Title 2 — The CongressRelease 119-73
§4712 Posting of travel and financial disclosure reports on public website of Clerk of the House of Representatives
Title 2 › Chapter CHAPTER 47— - CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES › § 4712
Summary
The Clerk of the House must put certain travel approvals, expense disclosures, and member financial reports on the Clerk’s public website in a way people can search, sort, and download, as technology allows. This covers advance approvals and disclosures about transportation, lodging, and related travel expenses by Members (including Delegates and Resident Commissioners), officers, and employees, and the specific financial reports filed by Members under federal law. The rule applies to information the Clerk gets on or after September 14, 2007. The Clerk must post things received by June 1, 2008 no later than August 1, 2008, and then post new items every 45 days. Members may remove personal details not required to be shown (like home address, Social Security number, bank account numbers, home phone, and children’s names) before posting. The Clerk, with the House ethics committee, must explain how those personal details are protected. The Clerk will keep posted records for 6 years after receiving them, or for the member financial reports, for 6 years after the person leaves Congress.
Full Legal Text
Title 2, §4712
The Congress — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall post on the public Internet site of the Office of the Clerk, in a format that is searchable, sortable, and downloadable, to the extent technically practicable, each of the following:
(1)The advance authorizations, certifications, and disclosures filed with respect to transportation, lodging, and related expenses for travel under clause 5(b) of rule XXV of the Rules of the House of Representatives by Members (including Delegates and Resident Commissioners to the Congress), officers, and employees of the House.
(2)The reports filed under section 13105(h)(1) of title 5 by Members of the House of Representatives (including Delegates and Resident Commissioners to the Congress).
(b)(1)Subject to paragraph (2), subsection (a) shall apply with respect to information received by the Clerk of the House of Representatives on or after September 14, 2007.
(2)The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall—
(A)not later than August 1, 2008, post the information required by subsection (a) that the Clerk receives by June 1, 2008; and
(B)not later than the end of each 45-day period occurring after information is required to be posted under subparagraph (A), post the information required by subsection (a) that the Clerk has received since the last posting under this subsection.
(3)Members of the House of Representatives (including Delegates and Resident Commissioners to the Congress) shall be permitted to omit personally identifiable information not required to be disclosed on the reports posted on the public Internet site under this section (such as home address, Social Security numbers, personal bank account numbers, home telephone, and names of children) prior to the posting of such reports on such public Internet site.
(4)The Clerk of the House of Representatives, in consultation with the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, shall include in any informational materials concerning any disclosure that will be posted on the public Internet site under this section an explanation of the procedures for protecting personally identifiable information as described in this section.
(c)The Clerk shall maintain the information posted on the public Internet site of the Office of the Clerk under this section for a period of 6 years after receiving the information, or, in the case of reports filed under section 13105(h)(1) of title 5, until the expiration of the 6-year period which begins on the date the individual is no longer a Member of Congress.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification Section was formerly classified to section 104e of this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.
Amendments
2022—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 117–286, § 4(c)(4)(A), substituted “section 13105(h)(1) of title 5” for “section 103(h)(1) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 117–286, § 4(c)(4)(B), substituted “section 13105(h)(1) of title 5,” for “section 103(h)(1) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978,”. 2012—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 112–105 substituted “, or, in the case of reports filed under section 103(h)(1) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, until the expiration of the 6-year period which begins on the date the individual is no longer a Member of Congress.” for period at end.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Change of Name
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Ethics of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Jan. 5, 2011.
Effective Date
of 2012 Amendment Pub. L. 112–105, § 19(b)(2), Apr. 4, 2012, 126 Stat. 305, provided that: “The amendment made by paragraph (1) [amending this section] shall apply with respect to any report which is filed on or after the date on which the systems developed by the Secretary and Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives under section 8(b) [of Pub. L. 112–105, set out as a note under section 105 of Pub. L. 95–521, in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees] first take effect.” Rule of
Construction
Pub. L. 112–105, § 10, Apr. 4, 2012, 126 Stat. 298, provided that: “Nothing in this Act [see Tables for classification], the
Amendments
made by this Act, or the interpretive guidance to be issued pursuant to section 3 and 9[(a)] of this Act [set out as notes preceding section 13101 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees], shall be construed to— “(1) impair or limit the
Construction
of the antifraud provisions of the securities laws or the Commodity Exchange Act [7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.] or the authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under those provisions; “(2) be in derogation of the obligations, duties, and functions of a Member of Congress, an employee of Congress, an executive branch employee, a judicial officer, or a judicial employee, arising from such person’s official position; or “(3) be in derogation of existing laws,
Regulations
, or ethical obligations governing Members of Congress, employees of Congress, executive branch employees, judicial officers, or judicial employees.” Exercise of Rulemaking Authority Pub. L. 110–81, title III, § 306, Sept. 14, 2007, 121 Stat. 754, provided that: “The provisions of this title [enacting this section] are adopted by the House of Representatives— “(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House; and “(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of the House to change those rules at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of the House.”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
2 U.S.C. § 4712
Title 2 — The Congress
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73