    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 106th Congress]
    [106th Congress]
    [House Document 105-358]
    [Rules of the House of Representatives]
    [Pages 388-391]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                       Rule VIII.--RESPONSE TO SUBPOENAS

    Sec. 697. Response to subpoenas.

      1.  When a Member, Delegate,
    Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House is properly
    served with a subpoena or other judicial order directing appearance as a
    witness relating to the official functions of the House or for the
    production or disclosure of any document relating to the official
    functions of the House, such Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner,
    officer, or employee shall comply, consistently with the privileges and
    rights of the House, with the subpoena or other judicial order as
    hereinafter provided, unless otherwise determined under this rule.

    [[Page 389]]

    shall promptly be laid before the House by the Speaker.
      2. Upon receipt of a properly served subpoena or other judicial order
    described in clause 1, a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner,
    officer, or employee of the House shall promptly notify the Speaker of
    its receipt in writing. Such notification shall promptly be laid before
    the House by the Speaker. During a period of recess or adjournment of
    longer than three days, notification to the House is not required until
    the reconvening of the House, when the notification

      3. Once notification has been laid before the House, the Member,
    Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall
    determine whether the issuance of the subpoena or other judicial order
    described in clause 1 is a proper exercise of jurisdiction by the court,
    is material and relevant, and is consistent with the privileges and
    rights of the House. Such Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner,
    officer, or employee shall notify the Speaker before seeking judicial
    determination of these matters.

      4. Upon determination whether a subpoena or other judicial order
    described in clause 1 is a proper exercise of jurisdiction by the court,
    is material and relevant, and is consistent with the privileges and
    rights of the House, the Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner,
    officer, or employee of the House shall immediately notify the Speaker
    of the determination in writing.

    [[Page 390]]

    shall promptly be laid before the House by the Speaker.
      5. The Speaker shall inform the House of a determination whether a
    subpoena or other judicial order described in clause 1 is a proper
    exercise of jurisdiction by the court, is material and relevant, and is
    consistent with the privileges and rights of the House. In so informing
    the House, the Speaker shall generally describe the records or
    information sought. During a period of recess or adjournment of longer
    than three days, such notification is not required until the reconvening
    of the House, when the notification

      6. (a) Except as specified in paragraph (b) or otherwise ordered by
    the House, upon notification to the House that a subpoena or other
    judicial order described in clause 1 is a proper exercise of
    jurisdiction by the court, is material and relevant, and is consistent
    with the privileges and rights of the House, the Member, Delegate,
    Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall comply
    with the subpoena or other judicial order by supplying certified copies.

      (b) Under no circumstances may minutes or transcripts of executive
    sessions, or evidence of witnesses in respect thereto, be disclosed or
    copied. During a period of recess or adjournment of longer than three
    days, the Speaker may authorize compliance or take such other action as
    he considers appropriate under the circumstances. Upon the reconvening
    of the House, all matters that transpired under this clause shall
    promptly be laid before the House by the Speaker.

      7. A copy of this rule shall be transmitted by the Clerk to the court
    when a subpoena or other judicial order described in clause 1 is issued
    and served on a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or
    employee of the House.

    [[Page 391]]

    ber, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee, or of the
    House itself, to assert such privileges or rights before a court in the
    United States.

      8. Nothing in this rule shall be construed to deprive, condition, or
    waive the constitutional or legal privileges or rights applicable or
    available at any time to a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner,
    officer, or employee of the House, or of the House itself, or the right
    of such Mem

      Before the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, this
    provision was found in former rule L (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. ----).
    It was added initially in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, p.
    98). Until the 95th Congress, whenever a Member, officer, or employee
    received a subpoena, the House would decide by adopting a resolution
    granting authority to the person to respond. This case-by-case approach
    was changed in the 95th and 96th Congresses (H. Res. 10, Jan. 4, 1977,
    p. 73; H. Res. 10, Jan. 15, 1979, p. 19) when general authority was
    granted to respond to subpoenas and a procedure was established for
    automatic compliance without the necessity of a House vote. This
    standing authority was clarified and revised later in the 96th Congress
    (H. Res. 722, Sept. 17, 1980, pp. 25777-90) and forms the basis for the
    present rule.

      In the 102d Congress the House considered as questions of the
    privileges of the House resolutions: responding to a subpoena for
    records of the ``bank'' in the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (Apr. 29,
    1992, p. 9753); responding to a contemporaneous request for such records
    from a Special Counsel (Apr. 29, 1992, p. 9763); and authorizing an
    officer of the House to release certain documents in response to another
    such request from the Special Counsel (May 28, 1992, p. 12790). A
    response to an administrative subpoena also raises a question of the
    privileges of the House (Deschler's Precedents, vol. 3, ch. 11, sec.
    14.8). A Member or employee receiving such a subpoena informs the House
    (July 30, 1998, p. ----; May 3, 1999, p. ----).

      Under clause 2, the Speaker promptly lays before the House a
    communication notifying him of the receipt of a subpoena, but the rule
    does not require that the text of a subpoena be printed in the Record
    (July 31, 1992, p. 20602).