§227 — Title 18 Crimes and Criminal Procedure | U.S. Code

Summary

Makes it illegal for government officials to use or threaten official power, or get others to do so, to influence a private employer’s hiring, firing, or other job decisions based only on political party. Covered people include members and staff of Congress; the President and Vice President; Postal Service and Postal Regulatory Commission workers; and other executive branch employees under 5 U.S.C. 2105.

Title 18, §227

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Whoever, being a covered government person, with the intent to influence, solely on the basis of partisan political affiliation, an employment decision or employment practice of any private entity—

(1)takes or withholds, or offers or threatens to take or withhold, an official act, or

(2)influences, or offers or threatens to influence, the official act of another,

(b)In this section, the term “covered government person” means—

(1)a Senator or Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress;

(2)an employee of either House of Congress; or

(3)the President, Vice President, an employee of the United States Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory Commission, or any other executive branch employee (as such term is defined under section 2105 of title 5, United States Code).

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2012—Pub. L. 112–105 inserted “or an officer or employee of the legislative or executive branch” after “Congress” in section catchline, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), substituted “a covered government person” for “a Senator or Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress or an employee of either House of Congress” in introductory provisions, and added subsec. (b).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 110–81, title I, § 105(b), Sept. 14, 2007, 121 Stat. 741, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by section 102 [enacting this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Sept. 14, 2007].”

Construction

Pub. L. 110–81, title I, § 102(b), Sept. 14, 2007, 121 Stat. 739, provided that: “Nothing in section 227 of title 18, United States Code, as added by this section, shall be construed to create any inference with respect to whether the activity described in section 227 of title 18, United States Code, was a criminal or civil offense before the enactment of this Act [Sept. 14, 2007], including under section 201(b), 201(c), any of sections 203 through 209, or section 872, of title 18, United States Code.”

§227 Wrongfully influencing a private entity’s employment decisions by a Member of Congress or an officer or employee of the legislative or executive branch

Summary

Title 18, §227

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Amendments

Construction

Citations & Metadata