[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4973 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]

<DOC>





                                                       Calendar No. 494
118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4973

 To reassert the constitutional authority of Congress to determine the 
 general applicability of the criminal laws of the United States, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 1, 2024

Mr. Schumer (for himself, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Reed, 
Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Carper, Mr. Welch, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Casey, Mr. 
Coons, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Durbin, 
Ms. Warren, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Markey, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. 
 Klobuchar, Ms. Butler, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Booker, Mrs. 
   Gillibrand, Mr. Wyden, Mr. King, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. 
    Padilla, Mr. Peters, Mr. Warnock, Ms. Smith, Mr. Kelly, and Ms. 
 Cantwell) introduced the following bill; which was read the first time

                           September 9, 2024

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reassert the constitutional authority of Congress to determine the 
 general applicability of the criminal laws of the United States, 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 ``No Kings Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) no person, including any President, is above the law;
            (2) Congress, under the Necessary and Proper Clause of 
        section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the United 
        States, has the authority to determine to which persons the 
        criminal laws of the United States shall apply, including any 
        President;
            (3) the Constitution of the United States does not grant to 
        any President any form of immunity (whether absolute, 
        presumptive, or otherwise) from criminal prosecution, including 
        for actions committed while serving as President;
            (4) in The Federalist No. 69, Alexander Hamilton wrote that 
        there must be a difference between the ``sacred and 
        inviolable'' king of Great Britain and the President of the 
        United States, who ``would be amenable to personal punishment 
        and disgrace'' should his actions violate the laws of the 
        United States;
            (5) the United States District Court for the District of 
        Columbia correctly concluded in United States v. Trump, No. 23-
        257 (TSC), 2023 WL 8359833 (D.D.C. December 1, 2023) that 
        ``former Presidents do not possess absolute federal criminal 
        immunity for any acts committed while in office'', that former 
        Presidents ``may be subject to federal investigation, 
        indictment, prosecution, conviction, and punishment for any 
        criminal acts undertaken while in office'', and that a ``four-
        year service as Commander in Chief [does] not bestow on [a 
        President] the divine right of kings to evade the criminal 
        accountability that governs his fellow citizens'';
            (6) similarly, the United States Court of Appeals for the 
        District of Columbia Circuit correctly affirmed in United 
        States v. Trump, 91 F.4th 1173 (D.C. Cir. 2024) that 
        ``separation of powers doctrine does not immunize former 
        Presidents from federal criminal liability'' for their official 
        actions that ``allegedly violated generally applicable criminal 
        laws'' and acknowledged that the Founding Fathers ``stresse[d] 
        that the President must be unlike the `king of Great Britain,' 
        who was `sacred and inviolable.' The Federalist No. 69, at 337-
        38'';
            (7) the Supreme Court of the United States, however, 
        vacated the judgment of the court of appeals and incorrectly 
        declared in Trump v. United States, No. 23-939, 2024 WL 3237603 
        (U.S. July 1, 2024) that ``the President is absolutely immune 
        from criminal prosecution for conduct within his exclusive 
        sphere of constitutional authority'' and that a President ``is 
        entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from 
        prosecution for all his official acts'', assertions at odds 
        with the plain text of the Constitution of the United States; 
        and
            (8) Congress has explicit and broad authority to make 
        exceptions and regulations to the appellate jurisdiction of the 
        Supreme Court of the United States under clause 2 of section 2 
        of article III of the Constitution of the United States.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) reassert the constitutional authority of Congress to 
        determine the general applicability of the criminal laws of the 
        United States, including to Presidents and Vice Presidents;
            (2) clarify that a President or Vice President is not 
        entitled to any form of immunity from criminal prosecution for 
        violations of the criminal laws of the United States unless 
        specified by Congress; and
            (3) impose certain limitations on the appellate 
        jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States to 
        decide questions related to criminal immunity for Presidents 
        and Vice Presidents.

SEC. 3. NO PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY FOR CRIMES.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) No immunity.--A President, former President, Vice 
        President, or former Vice President shall not be entitled to 
        any form of immunity (whether absolute, presumptive, or 
        otherwise) from criminal prosecution for alleged violations of 
        the criminal laws of the United States unless specified by 
        Congress.
            (2) Considerations.--A court of the United States may not 
        consider whether an alleged violation of the criminal laws of 
        the United States committed by a President or Vice President 
        was within the conclusive or preclusive constitutional 
        authority of a President or Vice President or was related to 
        the official duties of a President or Vice President unless 
        directed by Congress.
    (b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to immunize a President, former President, Vice President, or 
former Vice President from criminal prosecution for alleged violations 
of the criminal laws of the States.

SEC. 4. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    (a) Criminal Proceedings.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, for any criminal proceeding commenced by the United States against 
a President, former President, Vice President, or former Vice President 
for alleged violations of the criminal laws of the United States, the 
following rules shall apply:
            (1) The action shall be filed in the applicable district 
        court of the United States or the United States District Court 
        for the District of Columbia.
            (2) The Supreme Court of the United States shall have no 
        appellate jurisdiction, on the basis that an alleged criminal 
        act was within the conclusive or preclusive constitutional 
        authority of a President or Vice President or on the basis that 
        an alleged criminal act was related to the official duties of a 
        President or Vice President, to (or direct another court of the 
        United States to)--
                    (A) dismiss an indictment or any other charging 
                instrument;
                    (B) grant acquittal or dismiss or otherwise 
                terminate a criminal proceeding;
                    (C) halt, suspend, disband, or otherwise impede the 
                functions of any grand jury;
                    (D) grant a motion to suppress or bar evidence or 
                testimony, or otherwise exclude information from a 
                criminal proceeding;
                    (E) grant a writ of habeas corpus, a writ of coram 
                nobis, a motion to set aside a verdict or judgment, or 
                any other form of post-conviction or collateral relief;
                    (F) overturn a conviction;
                    (G) declare a criminal proceeding unconstitutional; 
                or
                    (H) enjoin or restrain the enforcement or 
                application of a law.
    (b) Constitutional Challenges.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law, for any civil action brought for declaratory, injunctive, or 
other relief to adjudge the constitutionality, whether facially or as-
applied, of any provision of this Act (including this section), or to 
bar or restrain the enforcement or application of any provision of this 
Act (including this section) on the ground of its unconstitutionality, 
the following rules shall apply:
            (1) A plaintiff may bring a civil action under this 
        subsection, and there shall be no other cause of action 
        available.
            (2) Only a President, former President, Vice President, or 
        former Vice President shall have standing to bring a civil 
        action under this subsection.
            (3) A facial challenge to the constitutionality of any 
        provision of this Act (including this section) may only be 
        brought not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act. An as-applied challenge to the constitutionality of 
        the enforcement or application of any provision of this Act 
        (including this section) may only be brought not later than 90 
        days after the date of such enforcement or application.
            (4) A court of the United States shall presume that a 
        provision of this Act (including this section) or the 
        enforcement or application of any such provision is 
        constitutional unless it is demonstrated by clear and 
        convincing evidence that such provision or its enforcement or 
        application is unconstitutional.
            (5) The civil action shall be filed in the United States 
        District Court for the District of Columbia, which shall have 
        exclusive jurisdiction of a civil action under this subsection. 
        An appeal may be taken from the district court to the United 
        States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 
        which shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear an appeal in a 
        civil action under this subsection.
            (6) In a civil action under this subsection, a decision of 
        the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 
        Circuit shall be final and not appealable to the Supreme Court 
        of the United States.
            (7) The Supreme Court of the United States shall have no 
        appellate jurisdiction to declare any provision of this Act 
        (including this section) unconstitutional or to bar or restrain 
        the enforcement or application of any provision of this Act 
        (including this section) on the ground of its 
        unconstitutionality.
    (c) Clarifying Scope of Jurisdiction.--
            (1) In general.--If an action at the time of its 
        commencement is not subject to subsection (a) or (b), but an 
        amendment, counterclaim, cross-claim, affirmative defense, or 
        any other pleading or motion is filed such that the action 
        would be subject to subsection (a) or (b), the action shall 
        thereafter be conducted pursuant to subsection (a) or (b), as 
        applicable.
            (2) State courts.--An action subject to subsection (a) or 
        (b) may not be heard in any State court.
            (3) Sua sponte relief.--No court may issue relief sua 
        sponte on the ground that a provision of this Act (including 
        this section), or its enforcement or application, is 
        unconstitutional.

SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act, or application of such provision to 
any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the 
remainder of this Act, and the application of the provisions of this 
Act to any person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.
                                                       Calendar No. 494

118th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 4973

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To reassert the constitutional authority of Congress to determine the 
 general applicability of the criminal laws of the United States, and 
                          for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           September 9, 2024

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar