H.R. 10283: Congressional Pension Accountability Act

This bill would change federal retirement rules for Members of Congress who are expelled or who resign under certain ethics-related circumstances. In plain terms, it would make it so that a lawmaker’s prior congressional service would no longer count toward a congressional pension if they:

• are expelled from Congress, or
• resign after an ethics committee has already approved a formal statement saying there is substantial reason to believe they violated applicable conduct rules or laws.

What retirement benefits would be affected

The bill applies to both major federal retirement systems that can cover Members of Congress:

• CSRS (the older Civil Service Retirement System)
• FERS (the Federal Employees Retirement System)

If the bill applies, the Member’s prior congressional service would become “noncreditable” for pension purposes. That means the service would not be used to determine whether the person qualifies for an annuity, or how much that annuity would be.

Refunds and past payments

If a person’s congressional service is stripped of credit under the bill, they could still receive back the portion of their retirement contributions tied to that service, minus any amount already refunded or paid out in benefits. The bill also says that if the person already received pension payments before the expulsion, they would not have to pay those past payments back.

Other retirement-related changes under FERS

For people covered by FERS, the bill would also require forfeiture of the government’s contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan that were made during the Member’s congressional service, along with any earnings on those contributions.

Records and administration

The House or Senate ethics committee involved would have to keep records and investigative materials related to the misconduct finding. The Office of Personnel Management would be directed to write any rules needed to carry out the law.

Pardons would not restore benefits

The bill says that if the President later pardons the person or reduces their criminal sentence, that would not restore the forfeited congressional annuity.

When the bill would apply

The changes would apply only to expulsions or ethics findings based on conduct that happened after the bill becomes law. It would not apply retroactively to earlier conduct.

Relevant Companies

None found