Lafayette Reporter

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking and Judiciary Committees, has partnered with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) to introduce the No Taxpayer-Funded Pensions for Sex Criminals Act. This legislation aims to amend existing law to prevent federal employees and contractors convicted of sexual crimes from receiving federal government pensions.

“The No Taxpayer-Funded Pensions for Sex Criminals Act would ensure that government employees who commit sexual crimes don’t get to retire on Americans’ dime,” said Kennedy. The bill is designed to guarantee that individuals convicted of sex crimes under federal or substantially similar state laws are ineligible for federal government pensions.

The proposed act refers specifically to conduct outlined in Title 18 of the U.S. Code, which includes offenses such as aggravated sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children, and transportation for illegal sexual activity among others.

This legislative move comes in the wake of several high-profile cases involving federal employees. On April 30, 2024, a former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attorney was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring to sexually exploit numerous children.

Furthermore, in November 2023, Kennedy questioned FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg at a Senate Banking Committee Hearing about reports suggesting that Chairman Gruenberg had failed to address sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior within the agency.

On May 7, 2024, an independent third-party review of allegations of misconduct at the FDIC was released. The report revealed that over 500 FDIC employees reported incidents including sexual harassment, gender-, sex- or race-based discrimination and verbal abuse.

The No Taxpayer-Funded Pensions for Sex Criminals Act has also been cosponsored by Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), James Risch (R-Idaho), Rick Scott (R.-Fla.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). The full text of the act is available here.