustee Program.
``(ii) A Federal employee personnel action,
including an action before the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, the Office of Special
Counsel, or the Merit Systems Protection Board,
or any other internal personnel-related matter.
``(iii) A non-prosecution agreement or plea
bargain.
``(iv) The Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
``(v) Any matter that may be brought as an
action pursuant to chapter 46 of title 18.
``(3) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget.
``(4) Local government.--The term `local government' has
the meaning given the term in section 6501 of title 31.
``(5) Originating agency.--The term `originating agency'
means an agency on behalf of which or at the request of which
another agency executes a settlement agreement.
``(6) Settlement agreement.--The term `settlement
agreement' means an agreement (including a consent decree)
that--
``(A) is entered into by an agency; and
``(B) resolves an alleged violation of Federal,
civil, or criminal law.
``(7) State.--The term `State' means each of the several
States, the District of Columbia, each territory or possession
of the United States, and each federally recognized Indian
Tribe.
``(b) Covered Settlement Agreement Information Database.--
``(1) Agency requirement.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this section, the head of each
agency that has entered into a covered settlement
agreement shall establish and maintain a public online
database that, subject to subparagraph (B), contains
the following information and documents to the extent
practicable:
``(i) A list (in a categorized and
searchable format) that includes each covered
settlement agreement entered into by such
agency and publishes with respect to each such
covered settlement agreement the following:
``(I) Whether the covered
settlement agreement resolves a civil
or criminal claim or both.
``(II) The date on which each party
settling a claim under the covered
settlement agreement executes such
covered settlement agreement.
``(III) Any specific statutory
provision alleged to have been
violated, as may be set forth in any
corresponding public letter or
complaint.
``(IV) Any expressly denominated
amount of fees and other expenses of
attorneys provided by or to the United
States.
``(V) The amount, if any, each
party settling a claim under the
covered settlement agreement is
explicitly obligated to pay as set
forth in such covered settlement
agreement.
``(VI) The amount, if any, each
party settling a claim under the
covered settlement agreement is
obligated to pay as expressly specified
under the covered settlement agreement
as a civil or criminal penalty or fine.
``(VII) Any payment made under the
covered settlement agreement, including
the amount of any payment made to or by
the Federal Government.
``(VIII) The projected duration of
the covered settlement agreement, if
available.
``(IX) A list of any State, local
government, county, or any other unit
of government that is directly
identified by the substantive terms of
the covered settlement agreement.
``(ii) A copy of each such covered
settlement agreement.
``(B) Exemptions.--The requirement to publish a
copy of or any other information with respect to a
covered settlement agreement pursuant to subparagraph
(A) does not apply to the extent such copy (or portion
thereof) or information--
``(i) is subject to a confidentiality
provision or court order that prohibits the
disclosure of such copy (or portion) or
information; or
``(ii) would be subject to withholding from
public disclosure under section 552.
``(2) Guidance.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this section, the Director, in coordination
with the Attorney General, shall issue, and periodically update
as necessary thereafter, guidance for the head of each agency
to implement paragraph (1) that includes the following:
``(A) Specific dates by which such head shall
publish information necessary to maintain the database
of such agency pursuant to paragraph (1)(A), which
shall be not less frequently than annually.
``(B) Data standards, including common data
elements and a common, nonproprietary, searchable,
machine-readable, and platform-independent format, for
the publication of information pursuant to paragraph
(1)(A).
``(C) Additional criteria that such head shall use
to determine if a settlement agreement is likely to
require significant compliance costs such that such
head shall designate such settlement agreement as a
covered settlement agreement.
``(D) A requirement that such head shall use a
uniform resource locator for the establishment of the
database of such agency pursuant to paragraph (1)(A)
that--
``(i) is--
``(I) in a consistent format across
agencies; and
``(II) descriptive, memorable, and
pronounceable; and
``(ii) may be `agencyname.gov/settlements'.
``(E) A process that such head may use to request
certification from the Director that a database of such
agency that exists on the date of the enactment of this
section complies with this subsection.
``(F) A process for requiring the head of not less
than 1 agency to publish a covered settlement agreement
on a database required by paragraph (1)(A) if--
``(i) multiple agencies are a party to such
covered settlement agreement; or
``(ii) such head enters into an additional
covered settlement agreement at the request of
or on behalf of an originating agency.
``(3) Non-disclosure transparency.--
``(A) Report on non-disclosure.--Not later than 2
years after the date of the enactment of this section,
and not less frequently than annually thereafter, the
head of each agency that establishes and maintains a
database pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) shall submit to
Congress and make publicly available on the website of
such agency a report on covered settlement agreements
that the agency does not publicly disclose in the
database for the covered settlements published in the
previous year.
``(B) Report contents.--The report described in
subparagraph (A) shall include--
``(i) the number of covered settlement
agreements that were fully exempted under
paragraph (1)(B);
``(ii) for each covered settlement
agreement fully exempted under paragraph
(1)(B), the specific exemption under that
paragraph that applies; and
``(iii) in the case of a full exemption
under paragraph (1)(B)(ii), the specific
exemptions under section 552 that apply.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subchapter I of
chapter 3 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following new item:
``307. Information regarding settlement agreements.''.
(c) Rule of Construction.--
(1) In general.--Any information published on a database
established and maintained pursuant to section 307(b)(1)(A) of
title 5, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall
not affect the terms of a settlement agreement or the
interpretation or application of the settlement agreement.
(2) Legal rights.--The inclusion or omission of information
or documents in a database established and maintained pursuant
to section 307(b)(1)(A) of title 5, United States Code, as
added by subsection (a), shall not be construed as creating any
legal right or opportunity for judicial review.
(3) Freedom of information act.--Nothing in this Act, or
the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to require
the disclosure of information or records that the head of an
agency may withhold from public disclosure under section 552 of
title 5, United States Code.
(4) Classified information.--Nothing in this Act, or the
amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to require the
disclosure of classified information.
(d) Applicability.--This Act, and the amendments made by this Act,
shall apply with respect to--
(1) any covered settlement agreement (as defined in section
307(a) of title 5, United States Code, as added by subsection
(a)) entered into on or after the date of the enactment of this
Act; and
(2) to the extent practicable, any such covered settlement
agreement that--
(A) was entered into on or after January 1, 2015;
and
(B) remains in effect on or after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
<all>