Sec. 556. Personnel matters
473 words·~2 min read·
/bill/116/s/5070/is/section-556A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Upon a majority vote of the Board, the Board may appoint and fix the compensation of such professional, nonpartisan staff (including staff with relevant experience in investigations and law enforcement) of the Office as the Board considers necessary to perform its duties. Each employee of the Office shall be professional and demonstrably qualified for the position for which the employee is hired. The employees of the Office shall be assembled and retained as a professional, nonpartisan staff, and the Office as a whole, and each individual employee, shall perform all official duties in a nonpartisan manner.
No employee of the Office shall engage in any partisan political activity directly affecting any congressional or presidential election. No employee of the Office may accept public speaking engagements or write for publication on any subject that is in any way related to the employee's employment or duties with the Office without specific prior approval from the chairperson and vice-chairperson of the Board. The employment of an employee of the Office may be terminated during a Congress solely by a majority vote of the Board.
Members of the Board, and employees of the Office, may be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by members or employees in the performance of their duties in the same manner as is permissible for such expenses of other employees of the House or Senate. Before any individual who is appointed to serve on the Board or before any individual is hired to be an employee of the Office may do so, the individual shall execute a signed document containing the following statement:
I agree not to be a candidate for the office of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress for purposes of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 until at least 4 years after I am no longer a member of the Congressional Ethics Board or employee of the Office of Congressional Ethics. . Copies of the signed and executed document shall be retained by the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate as part of the records of the House and the Senate.
The Clerk and the Secretary, working jointly, shall make the signatures a matter of public record, causing the names of each individual who has signed the document to be published in a portion of the Congressional Record designed for that purpose, and make cumulative lists of such names available on the websites of the Clerk and the Secretary. The Board— shall establish a code of conduct to govern the behavior of the members of the Board and the employee of the Office, which shall include the avoidance of conflicts of interest; and may issue other rules as the Board determines necessary to carry out the functions of the Board and the Office.