Bill Summary
The Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act was created to ensure that the removal of a special counsel, someone who is appointed to investigate and prosecute cases of potential wrongdoing by government officials, is done independently and with proper oversight. This act states that a special counsel can only be removed by the personal action of an Attorney General who has been confirmed by the Senate, or by the next most senior Department of Justice official who has also been confirmed by the Senate. The removal can only occur for specific reasons such as misconduct or conflict of interest, and the special counsel must be given written notice and have the opportunity to challenge the removal in court. This act also states that the special counsel's staff, documents, and materials must be preserved during the removal process. It applies to any special counsel appointed after January 1, 2017 and includes a provision for severability, meaning that if one part of the act is found to be invalid, the rest of the act will still be in effect.
Possible Impacts
1. Job Security: This legislation could affect people by providing job security for special counsels and other appointed officials within the Department of Justice. They can only be removed for valid reasons and with proper notice, giving them protection against arbitrary removals.
2. Independence: The legislation promotes the independence of special counsels and other appointed officials by limiting their removal to specific reasons, such as misconduct or conflict of interest. This ensures that they can carry out their duties without fear of being removed for political reasons.
3. Legal Protections: This legislation provides legal protections for individuals who have been wrongfully removed from their positions. They can challenge their removal in court and may receive relief if the court determines that the removal violated the provisions of the Act. This protects individuals from unfair or unjust removals.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 197 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 197
To ensure independent investigations and judicial review of the removal
of a special counsel, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 3, 2019
Mr. Nadler (for himself, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Speier, Mrs.
Lawrence, Ms. Waters, Mr. Bera, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Espaillat,
Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr.
Garamendi, Mrs. Demings, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Price of North
Carolina, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Danny K. Davis
of Illinois, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Lipinski, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Brendan F.
Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Meng,
Mr. Ryan, Ms. Pingree, Mrs. Davis of California, Mr. Aguilar, Mr. Vela,
Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Foster, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Loebsack, Ms.
McCollum, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr.
Pallone, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Hastings, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Clay,
Ms. Castor of Florida, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Lee of California,
Mr. Payne, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Swalwell of California, Mr. Richmond, Mr.
Jeffries, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Ted Lieu of
California, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Crist, Mr. Moulton, Miss Rice of New York,
Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Norton, Mr. Langevin, Ms. Brownley of
California, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Ms. DeGette, Ms. Clark of
Massachusetts, Mr. Evans, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Frankel, Mr.
Perlmutter, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Velazquez, Ms.
Wilson of Florida, Mr. Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. DeFazio,
Ms. Adams, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Welch,
Mr. Cummings, Mr. Sherman, Mrs. Bustos, Mr. Takano, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr.
Courtney, Mr. McEachin, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Peters, Ms. Judy Chu of
California, Mrs. Murphy, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Soto, Mr. Larson
of Connecticut, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Heck, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. McGovern,
Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Sires, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. DelBene, Mr.
DeSaulnier, Mr. Lamb, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Thompson of
California, Mr. Kind, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. Rush,
and Ms. Titus) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure independent investigations and judicial review of the removal
of a special counsel, 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 ``Special Counsel Independence and
Integrity Act''.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON REMOVAL OF SPECIAL COUNSEL.
(a) In General.--A special counsel appointed by the Attorney
General, or any other official appointed by the Attorney General who
exercises a similar degree of independence from the normal Department
of Justice chain of command, may be removed from office only by the
personal action of an Attorney General who has been confirmed by the
Senate, or, if the Attorney General is recused from the matter, the
most senior Department of Justice official who has been confirmed by
the Senate and is not recused from the matter.
(b) Removal for Cause.--A special counsel or other appointed
official described in subsection (a) may be removed only for
misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or
other good cause, including violation of policies of the Department of
Justice.
(c) Notice of Removal.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General or other Department
of Justice official described in subsection (a), as the case
may be, shall provide written notice to the special counsel or
other appointed official described in subsection (a) of the
specific reason or reasons for the removal.
(2) Effective date of removal.--Except as provided in
subsection (e), removal under this section shall become
effective on the date that is 10 days after the date on which
the written notice was provided under paragraph (1).
(d) Timing.--Not later than 10 days after the date on which written
notice was provided under subsection (c)(1), the special counsel or
other appointed official described in subsection (a), as the case may
be, may file an action challenging the removal in accordance with
subsection (e).
(e) Review.--
(1) In general.--An individual that received written notice
under subsection (c)(1) may file an action in accordance with
paragraph (2) that the removal was in violation of this Act.
(2) Requirements.--Any action filed under this subsection
shall be heard and determined by a court of 3 judges not later
than 14 days after the date on which the action is filed in
accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of title 28,
United States Code, and any appeal shall lie to the Supreme
Court.
(3) Relief.--If a court determines that the removal of the
individual who filed an action under this subsection violates
this Act, the removal shall not take effect. The court may also
provide other appropriate relief.
(4) Status during proceedings.--
(A) In general.--At the request of the individual
who filed an action under this subsection, the court
shall determine whether the individual shall remain in
office during the pendency of the action described in
paragraph (2).
(B) Preservation of materials.--During the pendency
of an action filed under this subsection, the staff,
documents, and materials of the special counsel or
other appointed official described in subsection (a)
shall be preserved.
(C) Limitation.--During the pendency of an action
filed under this subsection, a replacement for the
special counsel or other appointed official described
in subsection (a) who is challenging the removal shall
not be designated.
(f) Effective Date.--This Act shall apply to any special counsel or
other appointed official described in subsection (a) appointed on or
after January 1, 2017.
(g) Severability.--If any provision of this Act or the application
of such provision to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid
or unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the application of
the provisions of this Act to any person or circumstance shall remain
and shall not be affected thereby.
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