[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5505 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5505

To ensure independent investigations and judicial review of the removal 
             of a special counsel, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 13, 2018

  Mr. Dent (for himself and Mr. Welch) 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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