IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 136 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives with respect to the 

enforcement of committee subpoenas to executive branch officials, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2023 

Mr. LIEU (for himself and Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules 

RESOLUTION 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives with 

respect to the enforcement of committee subpoenas to 

executive branch officials, and for other purposes. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional 

4 Inherent Contempt Resolution of 2023’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL SUBPOENA ENFORCEMENT POWER. 

6 Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

7 is amended by adding at the end the following new clauses: 


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•HRES 136 IH 

1 ‘‘Additional Subpoena Enforcement Power 

2 ‘‘7.(a) Whenever any committee or subcommittee 

3 makes a written request to any department or agency of 

4 the Government for the attendance of named witnesses or 

5 the production of such books, records, correspondence, 

6 memorandum, papers, documents, and electronic or digital 

7 files, data or information, in any form, including any elec8 tronic or digital files, data or information in any search9 able formats in which they are available to or can be pro10 duced by the agency, as the committee or subcommittee 

11 considers necessary, a senior responsible official shall ei12 ther comply with that request or file written objections 

13 within the time frame for response set forth in the request. 

14 ‘‘(b) If the senior responsible official files written ob15 jections within the timeframe for response, the committee 

16 or subcommittee shall seek to resolve these objections 

17 through negotiation and accommodation. If a resolution 

18 cannot be reached, staff shall so certify to the chair of 

19 the committee. 

20 ‘‘(c) If the senior responsible official fails to file ob21 jections or make available the designated witnesses or full 

22 production of responsive records and information within 

23 the timeframe for response, the chair of the committee 

24 may issue a subpoena to the senior responsible official for 

25 any unproduced records or information as to which no obVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR136.IH HR136

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1 jection was filed, and to any designated witness to which 

2 no objection was filed. 

3 ‘‘(d) With respect to any portion of the written re4 quest for documents and witnesses to which timely objec5 tion was made, a subpoena to the senior responsible offi6 cial and to designated witnesses, may be issued, following 

7 conclusion of the negotiations referred to in paragraph (b), 

8 by— 

9 ‘‘(1) the chair, upon 48 hours notice to the 

10 ranking member, unless the ranking member objects 

11 during that period; or 

12 ‘‘(2) a vote of the committee. 

13 ‘‘(e) The senior responsible official and other wit14 nesses to whom a subpoena is issued have the right to 

15 be accompanied only by non-government private counsel 

16 during all proceedings conducted pursuant to this clause 

17 (even if the witness is a government official or employee). 

18 The committee in taking testimony will follow the proce19 dures for taking depositions and resolving disputes over 

20 objections to questions that are prescribed by the Com21 mittee on Rules for such testimonial proceedings (see 165 

22 Cong. Rec. H1216–17 (Jan. 25, 2019)). 

23 ‘‘(f) If the senior responsible official files written ob24 jections to a subpoena issued under paragraph (c) or (d) 

25 within the timeframe for response, or the President perVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR136.IH HR136

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1 sonally and in writing asserts a claim of executive privilege 

2 with respect to the records, information, and witnesses at 

3 issue, the committee may hold a hearing to consider these 

4 objections. The senior responsible official shall personally 

5 attend this hearing but may not assert executive privilege 

6 on behalf of the President, and the committee chair may 

7 grant an exception for good cause shown. 

8 ‘‘(g) If the committee overrules some or all of the ob9 jections asserted, it may issue an order of compliance 

10 which states the grounds for rejection of the objections, 

11 the date for compliance, and an advisement of the legal 

12 consequences of a failure to comply. The senior responsible 

13 official and subpoenaed witnesses shall comply with such 

14 order within the timeframe for response. If prior to such 

15 time, the President asserts a claim of executive privilege, 

16 it shall be made personally and in writing, and will be con17 sidered by the committee with all other timely objections. 

18 Witnesses may not assert a claim of executive privilege 

19 in the absence of such an assertion by the President. 

20 ‘‘(h) On the failure of the senior responsible official 

21 or subpoenaed witnesses to comply with the order, the 

22 committee shall meet to assess whether the noncompliance 

23 rises to the level of a breach of the constitutional privilege 

24 and duty of the House to be fully informed in order to 

25 properly perform its legislative responsibilities without 


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•HRES 136 IH 

1 undue obstruction and thereby warrants condemnation 

2 and punishment. If so, the committee shall report a privi3 leged resolution of contempt. The accompanying report 

4 shall include a detailed history and nature of the con5 troversy and attempts at accommodation; the legal issues 

6 raised; the legislative need for the information sought; the 

7 legal and practical reasons for the determination that the 

8 objections were rejected; and the recommended penalty 

9 under paragraph (j). 

10 ‘‘(i) If the committee reports a resolution of con11 tempt, it shall be treated as a rule IX question of privilege 

12 of the House requiring precedence over all other questions 

13 until resolved and promptly scheduled for floor consider14 ation. The chair of the committee shall present the case 

15 for passage of the resolution. At the conclusion of the al16 lotted period for presentations, questions and debate, a 

17 vote on passage of the resolution will be taken. If the vote 

18 is for passage, a second vote will be taken on the commit19 tee’s recommended penalty. A proffer of an amendment 

20 to alter the recommended penalty is in order. 

21 ‘‘(j)(1) The penalty for contempt recommended by a 

22 committee under paragraph (h) and approved or amended 

23 by the House under paragraph (i) may, as provided for 

24 in paragraphs (2) and (3), be either in the form of a mone25 tary penalty, detention, or both. 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) If the recommended penalty as approved by 

2 the House is a monetary penalty, the contemnor may be 

3 assessed by the House an initial penalty of not more than 

4 $25,000 and total penalties of not more than $100,000. 

5 The amount of the ultimate penalty depends on the timeli6 ness of the contemnor’s compliance in providing informa7 tion withheld. The initial penalty of not more than 

8 $25,000 may be increased by the chair of the committee 

9 involved by increments of not more than $25,000 after a 

10 one-time waiting period of 10 calendar days from the ini11 tial penalty until the $100,000 maximum is reached. The 

12 10-day waiting period shall only be observed after the first 

13 penalty. Upon expiration of the 10-day waiting period, if 

14 the chair deems the measure of compliance by the 

15 contemnor to be insufficient to satisfy the legislative needs 

16 of the committee, the chair may, over a period of not more 

17 than fifteen days, at his or her discretion, increase the 

18 penalty by increments of not more than $25,000 until the 

19 maximum is reached. Upon expiration of the 10-day wait20 ing period, the General Counsel is authorized to recover 

21 any accrued penalties, but only if the contemnor has failed 

22 to comply with the subpoena before the end of such 10- 

23 day period. 

24 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this subparagraph shall be in25 terpreted to limit the ability of the House to impose 


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•HRES 136 IH 

1 additional legislative punishments on the contemnor 

2 for noncompliance. 

3 ‘‘(C) No appropriated funds, funds provided 

4 from any accounts in the Treasury, funds derived 

5 from collection of fees, or other Government funds 

6 shall be used to pay a monetary penalty imposed by 

7 the House under this subparagraph. 

8 ‘‘(D) No person, group, entity, organization, or 

9 corporation may make payments to, reimburse or 

10 offer remuneration of any kind to compensate a 

11 contemnor for, or assist a contemnor in paying, any 

12 portion of a monetary penalty imposed by the 

13 House. Nor shall any person, group, entity, organi14 zation, or corporation be permitted to pay any mone15 tary penalties directly on behalf of a contemnor. The 

16 House may regard such actions to compensate, reim17 burse or provide remunerations or payments to a 

18 contemnor as an obstruction of its investigative and 

19 information gathering prerogatives and responsibil20 ities and a contempt of the House. 

21 ‘‘(3)(A) If the recommended penalty as passed by the 

22 House is detention, the contemnor may be detained until 

23 the chair of the committee involved gives notice that the 

24 subpoena has been complied with or the sine die adjourn25 ment of the current Congress, whichever occurs first. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The detention of the contemnor under this 

2 subparagraph shall be carried out in accordance with 

3 regulations issued by the Committee on Rules and 

4 printed in the Congressional Record, including regu5 lations to provide the contemnor with adequate due 

6 process. 

7 ‘‘(k) Nothing in this clause shall be interpreted to di8 minish the inherent institutional self-protective authori9 ties, methods and practices of the House for enforcing 

10 committee subpoenas, nor shall anything in this clause be 

11 interpreted to diminish the discretionary power of any 

12 committee to determine the acceptability of any constitu13 tional or common law-based privilege asserted to justify 

14 noncompliance with a congressional subpoena. 

15 ‘‘(l) As used in this clause: 

16 ‘‘(1) The term ‘senior responsible official’ refers 

17 to an executive branch official with control or cus18 tody over the records or information or the subordi19 nate officials or employees that are sought and who 

20 is a civil officer subject to removal from the office 

21 under article II, section 4, of the Constitution, un22 less no such civil officer has control or custody over 

23 the records or information sought. 

24 ‘‘(2) The term ‘objections’ includes an appro25 priate privilege log, which shall describe with parVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR136.IH HR136

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•HRES 136 IH 

1 ticularity the records or information withheld and 

2 the basis for withholding. The log shall be in such 

3 form as instructed by the committee or, in the ab4 sence of such instruction, shall be in the form that 

5 would be required by the rules and practice of the 

6 United States District for the District of Columbia. 

7 Failure to file an appropriate and timely privilege 

8 log shall be a basis for overruling or disregarding 

9 any objection. 

10 ‘‘Additional Subpoena Enforcement Power 

11 ‘‘8.(a) Whenever any committee or subcommittee 

12 makes a written request to any person for testimony or 

13 the production of such books, records, correspondence, 

14 memorandum, papers, documents, and electronic or digital 

15 files, data or information, in any form, including any elec16 tronic or digital files, data or information in any search17 able formats in which they are available to or can be pro18 duced by that person, as the committee or subcommittee 

19 considers necessary, such person shall either comply with 

20 that request or file written objections within the time 

21 frame for response set forth in the request. 

22 ‘‘(b) If such person files written objections within the 

23 timeframe for response, the committee or subcommittee 

24 shall seek to resolve these objections through negotiation 


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•HRES 136 IH 

1 and accommodation. If a resolution cannot be reached, 

2 staff shall so certify to the chair of the committee. 

3 ‘‘(c) If such person fails to file objections or provide 

4 testimony or full production of responsive records and in5 formation within the timeframe for response, the chair of 

6 the committee may issue a subpoena to such person for 

7 any unproduced testimony or records or information as 

8 to which no objection was filed. 

9 ‘‘(d) With respect to any portion of the written re10 quest for documents and testimony to which timely objec11 tion was made, a subpoena may be issued, following con12 clusion of the negotiations referred to in paragraph (b), 

13 by— 

14 ‘‘(1) the chair, upon 48 hours notice to the 

15 ranking member, unless the ranking member objects 

16 during that period; or 

17 ‘‘(2) a vote of the committee. 

18 ‘‘(e) Any person to whom a subpoena is issued has 

19 the right to be accompanied only by non-government pri20 vate counsel during all proceedings conducted pursuant to 

21 this clause. The committee in taking testimony will follow 

22 the procedures for taking depositions and resolving dis23 putes over objections to questions that are prescribed by 

24 the Committee on Rules for such testimonial proceedings 

25 (see 165 Cong. Rec. H1216–17 (Jan. 25, 2019)). 


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•HRES 136 IH 

1 ‘‘(f) If such person files written objections to a sub2 poena issued under paragraph (c) or (d) within the time3 frame for response, the committee may hold a hearing to 

4 consider these objections. The person shall personally at5 tend this hearing, but the committee chair may grant an 

6 exception for good cause shown. 

7 ‘‘(g) If the committee overrules some or all of the ob8 jections asserted, it may issue an order of compliance 

9 which states the grounds for rejection of the objections, 

10 the date for compliance, and an advisement of the legal 

11 consequences of a failure to comply. The person shall com12 ply with such order within the timeframe for response. 

13 ‘‘(h) On the failure of the senior responsible official 

14 or subpoenaed witnesses to comply with the order, the 

15 committee shall meet to assess whether the noncompliance 

16 rises to the level of a breach of the constitutional privilege 

17 and duty of the House to be fully informed in order to 

18 properly perform its legislative responsibilities without 

19 undue obstruction and thereby warrants condemnation 

20 and punishment. If so, the committee shall report a privi21 leged resolution of contempt. The accompanying report 

22 shall include a detailed history and nature of the con23 troversy and attempts at accommodation; the legal issues 

24 raised; the legislative need for the information sought; the 

25 legal and practical reasons for the determination that the 


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•HRES 136 IH 

1 objections were rejected; and the recommended penalty 

2 under paragraph (j). 

3 ‘‘(i) If the committee reports a resolution of con4 tempt, it shall be treated as a rule IX question of privilege 

5 of the House requiring precedence over all other questions 

6 until resolved and promptly scheduled for floor consider7 ation. The chair of the committee shall present the case 

8 for passage of the resolution. At the conclusion of the al9 lotted period for presentations, questions and debate, a 

10 vote on passage of the resolution will be taken. If the vote 

11 is for passage, a second vote will be taken on the commit12 tee’s recommended penalty. A proffer of an amendment 

13 to alter the recommended penalty is in order. 

14 ‘‘(j)(1) The penalty for contempt recommended by a 

15 committee under paragraph (h) and approved or amended 

16 by the House under paragraph (i) may, as provided for 

17 in paragraphs (2) and (3), be either in the form of a mone18 tary penalty, detention, or both. 

19 ‘‘(2)(A) If the recommended penalty as approved by 

20 the House is a monetary penalty, the contemnor may be 

21 assessed by the House an initial penalty of not more than 

22 $25,000 and total penalties of not more than $100,000. 

23 The amount of the ultimate penalty depends on the timeli24 ness of the contemnor’s compliance in providing informa25 tion withheld. The initial penalty of not more than 


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•HRES 136 IH 

1 $25,000 may be increased by the chair of the committee 

2 involved by increments of not more than $25,000 after a 

3 one-time waiting period of 10 calendar days from the ini4 tial penalty until the $100,000 maximum is reached. The 

5 10-day waiting period shall only be observed after the first 

6 penalty. Upon expiration of the 10-day waiting period, if 

7 the chair deems the measure of compliance by the 

8 contemnor to be insufficient to satisfy the legislative needs 

9 of the committee, the chair may, over a period of not more 

10 than fifteen days, at his or her discretion, increase the 

11 penalty by increments of not more than $25,000 until the 

12 maximum is reached. Upon expiration of the 10-day wait13 ing period, the General Counsel is authorized to recover 

14 any accrued penalties, but only if the contemnor has failed 

15 to comply with the subpoena before the end of such 10- 

16 day period. 

17 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this subparagraph shall be in18 terpreted to limit the ability of the House to impose 

19 additional legislative punishments on the contemnor 

20 for noncompliance. 

21 ‘‘(C) No appropriated funds, funds provided 

22 from any accounts in the Treasury, funds derived 

23 from collection of fees, or other Government funds 

24 shall be used to pay a monetary penalty imposed by 

25 the House under this subparagraph. 


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•HRES 136 IH 

1 ‘‘(D) No person, group, entity, organization, or 

2 corporation may make payments to, reimburse or 

3 offer remuneration of any kind to compensate a 

4 contemnor for, or assist a contemnor in paying, any 

5 portion of a monetary penalty imposed by the 

6 House. Nor shall any person, group, entity, organi7 zation, or corporation be permitted to pay any mone8 tary penalties directly on behalf of a contemnor. The 

9 House may regard such actions to compensate, reim10 burse or provide remunerations or payments to a 

11 contemnor as an obstruction of its investigative and 

12 information gathering prerogatives and responsibil13 ities and a contempt of the House. 

14 ‘‘(3)(A) If the recommended penalty as passed by the 

15 House is detention, the contemnor may be detained until 

16 the chair of the committee involved gives notice that the 

17 subpoena has been complied with or the sine die adjourn18 ment of the current Congress, whichever occurs first. 

19 ‘‘(B) The detention of the contemnor under this 

20 subparagraph shall be carried out in accordance with 

21 regulations issued by the Committee on Rules and 

22 printed in the Congressional Record, including regu23 lations to provide the contemnor with adequate due 

24 process. 


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•HRES 136 IH 

1 ‘‘(k) Nothing in this clause shall be interpreted to di2 minish the inherent institutional self-protective authori3 ties, methods and practices of the House for enforcing 

4 committee subpoenas, nor shall anything in this clause be 

5 interpreted to diminish the discretionary power of any 

6 committee to determine the acceptability of any constitu7 tional or common law-based privilege asserted to justify 

8 noncompliance with a congressional subpoena. 

9 ‘‘(l) As used in this clause: 

10 ‘‘(1) The term ‘senior responsible official’ refers 

11 to an executive branch official with control or cus12 tody over the records or information or the subordi13 nate officials or employees that are sought and who 

14 is a civil officer subject to removal from the office 

15 under article II, section 4, of the Constitution, un16 less no such civil officer has control or custody over 

17 the records or information sought. 

18 ‘‘(2) The term ‘objections’ includes an appro19 priate privilege log, which shall describe with par20 ticularity the records or information withheld and 

21 the basis for withholding. The log shall be in such 

22 form as instructed by the committee or, in the ab23 sence of such instruction, shall be in the form that 

24 would be required by the rules and practice of the 

25 United States District for the District of Columbia. 


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1 Failure to file an appropriate and timely privilege 

2 log shall be a basis for overruling or disregarding 

3 any objection.’’. 

Æ 


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