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Currently, consultants and lobbyists representing foreign adversaries are able to avoid registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by taking advantage of the commercial activities and exemptions under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA). This allows them to avoid disclosing their lobbying efforts to the U.S. Department of Justice. Foreign adversaries of the United States are defined by executive order as the Chinese Communist Party, the Kremlin, the Iranian regime, North Korea, Cuba, and the Maduro regime in Venezuela.
 

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the Preventing Adversary Influence, Disinformation and Obscured Foreign Financing Act (PAID OFF Act) to close FARA registration loopholes and enable the U.S. government to catch unregistered agents. The bill would remove the commercial activities and LDA registration exemptions that make it easy for foreign agents to lobby for America’s adversaries without disclosing that they are being paid by an adversary’s government.

• “Federal law should not provide protection for entities who are willing to do business with our enemies. If a lobbyist or consultant wants to work with our adversaries to subvert American interests, we deserve to know about it. Our bill would ensure U.S. law no longer provides cover for these corrupt cronies.” — Senator Rubio

• “To stop back-alley attempts by our enemies to influence American policymaking, it’s critical we close the loopholes allowing the worst offenders to spend millions of dollars on disinformation campaigns in the U.S. This legislation would prevent adversaries like China and Russia from ‘ghost-lobbying’ by requiring foreign agents to register and disclose political activity to the Department of Justice.” — Senator Cornyn

 
Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Deb Fischer (R-NE) are original cosponsors.