H.R. 9206

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9206 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9206

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require a Department of 
Homeland Security-wide policy for public communications, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 8, 2026

Mr. Thanedar (for himself and Mr. Thompson of Mississippi) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland 
Security

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require a Department of 
Homeland Security-wide policy for public communications, and for other 
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Homeland Security 
Communications, Accuracy, Neutrality, Disclosure, Oversight, and Review 
Act'' or the ``DHS CANDOR Act''.

SEC. 2. DHS PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS POLICY.

(a) In General.--Subtitle H of title VIII of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:

``SEC. 890E. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS POLICY.

``(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue a Department-wide 
policy for the purpose of ensuring Department personnel engaged in 
public-facing communication improve information quality by maximizing 
accuracy, utility, objectivity, and integrity. Such policy shall 
establish standards for all public-facing materials to--
``(1) be accurate, objective, and reliable;
``(2) avoid misleading, partisan, unauthorized, 
speculative, or unsupported statements;
``(3) support rapid correction or clarification if the 
Department disseminates inaccurate or incomplete information; 
and
``(4) undergo review procedures for the legal compliance 
with the requirements specified in subsection (b).
``(b) Legal Requirements Specified.--The legal requirements 
specified in this subsection are the following:
``(1) Section 515 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2001 (Public Law 106-554) (commonly referred to as the `Data 
Quality Act' or the `Information Quality Act') and any other 
relevant Federal data integrity requirement.
``(2) Sections 7321 through 7326 of title 5, United States 
Code (commonly referred to as the `Hatch Act'), and part 734 of 
title 5, Code of Federal Regulations.
``(3) Sections 552 and 552a of title 5, United States Code.
``(4) Civil rights and civil liberties protections.
``(5) Applicable ethics rules.
``(c) Component Public Communications Policies.--Not earlier than 
30 days after the Secretary issues the Department-wide policy pursuant 
to subsection (a), the heads of Department components may develop 
component specific policies that align with such Department-wide 
policy. Such heads shall submit to the Office of Public Affairs and the 
Office of the General Counsel such component policies for review and 
certification of such alignment. Such heads may issue such component 
specific policies after receiving from each of such Offices 
confirmation of such alignment.
``(d) Use of Personal Social Media Accounts.--When referencing 
Department activities on personal accounts, Department personnel--
``(1) may not--
``(A) represent personal views as Department 
positions;
``(B) disclose non-public information; or
``(C) misuse official titles, insignia, or internal 
information; and
``(2) shall avoid presenting personal social media posts as 
official communications from the Department.
``(e) Authorization and Oversight.--
``(1) In general.--The Assistant Secretary for the Office 
of Public Affairs of the Department shall serve as the 
oversight authority for all Department use of social media for 
public communication, including Department component accounts. 
All such accounts shall satisfy the following criteria:
``(A) Be established only on platforms approved by 
the Department.
``(B) Be established for official, mission related 
purposes.
``(C) Be operated by a designated account manager 
responsible for the account's security and activity.
``(D) Be--
``(i) approved for use by the Assistant 
Secretary for the Office of Public Affairs, the 
Chief Information Officer, and the General 
Counsel before launch; and
``(ii) archived upon closure.
``(2) Content workflow and publication process.--The Office 
of Public Affairs, in conjunction with the Office of the 
General Counsel, shall establish procedures to ensure that, 
before publication, social media posts satisfy the requirements 
of this section.
``(f) Publication.--The Assistant Secretary for the Office of 
Public Affairs shall maintain a list of all current Department social 
media accounts, including office and Department component social media 
accounts, on a public-facing website of the Department.
``(g) Records Management.--Records retention and disposition 
schedules for official social media accounts shall adhere to all 
Department and National Archives and Records Administration 
requirements.
``(h) Training.--
``(1) Annual training.--All Department personnel shall 
receive annual training, as well as a post-training assessment, 
to verify understanding of key concepts on the acceptable uses 
of personal and official social media accounts, including 
relating to the following:
``(A) Mass communication principles.
``(B) Applicable ethics rules.
``(C) Applicable laws and regulations, including 
the legal requirements specified in subsection (b).
``(D) Department-wide policy.
``(E) Department component-specific policies, if 
applicable.
``(2) New employee training.--All Department personnel 
engaged in public-facing communications or responsible for 
managing official social media accounts shall complete social 
media and public communications training within 30 days of 
onboarding and before engaging in any such communications.
``(3) Component training requirements.--The head of each 
Department component shall track and monitor the completion of 
required Department and any component social media training by 
all employees of such component, and report to the Assistant 
Secretary for the Office of Public Affairs completion rates of 
such training. The head of any component with a component 
specific training shall submit to the Assistant Secretary up-
to-date copies of such component's social media training 
curriculum.
``(i) Incident Reporting and Enforcement.--The head of each 
Department component shall establish a process for timely reporting, 
review, and remediation of suspected misuse of official or personal 
social media accounts. Failure to comply with the requirements of this 
section shall constitute a violation of Department policy for purposes 
of personnel accountability, including disciplinary action.
``(j) Inspector General Review.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this section, the Inspector General of the 
Department shall--
``(A) submit to the Committee on Homeland Security 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate an audit of the Department's compliance with the 
requirements specified in this section; and
``(B) issue, as appropriate, recommendations to the 
Secretary to improve the quality, utility, objectivity, 
and integrity of public-facing materials disseminated 
by the public affairs offices of the Department.
``(2) Periodic monitoring.--The Office of the Inspector 
General shall conduct periodic audits of official social media 
accounts and submit to Congress an annual report summarizing 
compliance, misuse incidents, corrective actions, and trends 
under this section.
``(k) Definitions.--
``(1) Public facing material.--The term `public-facing 
material'--
``(A) includes any--
``(i) written, audio, or video products, 
including a press release, a speech, talking 
points, a fact sheet, testimony, a letter, a 
report, a billboard, and a broadcast, that is 
posted on social media or otherwise distributed 
to the press for the purposes of informing the 
general public; and
``(ii) content authored, shared, or 
otherwise disseminated by Department personnel 
in a manner reasonably perceived as 
representing the Department, including posts, 
comments, likes, shares, and other forms of 
digital engagement undertaken through official 
social media accounts; and
``(B) does not include--
``(i) any regulatory publication;
``(ii) any agency guidance document; or
``(iii) any product that satisfies the 
definition of `agency action' (as such term is 
defined in section 551(13) of title 5, United 
States Code).
``(2) Social media.--The term `social media'--
``(A) means the sphere of websites, applications, 
and web-based tools that connect users to engage in 
dialogue, share information and media, collaborate, and 
interact; and
``(B) includes many different forms, including web-
based communities and hosted services, social 
networking sites, video and photo sharing sites, blogs, 
virtual worlds, social bookmarking, broadcast or 
pushtext messaging services, and other emerging 
technologies.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 890D the following new item:

``Sec. 890E. Public communications policy.''.
<all>